Max Lucado Daily: Mis-use of the Mouth
There are those in God's family who find a controversy and stake their claim to it. Every church has at least one stubborn soul who has mastered a minutiae of the message and made a mission out of it.
As long as Christians split hairs, Christians will split churches. Religious leaders thought they could manipulate Jesus with their controversies. But they were wrong. He was not trapped by their trickery, flattered by their flattery, or fooled by their hypotheses.
Perhaps we should take note. I'd like to say to you what I need someone to say to me when I get territorial about my opinions. I challenge you to look around you. Let go of your territory for a while. Scout some new regions. Explore some new reefs. Much is gained by closing your mouth and opening your eyes every so often.
From And the Angels Were Silent
Matthew 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Footnotes:
Matthew 1:1 Or is an account of the origin
Matthew 1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.
Matthew 1:11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12
Matthew 1:18 Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this
Matthew 1:19 Or was a righteous man and
Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.
Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 24:3-14
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Insight
In today’s reading, Jesus predicts events that will accompany His imminent return. The Lord Jesus Christ ministers in the offices of Prophet (Mark 6:4), Priest (Heb. 4:14), and King (Luke 1:32). What a comfort it is to know that Jesus speaks God’s Word, represents us to the Father, and is sovereign over heaven and earth.
The Eleventh Hour
February 19, 2014 — by Dennis Fisher
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. —Isaiah 2:4
World War I has been ranked by many as one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. Millions lost their lives in the first global modern war. On November 11, 1918, a ceasefire was observed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. During that historic moment, millions around the world observed moments of silence while they reflected upon the war’s terrible cost—the loss of life and suffering. It was hoped that “the Great War,” as it was called, would truly be “the war that would end all wars.”
Despite the many deadly military conflicts that have followed, the hope for lasting peace has not faded. And the Bible offers a hopeful and realistic promise that someday wars will finally end. When Christ returns, Isaiah’s prophecy will come true: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isa. 2:4). Then the eleventh hour will pass and the first hour of lasting peace in a new heaven and new earth will begin.
Until that day comes, those who follow Christ are to be people who represent the Prince of Peace in the way we conduct our lives and in the way we make a difference in our world.
Only in Christ can true peace be realized.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
Arise, shine . . . —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Soot in the Line - #7073
Wednesday February 19, 2014
Our oldest son was working with young people on an Indian reservation in Arizona. One of his first challenges was to find a place to live on the reservation. And that was pretty difficult. But God provided him with a lot and a trailer to put on that lot, and that was great! Second challenge, how to work everything on the trailer. Now, we're talking about a son here who shares his father's mechanical aptitude. I taught him everything I knew. It took about 30 seconds.
Now, he rose to those challenges, but one problem was particularly baffling. The hot water heater wouldn't work! The weather was getting colder; cold showers were getting more and more exciting, and he'd tried everything. Even friends came in and worked on it. This hot water heater wouldn't heat water. And everybody's going, "What's wrong?" Finally one friend returned. He said, "Let me try one more thing." He checked the fuel line from the propane tanks to the heater, and then he started poking around in the line with a screw driver. Our son said, "What are you doing?" And the guy said, "This is clogged with soot, Man! I'm getting the soot out of the line." Guess what? Next morning, hot shower!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Soot in the Line."
Maybe my son's question about his hot water heater is a question you're asking about your situation right now, "What's wrong?" Have you considered that there may be soot in the line? Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 66, beginning at verse 16, "Come and listen to all who fear God. Let me tell you what He's done for me. I cried out to Him with my mouth. His praise was on my tongue." Verse 18, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love for me."
Now, these verses suggest a scenario something like this: You're praying about something important. Nothing's happening. You're frustrated, you're trying everything to fix it, and you're asking, "God, where are You?" Maybe God's coming along side of you today and saying, "Have you checked for soot; for some sin in the line between you and Me?" That's usually the last place we look for the answer to the question, "What's wrong?" We blame people, we blame circumstances, we blame the economy, the church, a family member, and then God says, "No, you see, the problem is you're cherishing sin in your heart. I can't send My answer while you're still holding on to that dirt."
So consider the possibility that God is trying to get you to look in the mirror for an answer to what's wrong. Is there maybe a bitterness or an angry spot that you've allowed to lodge in your heart? Is there a compromise you've allowed to creep in? You're compromising the truth, or maybe you're compromising a relationship, or maybe with what you watch or you listen to. It could be you've compromised your integrity or your principles. Could it be that you're letting some old sin or habit or wrong motive start to creep back into your life? Maybe there's pride or lust or unbelief that's blocking God's blessing.
It's time for some confessing, don't you think; some serious apologizing to your Savior and some serious repenting? Repenting means abandoning that sin, drawing on the power of Jesus to conquer what's been conquering you. And then don't be surprised if some answers start to come once you've unblocked the line.
Well, our son ended up enjoying the hot water that wouldn't come for a while. He just had to get the soot out of the line, and so do you. God wants to make it warm again. But you have to remove the dirt that is blocking the blessing of Almighty God.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Nehemiah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: How Quickly We Forget
Take this quiz. Name the ten wealthiest men in the world. Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners. Name eight people who've won the Nobel prize. How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture? Or the last decade's worth of World Series winners? How'd you do? I didn't do well either. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it? And what I've mentioned are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one. Think of three people you enjoy spending time with. Name ten people who've taught you something worthwhile. Name five friends who've helped you in a difficult time. List a few teachers who aided your journey through high school. Easier? It was for me, too.
The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the most credentials, but the ones with the most concern.
And the Angels Were Silent
Nehemiah 3
Builders of the Wall
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.[b]
6 The Jeshanah[c] Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place. 7 Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah—Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth—places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. 8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section. 10 Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs next to him. 11 Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.
13 The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place. They also repaired a thousand cubits[d] of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.
14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Rekab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place.
15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam,[e] by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David. 16 Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth Zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs[f] of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Heroes.
17 Next to him, the repairs were made by the Levites under Rehum son of Bani. Beside him, Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. 18 Next to him, the repairs were made by their fellow Levites under Binnui[g] son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah. 19 Next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section, from a point facing the ascent to the armory as far as the angle of the wall. 20 Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Eliashib’s house to the end of it.
22 The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. 23 Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from Azariah’s house to the angle and the corner, 25 and Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. 29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shekaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. 30 Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters. 31 Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the room above the corner; 32 and between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
Nehemiah 3:13 That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters
Nehemiah 3:15 Hebrew Shelah, a variant of Shiloah, that is, Siloam
Nehemiah 3:16 Hebrew; Septuagint, some Vulgate manuscripts and Syriac tomb
Nehemiah 3:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 24); most Hebrew manuscripts Bavvai
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 16:1-16
Personal Greetings
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Footnotes:
Romans 16:1 Or servant
Romans 16:1 The word deacon refers here to a Christian designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the church in a variety of ways; similarly in Phil. 1:1 and 1 Tim. 3:8,12.
Romans 16:3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
Romans 16:7 Or are esteemed by
Insight
Today’s passage is found near the end of Paul’s theological masterpiece—the epistle to the Romans. As Paul concludes his letter, he greets people by name. His final appeal to maintain unity in Christ is followed by this marvelous phrase of worship: “To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen” (v.27).
Helpers Needed
February 18, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things. —John 14:26
To some people, the term helper carries with it second-class connotations. Classroom helpers assist trained teachers in their classes. Helpers assist trained electricians, plumbers, and lawyers on the job. Because they aren’t as skilled in the profession, they might be viewed as having less value. But everyone is needed to accomplish the task.
The apostle Paul had many helpers in his work of ministry. He listed them in his letter to Rome (ch.16). He made special reference to Phoebe, who “has been a helper of many and of myself also” (v.2). Priscilla and Aquila risked their own lives for Paul (vv.3-4). And Mary, Paul said, “labored much for us” (v.6).
Helping is a spiritual gift, according to 1 Corinthians 12:28. Paul listed it among the gifts from the Holy Spirit that are given to believers in Christ’s body, the church. The gift of “helps” is just as needed as the others that are listed.
Even the Holy Spirit is called a “Helper.” Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
In whatever ways the Holy Spirit, the Helper, has gifted you, let Him use you for His honor.
Dear Lord, thank You for the gifts You have
given me so that I might serve the
body of Christ. Help me to be faithful to use
my gifts to bring You glory.
You are a necessary part of the whole.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
Rise, let us be going —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Getting the Cover Off Your Cage - #7072
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
I would call home to my wife, and I'd get a serenade. Not from her, oh no, from our canary. We had only had him about a couple of weeks, and man, I found out he could sing up a storm! The whole time I was talking to my wife, the yellow bird symphony was going on in the background. It was hard to hear that canary sing and stay gloomy very long let me tell you. Every night we would put this cloth over Cherokee's cage-that was his name, Cherokee. And all the singing stopped. The next morning I would go into the living room and there wasn't a sound coming from under that cloth. But as soon as I took the cover off, the canary started jumping all over the cage and singing his wakeup song.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting the Cover Off Your Cage."
Each day with that canary was like life began when the cover came off that cage. In a way, that's like you and me. Your cage? That might be painful memories, or a broken heart, or maybe a broken dream. Maybe you're caged in by some addiction or a habit, or anger that's eating you up inside. For some of us it's depression or even suicidal thoughts that have held us in. There's a cover on that cage whatever it is. As you listen today, it's dark in there isn't it? And maybe there's nothing to sing about.
Well, good news for you in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 40. King David said, "The Lord turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth." King David's imagery is a little different, but in canary terms, the cover came off his dark cage and gave him a reason to sing.
The same Lord that did that for King David wants to do that for you. In fact, that's why Jesus Christ came. He says in the Bible, "The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Did you notice that, "release from darkness?"
Now, that little bird of ours was stuck in a dark world that he couldn't change until someone bigger and more powerful came along to remove that cover and release him from that darkness. The Savior, Jesus, came to do that for you and me. He came to die for our darkness, our sin, to remove the death sentence you and I have on our head because of our sins. And when you tell Jesus that you are trusting Him completely for a relationship with God, that cover finally comes off. All the guilt and all the shame of the past is gone; it's forgiven.
So many people have told me right after they've reached out and put their trust in Christ, they say, "I feel like a hundred pounds has just been lifted off my shoulders." And the pain is suddenly lightened because God himself is picking it up. The dark feelings and the power that may have kept you in darkness are replaced by this unexplainable personal peace.
Now, our canary? He had no choice when the cover came off his cage, but you do. Your release from darkness comes when you open your heart to Jesus Christ, and that could be today. You tired of the darkness? Well, you might be ready for Jesus to come in. And if you are, I want to encourage you to join me at our website today. Because basically it's there to explain how to begin that relationship with Jesus in just a very few minutes. There's nothing to join. There's no religion to be a part of here. This is all about you reaching out and embracing the love of the man who died for you. That website is ANewStory.com.
There is light to replace your darkness. There's a song that can replace your sin the day you let Jesus lift that cover off of your life.
Take this quiz. Name the ten wealthiest men in the world. Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners. Name eight people who've won the Nobel prize. How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture? Or the last decade's worth of World Series winners? How'd you do? I didn't do well either. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it? And what I've mentioned are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one. Think of three people you enjoy spending time with. Name ten people who've taught you something worthwhile. Name five friends who've helped you in a difficult time. List a few teachers who aided your journey through high school. Easier? It was for me, too.
The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the most credentials, but the ones with the most concern.
And the Angels Were Silent
Nehemiah 3
Builders of the Wall
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.[b]
6 The Jeshanah[c] Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place. 7 Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah—Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth—places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. 8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section. 10 Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs next to him. 11 Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.
13 The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place. They also repaired a thousand cubits[d] of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.
14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Rekab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors with their bolts and bars in place.
15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam,[e] by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David. 16 Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth Zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs[f] of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Heroes.
17 Next to him, the repairs were made by the Levites under Rehum son of Bani. Beside him, Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district. 18 Next to him, the repairs were made by their fellow Levites under Binnui[g] son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah. 19 Next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section, from a point facing the ascent to the armory as far as the angle of the wall. 20 Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Eliashib’s house to the end of it.
22 The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. 23 Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from Azariah’s house to the angle and the corner, 25 and Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. 29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shekaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. 30 Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters. 31 Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the room above the corner; 32 and between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
Nehemiah 3:13 That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters
Nehemiah 3:15 Hebrew Shelah, a variant of Shiloah, that is, Siloam
Nehemiah 3:16 Hebrew; Septuagint, some Vulgate manuscripts and Syriac tomb
Nehemiah 3:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 24); most Hebrew manuscripts Bavvai
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 16:1-16
Personal Greetings
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Footnotes:
Romans 16:1 Or servant
Romans 16:1 The word deacon refers here to a Christian designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the church in a variety of ways; similarly in Phil. 1:1 and 1 Tim. 3:8,12.
Romans 16:3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
Romans 16:7 Or are esteemed by
Insight
Today’s passage is found near the end of Paul’s theological masterpiece—the epistle to the Romans. As Paul concludes his letter, he greets people by name. His final appeal to maintain unity in Christ is followed by this marvelous phrase of worship: “To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen” (v.27).
Helpers Needed
February 18, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things. —John 14:26
To some people, the term helper carries with it second-class connotations. Classroom helpers assist trained teachers in their classes. Helpers assist trained electricians, plumbers, and lawyers on the job. Because they aren’t as skilled in the profession, they might be viewed as having less value. But everyone is needed to accomplish the task.
The apostle Paul had many helpers in his work of ministry. He listed them in his letter to Rome (ch.16). He made special reference to Phoebe, who “has been a helper of many and of myself also” (v.2). Priscilla and Aquila risked their own lives for Paul (vv.3-4). And Mary, Paul said, “labored much for us” (v.6).
Helping is a spiritual gift, according to 1 Corinthians 12:28. Paul listed it among the gifts from the Holy Spirit that are given to believers in Christ’s body, the church. The gift of “helps” is just as needed as the others that are listed.
Even the Holy Spirit is called a “Helper.” Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
In whatever ways the Holy Spirit, the Helper, has gifted you, let Him use you for His honor.
Dear Lord, thank You for the gifts You have
given me so that I might serve the
body of Christ. Help me to be faithful to use
my gifts to bring You glory.
You are a necessary part of the whole.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
Rise, let us be going —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Getting the Cover Off Your Cage - #7072
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
I would call home to my wife, and I'd get a serenade. Not from her, oh no, from our canary. We had only had him about a couple of weeks, and man, I found out he could sing up a storm! The whole time I was talking to my wife, the yellow bird symphony was going on in the background. It was hard to hear that canary sing and stay gloomy very long let me tell you. Every night we would put this cloth over Cherokee's cage-that was his name, Cherokee. And all the singing stopped. The next morning I would go into the living room and there wasn't a sound coming from under that cloth. But as soon as I took the cover off, the canary started jumping all over the cage and singing his wakeup song.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting the Cover Off Your Cage."
Each day with that canary was like life began when the cover came off that cage. In a way, that's like you and me. Your cage? That might be painful memories, or a broken heart, or maybe a broken dream. Maybe you're caged in by some addiction or a habit, or anger that's eating you up inside. For some of us it's depression or even suicidal thoughts that have held us in. There's a cover on that cage whatever it is. As you listen today, it's dark in there isn't it? And maybe there's nothing to sing about.
Well, good news for you in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 40. King David said, "The Lord turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth." King David's imagery is a little different, but in canary terms, the cover came off his dark cage and gave him a reason to sing.
The same Lord that did that for King David wants to do that for you. In fact, that's why Jesus Christ came. He says in the Bible, "The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Did you notice that, "release from darkness?"
Now, that little bird of ours was stuck in a dark world that he couldn't change until someone bigger and more powerful came along to remove that cover and release him from that darkness. The Savior, Jesus, came to do that for you and me. He came to die for our darkness, our sin, to remove the death sentence you and I have on our head because of our sins. And when you tell Jesus that you are trusting Him completely for a relationship with God, that cover finally comes off. All the guilt and all the shame of the past is gone; it's forgiven.
So many people have told me right after they've reached out and put their trust in Christ, they say, "I feel like a hundred pounds has just been lifted off my shoulders." And the pain is suddenly lightened because God himself is picking it up. The dark feelings and the power that may have kept you in darkness are replaced by this unexplainable personal peace.
Now, our canary? He had no choice when the cover came off his cage, but you do. Your release from darkness comes when you open your heart to Jesus Christ, and that could be today. You tired of the darkness? Well, you might be ready for Jesus to come in. And if you are, I want to encourage you to join me at our website today. Because basically it's there to explain how to begin that relationship with Jesus in just a very few minutes. There's nothing to join. There's no religion to be a part of here. This is all about you reaching out and embracing the love of the man who died for you. That website is ANewStory.com.
There is light to replace your darkness. There's a song that can replace your sin the day you let Jesus lift that cover off of your life.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Nehemiah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: You are Invited
Jesus gives the invitation in Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.”
To know God is to receive his invitation. Not just to hear it, not just to study it, not just to acknowledge it, but to receive it. It’s possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. His invitation is clear and non-negotiable. He gives all and we give him all. Simple and absolute.
Isn’t it incredible that God leaves this choice up to us? Think about it. We can’t choose the weather. We can’t control the economy. We can’t even choose how people respond to us. But we can choose where we spend eternity. The big choice, God leaves to us. The critical decision is ours. What are you doing with his personal request that you live with him forever?
And the Angels Were Silent
Nehemiah 2
Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal[a] Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Exodus 16:1-8
Manna and Quail
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
On Listening
February 17, 2014 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. —Ecclesiastes 5:2
God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason,” the saying goes. The ability to listen is an essential life skill. Counselors tell us to listen to each other. Spiritual leaders tell us to listen to God. But hardly anyone says, “Listen to yourself.” I’m not suggesting that we have an inner voice that always knows the right thing to say. Nor am I saying we should listen to ourselves instead of to God and others. I’m suggesting that we need to listen to ourselves in order to learn how others might be receiving our words.
The Israelites could have used this advice when Moses was leading them out of Egypt. Within days of their miraculous deliverance, they were complaining (Ex. 16:2). Although their need for food was legitimate, their way of expressing the need was not (v.3).
Whenever we speak out of fear, anger, ignorance, or pride—even if what we say is true—those who listen will hear more than our words. They hear emotion. But they don’t know whether the emotion comes from love and concern or disdain and disrespect, so we risk misunderstanding. If we listen to ourselves before speaking out loud, we can judge our hearts before our careless words harm others or sadden our God.
Lord, help me to think before I speak, to
check my heart. Help me to control my tongue
and to express myself clearly so that I won’t
cause dissension. Set a guard on my lips.
Words spoken rashly do more harm than good.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 17, 2014
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat—1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive—only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More - #7071
Monday, February 17, 2014
Clark Kent! What a wimp! I started watching Clark Kent when he was a "mild-mannered reporter (it said) for a great metropolitan newspaper." I was a kid then. Poor Clark! He always seemed pretty easy to push around, kind of Joe Ordinary; "Clark Can't" really. Of course there was a secret no one in Metropolis suspected. No one knew that underneath that ordinary exterior was his real identity-Superman! Clark knew that he was a whole lot more than meets the eye.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More."
For many years the ancient Jews had been sort of Clark Kent; pushed around, ordinary, powerless. They had been the slave labor force of the Egyptian Empire, exploited, they were beaten and they were stripped of their dignity. In a word, they were victims. But not any more. No, God had delivered them. They were free! Outside that is, but they hadn't gotten that message inside. The Lord was giving them a super new identity, but they were still "Clark Kent-ing."
Our word for today from the Word of God, Leviticus 26, beginning at verse 12 (you're going to like this). God says, "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Man, listen to who they are! God says, "You are My people, no longer slaves. The bars that have held you have been broken. You can walk with your head held high." God's saying, "I know what you were, but you can stop living like that now. You are liberated! You're Mine!"
They were out of Egypt, sure. But Egypt wasn't out of them. They were out of slavery, but the slavery wasn't out of them. You say, "What does that have to do with me?" A lot; especially if that word victim rings a bell in your heart. Because maybe you've been carrying around a lot of hurt. Honestly, there's been rejection, abuse, maybe rape, abandonment, betrayal. In some form, or maybe in many forms you have been the victim of someone else's sin. If you've been through a lot of pain, it is very natural to see your identity as victim. Like a business card that has your name and your position on it, except yours has a name and it says Victim.
But it doesn't have to be that way if you have given your heart to Jesus Christ. He's called Savior, Redeemer, Healer, and if you have Christ, you have a secret identity. A secret because maybe only He knows who you really are now. You don't have to be what you have been. You are no longer a slave He says. He's broken the bars that held you. You can walk with your head held high. You've been loved by God Himself. You've been cleaned up from the sins of the past-yours and those of others because of Jesus' death on the cross. He's made you a son of the King and daughter of the King. You're a prince; you're a princess. You don't have to make the future an extension of your painful or sinful past.
Ask for His grace to forgive those you can't forgive, but He can give that forgiveness to you. He's the great Forgiver. So you can forgive those who hurt you like He forgave the people who put Him on the cross; to be able to turn the page on your past and begin a whole new volume. Begin to act as if you are who God says you are, not a victim but a victor.
Clark, maybe your secret identity has been secret even to you. But God says you're free! You're royalty! It's not a secret any more. You don't have to crawl anymore. Because of Jesus, you were meant to fly. It all comes together the day you begin your personal relationship with Jesus. That's never happened for you, and so you are still living with the old identity; the old you. He promises "if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation."
I would love for that to happen for you today. And if you're ready for that, then I'm ready to show you how. Would you visit our website today - ANewStory.com. Discover who you were meant to be; who you were made to be.
Jesus gives the invitation in Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.”
To know God is to receive his invitation. Not just to hear it, not just to study it, not just to acknowledge it, but to receive it. It’s possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. His invitation is clear and non-negotiable. He gives all and we give him all. Simple and absolute.
Isn’t it incredible that God leaves this choice up to us? Think about it. We can’t choose the weather. We can’t control the economy. We can’t even choose how people respond to us. But we can choose where we spend eternity. The big choice, God leaves to us. The critical decision is ours. What are you doing with his personal request that you live with him forever?
And the Angels Were Silent
Nehemiah 2
Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal[a] Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Exodus 16:1-8
Manna and Quail
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
On Listening
February 17, 2014 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. —Ecclesiastes 5:2
God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason,” the saying goes. The ability to listen is an essential life skill. Counselors tell us to listen to each other. Spiritual leaders tell us to listen to God. But hardly anyone says, “Listen to yourself.” I’m not suggesting that we have an inner voice that always knows the right thing to say. Nor am I saying we should listen to ourselves instead of to God and others. I’m suggesting that we need to listen to ourselves in order to learn how others might be receiving our words.
The Israelites could have used this advice when Moses was leading them out of Egypt. Within days of their miraculous deliverance, they were complaining (Ex. 16:2). Although their need for food was legitimate, their way of expressing the need was not (v.3).
Whenever we speak out of fear, anger, ignorance, or pride—even if what we say is true—those who listen will hear more than our words. They hear emotion. But they don’t know whether the emotion comes from love and concern or disdain and disrespect, so we risk misunderstanding. If we listen to ourselves before speaking out loud, we can judge our hearts before our careless words harm others or sadden our God.
Lord, help me to think before I speak, to
check my heart. Help me to control my tongue
and to express myself clearly so that I won’t
cause dissension. Set a guard on my lips.
Words spoken rashly do more harm than good.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 17, 2014
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
Arise and eat—1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive—only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More - #7071
Monday, February 17, 2014
Clark Kent! What a wimp! I started watching Clark Kent when he was a "mild-mannered reporter (it said) for a great metropolitan newspaper." I was a kid then. Poor Clark! He always seemed pretty easy to push around, kind of Joe Ordinary; "Clark Can't" really. Of course there was a secret no one in Metropolis suspected. No one knew that underneath that ordinary exterior was his real identity-Superman! Clark knew that he was a whole lot more than meets the eye.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More."
For many years the ancient Jews had been sort of Clark Kent; pushed around, ordinary, powerless. They had been the slave labor force of the Egyptian Empire, exploited, they were beaten and they were stripped of their dignity. In a word, they were victims. But not any more. No, God had delivered them. They were free! Outside that is, but they hadn't gotten that message inside. The Lord was giving them a super new identity, but they were still "Clark Kent-ing."
Our word for today from the Word of God, Leviticus 26, beginning at verse 12 (you're going to like this). God says, "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Man, listen to who they are! God says, "You are My people, no longer slaves. The bars that have held you have been broken. You can walk with your head held high." God's saying, "I know what you were, but you can stop living like that now. You are liberated! You're Mine!"
They were out of Egypt, sure. But Egypt wasn't out of them. They were out of slavery, but the slavery wasn't out of them. You say, "What does that have to do with me?" A lot; especially if that word victim rings a bell in your heart. Because maybe you've been carrying around a lot of hurt. Honestly, there's been rejection, abuse, maybe rape, abandonment, betrayal. In some form, or maybe in many forms you have been the victim of someone else's sin. If you've been through a lot of pain, it is very natural to see your identity as victim. Like a business card that has your name and your position on it, except yours has a name and it says Victim.
But it doesn't have to be that way if you have given your heart to Jesus Christ. He's called Savior, Redeemer, Healer, and if you have Christ, you have a secret identity. A secret because maybe only He knows who you really are now. You don't have to be what you have been. You are no longer a slave He says. He's broken the bars that held you. You can walk with your head held high. You've been loved by God Himself. You've been cleaned up from the sins of the past-yours and those of others because of Jesus' death on the cross. He's made you a son of the King and daughter of the King. You're a prince; you're a princess. You don't have to make the future an extension of your painful or sinful past.
Ask for His grace to forgive those you can't forgive, but He can give that forgiveness to you. He's the great Forgiver. So you can forgive those who hurt you like He forgave the people who put Him on the cross; to be able to turn the page on your past and begin a whole new volume. Begin to act as if you are who God says you are, not a victim but a victor.
Clark, maybe your secret identity has been secret even to you. But God says you're free! You're royalty! It's not a secret any more. You don't have to crawl anymore. Because of Jesus, you were meant to fly. It all comes together the day you begin your personal relationship with Jesus. That's never happened for you, and so you are still living with the old identity; the old you. He promises "if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation."
I would love for that to happen for you today. And if you're ready for that, then I'm ready to show you how. Would you visit our website today - ANewStory.com. Discover who you were meant to be; who you were made to be.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Nehemiah 1 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Let Your Light Shine
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16, NIV
Did you notice the first five letters of the word courteous spell court? In old England, to be courteous was to act in the way of the court. The family and servants of the king were expected to follow a higher standard.
So are we. Are we not called to represent the King? Then “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah’s Prayer
The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:17-19
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Insight
The relationship between spiritual leaders and followers can sometimes become troubled. Today’s reading reminds us that maintaining a cooperative spirit is necessary in order to benefit from those who provide spiritual direction for us. Our first response should be prayerful submission: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive” (Heb. 13:17). But other passages of Scripture also emphasize a heart of servant leadership in those who provide us with direction: “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor he who is sent greater than he who sent him” (John 13:16). For both leaders and followers, an attitude of mutual submission should prevail: We are to “[submit] to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:21).
Why Cause Grief?
February 16, 2014 — by Dave Branon
Obey those who rule over you, . . . for they watch out for your souls. —Hebrews 13:17
Pastors make an easy target for criticism. Every week they are on display, carefully explaining God’s Word, challenging us toward Christlike living. But sometimes we look to find things to criticize. It’s easy to overlook all the good things a pastor does and focus on our personal opinions.
Like all of us, our pastors are not perfect. So I’m not saying that we should follow them blindly and never confront error through the proper channels. But some words from the writer of Hebrews may help us find the right way of thinking about our leaders who are presenting God’s truth and modeling servant leadership. The writer says, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account” (13:17 niv).
Think about that. Before God, our pastor is responsible for guiding us spiritually. We should want that burden to be joyous, not grievous. The passage indicates that causing grief for the pastor “would be of no benefit” (v.17 niv).
We honor God and make things better for our church when we give honor to those He has appointed as our leaders.
Our gracious Father, thank You for the person
You led to our church as pastor. May we provide
encouragement and support, and may You protect
our pastor from error in both word and actions.
Pastors who preach God’s Word need a good word from God’s people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 16, 2014
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead . . .—Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard—just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead . . . .” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life—He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead . . . ,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16, NIV
Did you notice the first five letters of the word courteous spell court? In old England, to be courteous was to act in the way of the court. The family and servants of the king were expected to follow a higher standard.
So are we. Are we not called to represent the King? Then “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah’s Prayer
The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 13:17-19
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Insight
The relationship between spiritual leaders and followers can sometimes become troubled. Today’s reading reminds us that maintaining a cooperative spirit is necessary in order to benefit from those who provide spiritual direction for us. Our first response should be prayerful submission: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive” (Heb. 13:17). But other passages of Scripture also emphasize a heart of servant leadership in those who provide us with direction: “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor he who is sent greater than he who sent him” (John 13:16). For both leaders and followers, an attitude of mutual submission should prevail: We are to “[submit] to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:21).
Why Cause Grief?
February 16, 2014 — by Dave Branon
Obey those who rule over you, . . . for they watch out for your souls. —Hebrews 13:17
Pastors make an easy target for criticism. Every week they are on display, carefully explaining God’s Word, challenging us toward Christlike living. But sometimes we look to find things to criticize. It’s easy to overlook all the good things a pastor does and focus on our personal opinions.
Like all of us, our pastors are not perfect. So I’m not saying that we should follow them blindly and never confront error through the proper channels. But some words from the writer of Hebrews may help us find the right way of thinking about our leaders who are presenting God’s truth and modeling servant leadership. The writer says, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account” (13:17 niv).
Think about that. Before God, our pastor is responsible for guiding us spiritually. We should want that burden to be joyous, not grievous. The passage indicates that causing grief for the pastor “would be of no benefit” (v.17 niv).
We honor God and make things better for our church when we give honor to those He has appointed as our leaders.
Our gracious Father, thank You for the person
You led to our church as pastor. May we provide
encouragement and support, and may You protect
our pastor from error in both word and actions.
Pastors who preach God’s Word need a good word from God’s people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 16, 2014
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead . . .—Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard—just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead . . . .” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life—He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead . . . ,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Revelation 16 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Little Over a Lifetime
Will I learn what God intends? If I listen, I will. A little girl returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, "Did you learn anything?" "I guess not," the girl responded. "I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day. . ."
Such is the case with learning. And such is the case with Bible study.
Understanding comes a little at a time over a lifetime. James said: "The man who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of doing so is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and wins true happiness." (James 1:25).
The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried. Proverbs 2:4 says to "search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure."
And we need to do it today, and the next day, and the next….
From Just Like Jesus
Revelation 16
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were;
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar respond:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments.”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[a] fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
Footnotes:
Revelation 16:21 Or about 45 kilograms
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 139:1-16
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Insight
From ancient times, the Holy Spirit has been called “the Lord and giver of life.” The Spirit took part in creation (Gen. 1:1-5). In today’s reading we also see how He was present in our physical development in the womb (Ps. 139:13-16). Above all, by the Holy Spirit we are “born again” in Christ (John 3:3-8).
The Great Creator-Healer
February 15, 2014 — by Joe Stowell
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14
A few years ago, I had a rather serious skiing accident and severely tore the muscles in one of my legs. In fact, my doctor told me that the tear caused excessive bleeding. The healing process was slow, but during that time of waiting I found myself in awe of our great Creator (see Col. 1:16).
I’ve wrinkled a few car fenders in my lifetime and dropped more than one dish. They’ve always stayed broken. Not so with my leg. As soon as the tearing of my muscles occurred, the internal healing mechanisms that Christ created in my body went to work. Invisibly, down deep in my throbbing leg, the medics of His marvelous design were mending the tear. Before long, I was up and running again with a whole new sense of what the psalmist meant when he said that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and my heart was filled with praise (Ps. 139:14).
Sometimes it takes something like an injury or a sickness to remind us of the masterful design that we carry around in our bodies. So the next time you face an unwanted interruption—no matter its cause—focus your attention on Jesus’ wonderful love and let Him lift your heart to grateful worship in the midst of the pain!
Lord, help us to see beyond the moments of our lives
and to delve deeply into Your marvelous handiwork
and perfect design. Forgive us for our short-sightedness
and teach us to see You in every circumstance.
Worship of the masterful Creator begins with a grateful heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 15, 2014
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
None of us lives to himself . . . —Romans 14:7
Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places . . .” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God . . .” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).
“You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “. . . lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Will I learn what God intends? If I listen, I will. A little girl returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, "Did you learn anything?" "I guess not," the girl responded. "I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day. . ."
Such is the case with learning. And such is the case with Bible study.
Understanding comes a little at a time over a lifetime. James said: "The man who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of doing so is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and wins true happiness." (James 1:25).
The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried. Proverbs 2:4 says to "search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure."
And we need to do it today, and the next day, and the next….
From Just Like Jesus
Revelation 16
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were;
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar respond:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments.”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[a] fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
Footnotes:
Revelation 16:21 Or about 45 kilograms
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 139:1-16
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Insight
From ancient times, the Holy Spirit has been called “the Lord and giver of life.” The Spirit took part in creation (Gen. 1:1-5). In today’s reading we also see how He was present in our physical development in the womb (Ps. 139:13-16). Above all, by the Holy Spirit we are “born again” in Christ (John 3:3-8).
The Great Creator-Healer
February 15, 2014 — by Joe Stowell
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14
A few years ago, I had a rather serious skiing accident and severely tore the muscles in one of my legs. In fact, my doctor told me that the tear caused excessive bleeding. The healing process was slow, but during that time of waiting I found myself in awe of our great Creator (see Col. 1:16).
I’ve wrinkled a few car fenders in my lifetime and dropped more than one dish. They’ve always stayed broken. Not so with my leg. As soon as the tearing of my muscles occurred, the internal healing mechanisms that Christ created in my body went to work. Invisibly, down deep in my throbbing leg, the medics of His marvelous design were mending the tear. Before long, I was up and running again with a whole new sense of what the psalmist meant when he said that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and my heart was filled with praise (Ps. 139:14).
Sometimes it takes something like an injury or a sickness to remind us of the masterful design that we carry around in our bodies. So the next time you face an unwanted interruption—no matter its cause—focus your attention on Jesus’ wonderful love and let Him lift your heart to grateful worship in the midst of the pain!
Lord, help us to see beyond the moments of our lives
and to delve deeply into Your marvelous handiwork
and perfect design. Forgive us for our short-sightedness
and teach us to see You in every circumstance.
Worship of the masterful Creator begins with a grateful heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 15, 2014
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
None of us lives to himself . . . —Romans 14:7
Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places . . .” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God . . .” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).
“You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “. . . lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Friday, February 14, 2014
Ezra 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Come to Me
Invitations are special.
"You're invited to a gala celebrating the grand opening of. . ."
"Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request your presence at the wedding of their daughter. . ."
To be invited is to be honored-to be held in high esteem! The most incredible invitations aren't found in envelopes, but rather, they are found in the Bible. God invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, and Mary to give birth to His son.
"Come," he invited, "Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)."
"Come," he would say. God is the King who invites us to come, who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in. His invitation for you, however, is not just for a meal, it's for life!
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 10
The People’s Confession of Sin
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. 2 Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. 4 Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”
5 So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. 6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7 A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. 8 Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.
9 Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. 11 Now honor[i] the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”
12 The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: “You are right! We must do as you say. 13 But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. 14 Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this.
16 So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, 17 and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.
Those Guilty of Intermarriage
18 Among the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women:
From the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. 19 (They all gave their hands in pledge to put away their wives, and for their guilt they each presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.)
20 From the descendants of Immer:
Hanani and Zebadiah.
21 From the descendants of Harim:
Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.
22 From the descendants of Pashhur:
Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.
23 Among the Levites:
Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.
24 From the musicians:
Eliashib.
From the gatekeepers:
Shallum, Telem and Uri.
25 And among the other Israelites:
From the descendants of Parosh:
Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.
26 From the descendants of Elam:
Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.
27 From the descendants of Zattu:
Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.
28 From the descendants of Bebai:
Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.
29 From the descendants of Bani:
Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.
30 From the descendants of Pahath-Moab:
Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.
31 From the descendants of Harim:
Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluk and Shemariah.
33 From the descendants of Hashum:
Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.
34 From the descendants of Bani:
Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.
38 From the descendants of Binnui:[j]
Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40 Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.
43 From the descendants of Nebo:
Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.
44 All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.[k]
Ezra 10:11 Or Now make confession to
Ezra 10:38 See Septuagint (also 1 Esdras 9:34); Hebrew Jaasu 38 and Bani and Binnui,
Ezra 10:44 Or and they sent them away with their children
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 15:9-17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Insight
In the ancient Roman hierarchy, to be a “friend of Caesar” meant having a close relationship with the highest seat of power. Such “friends” knew the emperor so well that they actually opened his mail and carried on his correspondence. They also showed a willingness to serve the emperor as he directed. So it is for the follower of Christ today. The Lord Jesus has called us “friends” (John 15:15). He has let us in on His intimacy with His Father and wants us to share His message of love with others. Certainly, to be the friend of Jesus is to be in relationship with the highest seat of power (Phil. 2:5-11).
True Love
February 14, 2014 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13
During the rehearsal for my brother’s wedding ceremony, my husband snapped a picture of the bride and groom as they faced each other in front of the pastor. When we looked at the photograph later, we noticed that the camera’s flash had illuminated a metal cross in the background, which appeared as a glowing image above the couple.
The photograph reminded me that marriage is a picture of Christ’s love for the church as shown on the cross. When the Bible instructs husbands to love their wives (Eph. 5:25), God compares that kind of faithful, selfless affection to Christ’s love for His followers. Because Christ sacrificed His life for the sake of love, we are all to love each other (1 John 4:10-11). He died in our place, so that our sin would not keep us separate from God for eternity. He lived out His words to the disciples: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Many of us suffer from the pain of abandonment, rejection, and betrayal. Despite all of this, through Christ we can understand the sacrificial, compassionate, and enduring nature of true love. Today, remember that you are loved by God. Jesus said so with His life.
Nothing speaks more clearly of God’s love than the cross of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 14, 2014
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Young Love, Young Letdown - #7070
Friday, February 14, 2014
On our list of holidays that we all celebrate each year, I have a sneaking suspicion there might be at least one of them that was invented by greeting card companies and florists. In America we call it Valentine's Day! Florists freak out and then they count their shekels the next day. And, of course, I even did my part by helping some struggling greeting card company. I had to of course. I wanted to get one for the woman I love.
And I get to celebrate on that day a lifetime love that God's given me in my amazing wife. But occasionally Valentine's Day gives me a flashback of a not-so-happy romantic memory; back in the day when I was 13 and I knew I was in love. Right!
Let's call this junior high heartthrob "Cindy." I remember combing the stores on our little town's main street for the perfect gift for Cindy - something to let her know I had feelings for her. Well, I bought the nicest necklace that a few weeks' allowance could afford. It was a heart-shaped necklace. I wrapped it in this mushy note I wrote, put it in an envelope and I left it on her desk in study hall.
The next day she passed by my desk and, as my heart beat loud enough to dance to, she silently left an envelope on my desk. There was a brief moment of excited anticipation, followed by one massive letdown. It was the envelope I'd given her with my note and my necklace inside. Uh-huh, I was crushed. She had rejected the love gift I'd spent everything on.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Young Love, Young Letdown."
You know, God knows how that feels, because He has spent everything on His love gift for you and for me. In our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:32, it says, "He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all." And then in John 3:16 it says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
You know, you can put your name in there. That's how deeply personal this love is. For example, for me it goes, "God so loved Ron..." (Or put your name in there) that He gave His one and only Son that if (there's your name) will believe in Him, then (there's your name again), will not perish but have eternal life."
God knows the feeling of pouring out His love for us and having us just hand it back to Him. "Thanks, God, but no thanks. I'm not interested or I'm not ready." It's not a necklace we're rejecting. It's what the Bible calls "the gift of God (which) is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). In short, we are rejecting heaven. Because there's no way to get there except to have every wrong thing we've ever done forgiven. And that took Jesus doing the dying for the sinning we've done. Look what He spent on this gift!
Now, for too many, Valentine's Day and anniversaries are just reminders of how disappointing human love has been. Even a great love fails to fill that gaping hole in our heart. It's just too big for any human to fill. The hole in our heart has Jesus' name on it. Here's what the Bible says, "we were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). And only He has the un-loseable love that will anchor us and finally complete us.
It must hurt God a lot to have spent so much and then us care so little. But He's a stubborn lover. He's back again today. He's offering His love to someone who's listening right now. Would you respond to His love? Accept the gift that He died to give you. Open your heart and tell Him right where you are today, "Dear Jesus, thank you for the price you paid for me; for my sin. Today I give me to You."
And let me encourage you to go to our website if you're at a point of wanting to be sure you belong to Jesus. Our address is ANewStory.com. I think you'll find a lot of help there; a lot of encouragement. This could be the day that you find the love that you've been looking for your whole life!
Invitations are special.
"You're invited to a gala celebrating the grand opening of. . ."
"Mr. and Mrs. John Smith request your presence at the wedding of their daughter. . ."
To be invited is to be honored-to be held in high esteem! The most incredible invitations aren't found in envelopes, but rather, they are found in the Bible. God invited Eve to marry Adam, the animals to enter the ark, and Mary to give birth to His son.
"Come," he invited, "Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)."
"Come," he would say. God is the King who invites us to come, who prepares the palace, sets the table, and invites his subjects to come in. His invitation for you, however, is not just for a meal, it's for life!
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 10
The People’s Confession of Sin
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. 2 Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. 4 Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”
5 So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. 6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7 A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. 8 Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.
9 Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. 11 Now honor[i] the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”
12 The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: “You are right! We must do as you say. 13 But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. 14 Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this.
16 So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, 17 and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.
Those Guilty of Intermarriage
18 Among the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women:
From the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. 19 (They all gave their hands in pledge to put away their wives, and for their guilt they each presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.)
20 From the descendants of Immer:
Hanani and Zebadiah.
21 From the descendants of Harim:
Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.
22 From the descendants of Pashhur:
Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.
23 Among the Levites:
Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.
24 From the musicians:
Eliashib.
From the gatekeepers:
Shallum, Telem and Uri.
25 And among the other Israelites:
From the descendants of Parosh:
Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.
26 From the descendants of Elam:
Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.
27 From the descendants of Zattu:
Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.
28 From the descendants of Bebai:
Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.
29 From the descendants of Bani:
Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.
30 From the descendants of Pahath-Moab:
Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.
31 From the descendants of Harim:
Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluk and Shemariah.
33 From the descendants of Hashum:
Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.
34 From the descendants of Bani:
Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.
38 From the descendants of Binnui:[j]
Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40 Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.
43 From the descendants of Nebo:
Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.
44 All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.[k]
Ezra 10:11 Or Now make confession to
Ezra 10:38 See Septuagint (also 1 Esdras 9:34); Hebrew Jaasu 38 and Bani and Binnui,
Ezra 10:44 Or and they sent them away with their children
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 15:9-17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Insight
In the ancient Roman hierarchy, to be a “friend of Caesar” meant having a close relationship with the highest seat of power. Such “friends” knew the emperor so well that they actually opened his mail and carried on his correspondence. They also showed a willingness to serve the emperor as he directed. So it is for the follower of Christ today. The Lord Jesus has called us “friends” (John 15:15). He has let us in on His intimacy with His Father and wants us to share His message of love with others. Certainly, to be the friend of Jesus is to be in relationship with the highest seat of power (Phil. 2:5-11).
True Love
February 14, 2014 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13
During the rehearsal for my brother’s wedding ceremony, my husband snapped a picture of the bride and groom as they faced each other in front of the pastor. When we looked at the photograph later, we noticed that the camera’s flash had illuminated a metal cross in the background, which appeared as a glowing image above the couple.
The photograph reminded me that marriage is a picture of Christ’s love for the church as shown on the cross. When the Bible instructs husbands to love their wives (Eph. 5:25), God compares that kind of faithful, selfless affection to Christ’s love for His followers. Because Christ sacrificed His life for the sake of love, we are all to love each other (1 John 4:10-11). He died in our place, so that our sin would not keep us separate from God for eternity. He lived out His words to the disciples: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Many of us suffer from the pain of abandonment, rejection, and betrayal. Despite all of this, through Christ we can understand the sacrificial, compassionate, and enduring nature of true love. Today, remember that you are loved by God. Jesus said so with His life.
Nothing speaks more clearly of God’s love than the cross of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 14, 2014
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Young Love, Young Letdown - #7070
Friday, February 14, 2014
On our list of holidays that we all celebrate each year, I have a sneaking suspicion there might be at least one of them that was invented by greeting card companies and florists. In America we call it Valentine's Day! Florists freak out and then they count their shekels the next day. And, of course, I even did my part by helping some struggling greeting card company. I had to of course. I wanted to get one for the woman I love.
And I get to celebrate on that day a lifetime love that God's given me in my amazing wife. But occasionally Valentine's Day gives me a flashback of a not-so-happy romantic memory; back in the day when I was 13 and I knew I was in love. Right!
Let's call this junior high heartthrob "Cindy." I remember combing the stores on our little town's main street for the perfect gift for Cindy - something to let her know I had feelings for her. Well, I bought the nicest necklace that a few weeks' allowance could afford. It was a heart-shaped necklace. I wrapped it in this mushy note I wrote, put it in an envelope and I left it on her desk in study hall.
The next day she passed by my desk and, as my heart beat loud enough to dance to, she silently left an envelope on my desk. There was a brief moment of excited anticipation, followed by one massive letdown. It was the envelope I'd given her with my note and my necklace inside. Uh-huh, I was crushed. She had rejected the love gift I'd spent everything on.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Young Love, Young Letdown."
You know, God knows how that feels, because He has spent everything on His love gift for you and for me. In our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:32, it says, "He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all." And then in John 3:16 it says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
You know, you can put your name in there. That's how deeply personal this love is. For example, for me it goes, "God so loved Ron..." (Or put your name in there) that He gave His one and only Son that if (there's your name) will believe in Him, then (there's your name again), will not perish but have eternal life."
God knows the feeling of pouring out His love for us and having us just hand it back to Him. "Thanks, God, but no thanks. I'm not interested or I'm not ready." It's not a necklace we're rejecting. It's what the Bible calls "the gift of God (which) is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). In short, we are rejecting heaven. Because there's no way to get there except to have every wrong thing we've ever done forgiven. And that took Jesus doing the dying for the sinning we've done. Look what He spent on this gift!
Now, for too many, Valentine's Day and anniversaries are just reminders of how disappointing human love has been. Even a great love fails to fill that gaping hole in our heart. It's just too big for any human to fill. The hole in our heart has Jesus' name on it. Here's what the Bible says, "we were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). And only He has the un-loseable love that will anchor us and finally complete us.
It must hurt God a lot to have spent so much and then us care so little. But He's a stubborn lover. He's back again today. He's offering His love to someone who's listening right now. Would you respond to His love? Accept the gift that He died to give you. Open your heart and tell Him right where you are today, "Dear Jesus, thank you for the price you paid for me; for my sin. Today I give me to You."
And let me encourage you to go to our website if you're at a point of wanting to be sure you belong to Jesus. Our address is ANewStory.com. I think you'll find a lot of help there; a lot of encouragement. This could be the day that you find the love that you've been looking for your whole life!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Ezra 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God's Eternal Plan
When our oldest daughter was two, I lost her in a department store. I panicked! All of a sudden only one thing mattered-I had to find Jenna. Shopping was forgotten. The list of things I came to get was unimportant. I yelled her name. What people thought didn't matter. Every ounce of energy had one goal: to find my lost child. I did, by the way. She was hiding behind some jackets.
No price is too high for a parent to pay to redeem his child. No energy is too great. No effort too demanding. A parent will go to any length to find his or her own. So will God. Mark it down. God's greatest creation is not the flung stars or the gorged canyons. It's his eternal plan to reach his children. Heaven and earth know no greater passion than God's personal passion for you and your return!
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 9
Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”
3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed:
“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.
8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place[h] in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’
13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? 15 Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 3:1-6
To the Church in Sardis
“To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 3:1 Or messenger; also in verses 7 and 14
Revelation 3:1 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
Insight
Today’s reading takes the spiritual temperature of the Christian church in Sardis. This city contained devotees of many pagan gods and goddesses. This might have been a contributing factor to the spiritual lethargy in some of the members of the church (vv.1-3), yet a remnant had a vital spiritual walk (vv.4-5). A worldly environment does not need to determine the way a believer lives. Spiritual vitality is an individual choice of yielding to God’s transforming work.
Character Or Reputation?
February 13, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. —Revelation 3:1
Legendary basketball coach John Wooden (1910–2010) believed that character is far more important than reputation. “Your reputation is what you’re perceived to be by others,” Coach Wooden often told his players, “but your character is what you really are. You’re the only one that knows your character. You can fool others, but you can’t fool yourself.”
In the book of Revelation, we find the words of the risen Christ to seven churches in Asia. To the church in Sardis, Jesus said, “I know your works, that you have a name [reputation] that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). The Lord knew the truth about them, and no doubt deep down they knew it too. Jesus told them to wake up and strengthen the spiritual life inside them that was about to die (v.2). He urged them to remember the truth they had received, obey it, then turn around and start moving in a new direction (v.3).
When the Lord shows us what’s wrong in our lives, He always provides a remedy for change. When we turn from our sins, He forgives and strengthens us to start over.
How liberating to exchange a false spiritual reputation for the true, life-giving character that comes from knowing Christ our Lord!
Men talk too much of gold and fame,
And not enough about a name;
And yet a good name’s better far
Than all earth’s glistening jewels are. —Guest
The true test of our character is what we do when no one is watching.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, ’Speak, for Your servant hears’ —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends . . .” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Hummingbird Believers - #7069
Thursday, February 13, 2014
A self-respecting hummingbird would never have been caught where we used to live, because there were just way too many people. But now we are in a quieter area where we get to see those little guys. They're the original helicopters you know. They hover; they dart around with their wings moving so fast you can hardly see them. If you want to have them visit your place, your best bet (My wife tells me) is to hang a hummingbird feeder outside. You fill it with this sweet sugar nectar, (It's delicious. I tried some) and before long they zoom up to that feeder, they insert their long straw, I mean beak, and then they start loading up on the sweet stuff.
I saw a documentary that said those little guys need constant sugar to keep going at that speed. They consume up to half their weight in sugar. There's just one problem: they only live about two years. No wonder!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hummingbird Believers."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew chapter 13. Jesus is describing how different people finish what God starts in their life as He sows the seed of His Word. Verse 5, "Some of the seed fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no roots."
Verse 20 explains that. He says, "The one that received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away. Now, obviously here's the kind of Christian no one intends to be; the kind that doesn't make it. It's like people getting married. No one goes to the altar saying, "I think we might get divorced someday, but we'll give it a shot." No, no! Many do end up that way, but they don't intend to.
In that wonderful moment when a person makes a commitment to Jesus Christ, he or she wants this relationship to be the one that they've been looking for all their life. And it is. But some believers "wither" and "fall away" in Jesus' words. Why? Because too many become hummingbird believers. They live on spiritual sugar. They have no root and they don't last long. They fly around in a great spiritual burst and then they're suddenly gone.
Spiritual sugar! The concerts, the special services, "When's the next retreat?", "Let's go to camp!", "When's the next conference?", "Let's get to another special spiritual event!", "Oh, there's a spiritual celebrity coming to town." You can even live on a weekly high at church. And like most sugar highs, these spiritual shots will get you going, they really will. But they won't keep you going. Eventually you're going to crash.
No, Jesus suggested a better idea in Luke 6:47-48. "I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. And when a flood came the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." Unshakable Christians, unsinkable Christians - a rock Christian. He's the one who goes for the protein, not just for the sugar. That means regular, disciplined, personal time in God's Word, looking for a word for you today so you can hear God saying, "I am Jesus, and I want to have A Word With You today about (and He'll talk to you)." He wants to have A Word With You every day. It takes a disciplined commitment to be an eagle that keeps on soaring; a commitment to being in God's Book every day. No one can have this time - non-negotiable.
Maybe you're tired of great spiritual rushes followed by long stretches of spiritual nothing. Pretty soon you're going to burn out on Christian sugar. It's time to step up to the diet of champions.
Hummingbirds live on sugar, and they don't live long. Neither do Christians who live on sugar. So start showing up every day at the other feeder - the one marked Bible, God's Word - and you'll be flying for a long, long time.
When our oldest daughter was two, I lost her in a department store. I panicked! All of a sudden only one thing mattered-I had to find Jenna. Shopping was forgotten. The list of things I came to get was unimportant. I yelled her name. What people thought didn't matter. Every ounce of energy had one goal: to find my lost child. I did, by the way. She was hiding behind some jackets.
No price is too high for a parent to pay to redeem his child. No energy is too great. No effort too demanding. A parent will go to any length to find his or her own. So will God. Mark it down. God's greatest creation is not the flung stars or the gorged canyons. It's his eternal plan to reach his children. Heaven and earth know no greater passion than God's personal passion for you and your return!
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 9
Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”
3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed:
“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.
8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place[h] in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’
13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? 15 Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 3:1-6
To the Church in Sardis
“To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 3:1 Or messenger; also in verses 7 and 14
Revelation 3:1 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
Insight
Today’s reading takes the spiritual temperature of the Christian church in Sardis. This city contained devotees of many pagan gods and goddesses. This might have been a contributing factor to the spiritual lethargy in some of the members of the church (vv.1-3), yet a remnant had a vital spiritual walk (vv.4-5). A worldly environment does not need to determine the way a believer lives. Spiritual vitality is an individual choice of yielding to God’s transforming work.
Character Or Reputation?
February 13, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. —Revelation 3:1
Legendary basketball coach John Wooden (1910–2010) believed that character is far more important than reputation. “Your reputation is what you’re perceived to be by others,” Coach Wooden often told his players, “but your character is what you really are. You’re the only one that knows your character. You can fool others, but you can’t fool yourself.”
In the book of Revelation, we find the words of the risen Christ to seven churches in Asia. To the church in Sardis, Jesus said, “I know your works, that you have a name [reputation] that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). The Lord knew the truth about them, and no doubt deep down they knew it too. Jesus told them to wake up and strengthen the spiritual life inside them that was about to die (v.2). He urged them to remember the truth they had received, obey it, then turn around and start moving in a new direction (v.3).
When the Lord shows us what’s wrong in our lives, He always provides a remedy for change. When we turn from our sins, He forgives and strengthens us to start over.
How liberating to exchange a false spiritual reputation for the true, life-giving character that comes from knowing Christ our Lord!
Men talk too much of gold and fame,
And not enough about a name;
And yet a good name’s better far
Than all earth’s glistening jewels are. —Guest
The true test of our character is what we do when no one is watching.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, ’Speak, for Your servant hears’ —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends . . .” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Hummingbird Believers - #7069
Thursday, February 13, 2014
A self-respecting hummingbird would never have been caught where we used to live, because there were just way too many people. But now we are in a quieter area where we get to see those little guys. They're the original helicopters you know. They hover; they dart around with their wings moving so fast you can hardly see them. If you want to have them visit your place, your best bet (My wife tells me) is to hang a hummingbird feeder outside. You fill it with this sweet sugar nectar, (It's delicious. I tried some) and before long they zoom up to that feeder, they insert their long straw, I mean beak, and then they start loading up on the sweet stuff.
I saw a documentary that said those little guys need constant sugar to keep going at that speed. They consume up to half their weight in sugar. There's just one problem: they only live about two years. No wonder!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hummingbird Believers."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew chapter 13. Jesus is describing how different people finish what God starts in their life as He sows the seed of His Word. Verse 5, "Some of the seed fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no roots."
Verse 20 explains that. He says, "The one that received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away. Now, obviously here's the kind of Christian no one intends to be; the kind that doesn't make it. It's like people getting married. No one goes to the altar saying, "I think we might get divorced someday, but we'll give it a shot." No, no! Many do end up that way, but they don't intend to.
In that wonderful moment when a person makes a commitment to Jesus Christ, he or she wants this relationship to be the one that they've been looking for all their life. And it is. But some believers "wither" and "fall away" in Jesus' words. Why? Because too many become hummingbird believers. They live on spiritual sugar. They have no root and they don't last long. They fly around in a great spiritual burst and then they're suddenly gone.
Spiritual sugar! The concerts, the special services, "When's the next retreat?", "Let's go to camp!", "When's the next conference?", "Let's get to another special spiritual event!", "Oh, there's a spiritual celebrity coming to town." You can even live on a weekly high at church. And like most sugar highs, these spiritual shots will get you going, they really will. But they won't keep you going. Eventually you're going to crash.
No, Jesus suggested a better idea in Luke 6:47-48. "I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. And when a flood came the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." Unshakable Christians, unsinkable Christians - a rock Christian. He's the one who goes for the protein, not just for the sugar. That means regular, disciplined, personal time in God's Word, looking for a word for you today so you can hear God saying, "I am Jesus, and I want to have A Word With You today about (and He'll talk to you)." He wants to have A Word With You every day. It takes a disciplined commitment to be an eagle that keeps on soaring; a commitment to being in God's Book every day. No one can have this time - non-negotiable.
Maybe you're tired of great spiritual rushes followed by long stretches of spiritual nothing. Pretty soon you're going to burn out on Christian sugar. It's time to step up to the diet of champions.
Hummingbirds live on sugar, and they don't live long. Neither do Christians who live on sugar. So start showing up every day at the other feeder - the one marked Bible, God's Word - and you'll be flying for a long, long time.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Ezra 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Hucksters and Faith Peddlers
When religion is used for profit and prestige, people are exploited and God is infuriated! When Jesus entered Jerusalem the first day of Passover week, Matthew 21:12-13 says, "He went into the temple and threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. Jesus said to all the people there, 'It is written in the Scriptures, My temple will be called a house for prayer. But you are changing it into a hideout for robbers!'"
Hucksters. Faith peddlers. People making a franchise out of the faith. This was not a temper tantrum. It was an intentional message from Jesus. Cash in on my people and you've got me to answer to. God will never hold guiltless those who exploit the privilege of worship.
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 8
List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra
8 These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2 of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom;
of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel;
of the descendants of David, Hattush 3 of the descendants of Shekaniah;
of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;
4 of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;
5 of the descendants of Zattu,[a] Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;
6 of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;
7 of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
8 of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;
9 of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;
10 of the descendants of Bani,[b] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;
11 of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
12 of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;
13 of the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
14 of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zakkur, and with them 70 men.
The Return to Jerusalem
15 I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. 20 They also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, 25 and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. 26 I weighed out to them 650 talents[c] of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents,[d] 100 talents[e] of gold, 27 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,[f] and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
28 I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” 30 Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. 32 So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.
33 On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.
35 Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering,[g] twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.
Ezra 8:5 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:32); Hebrew does not have Zattu.
Ezra 8:10 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:36); Hebrew does not have Bani.
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 24 tons or about 22 metric tons
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
Ezra 8:27 That is, about 19 pounds or about 8.4 kilograms
Ezra 8:35 Or purification offering
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:28-30
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Footnotes:
Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
Insight
Today’s Scripture reading has sometimes been misused by well-intentioned Christians. When a believer has been devastated by the loss of a loved one, another believer may glibly quote: “All things work together for good” (v.28). But for someone feeling the hurt and loss of grief, this statement usually provides little consolation. A more careful examination of the biblical text offers an important insight. The broader context shows that the blessings and bruises believers experience must be understood as part of the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. We may not understand why a person was taken from us in this life, but by faith we can have the assurance that all life experiences work together to make us more like Jesus Christ.
Hyperseeing
February 12, 2014 — by David H. Roper
When He is revealed, we shall be like Him. —1 John 3:2
Sculptors have a term for the artist’s ability to look at a rough piece of stone and see it in its final, perfected form. It is called “hyperseeing.”
Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941) is the sculptor who created many well-known public works of art. Probably the most famous is Mt. Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Borglum’s housekeeper captured the concept of hyperseeing when she gazed up at the massive faces of the four US presidents on Mt. Rushmore for the first time. “Mr. Borglum,” she gasped, “how did you know Mr. Lincoln was in that rock?”
Hyperseeing is also a good description of our all-seeing God. He sees all that we are and more. He sees what we shall be when He has completed His work and we stand before Him, holy and without blemish: the exact likeness, the very image of Jesus. The God who started this great work in you will keep at it until He completes it on the very day Jesus Christ appears (see Phil. 1:6).
God will not be denied! He has such a longing for our perfection that nothing can or will remain an obstacle until He has finished the work He began so long ago.
If only . . . if only we will put ourselves in the Master Sculptor’s hands.
Doubt whispers, “Thou art such a blot;
He cannot love poor thee.”
If what I am He lovest not,
He loves what I shall be. —MacDonald
God works in us to grow us into what He wants us to be.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, ’You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’ `—Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us, . . . but let not God speak with us . . . .” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
One Roof - #7068
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Norway is 35 times smaller than Russia, but they went head-to-head with Russia for the most medals won in the 1994 Winter Olympics. One of Norway's speed skaters won the gold medal in Lillehammer. A Norwegian skier stole America's spot at mogul skiing. And one after another, Norway dominated cross-country events. Little Norway was a big winner in those Olympics.
It wasn't always like that. In the late 1980s Norway finally decided they were going to set out to build a team of champions. There were several reasons they succeeded. But one had to be that top sports center in Oslo, Norway. It's a huge sports center where athletes from many sports train together in a single location. They can trade tips, they can encourage one another, and they can learn from each other's strengths. Apparently Norway was an Olympic winner because they did it together.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Roof."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians chapter 1, beginning at verse 27, "Stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel." By the way, this word contending is an athletic word. And then he says, "Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you." This talks about how the Gospel can get to the lost people who desperately need to hear it. And it talks about how believers can shed their inferiority complex and start acting like winners. The secret just happen to be the same as that of Norway's Olympians that year; work together under one roof - at least spiritually speaking.
You know what? Usually we don't. We have our little denominational organizations, and our methodological cliques, and we're fighting each other over the distinctives of each group. This is no way to win! And we aren't. Jesus suggested why the enemy is so strong in our world. When He was accused of casting out demons in Satan's power, He said, "Come on! A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand." He was implying that Satan's kingdom of evil is united.
Christ, on the other hand, allows us to choose, and so we fragment over this 10% we don't agree on instead of coming together on the 90% that we do agree on and this urgent mission every believer has to rescue the dying whatever it takes. Instead, Christians end up building a hundred little kingdoms instead of Jesus' one big kingdom.
We end up shooting at each other instead of at our real enemy. We could learn something from those Norwegian champions. Let's work under one spiritual roof! Let's learn from each other's strengths. Let's find a cause larger than our own performance, our own events; things that will pull us together. That cause is defined in this verse, "contending for the faith of the Gospel"; reaching the lost with the good news about Jesus.
I think there are two things that most of the believers in your community would agree on. There might not be a whole lot, but these are two you can get them to agree on. Number one, the people in your community are lost. Number two, Jesus Christ is their only hope. Is that not enough of an agenda to bring us together to do something about those lost people? We could only be divided if we have lost sight of the lost people that surround us, because there are so many more of them. Our only hope is to go into the rescue together. Does it matter - do we care - who gets the credit, who gets the glory as long as they're in heaven with us?
In the 1994 Winter Olympics the world got to see the secret of winning; coming together under one roof to prepare to fight for a cause greater than any one participant. We have a town to win; a community to reach. We have dying people to rescue. It's time we begin to pray together and plan together under one roof for the cause of the Gospel of Christ; the greatest cause on this planet. On the roof it says The Kingdom of God.
When religion is used for profit and prestige, people are exploited and God is infuriated! When Jesus entered Jerusalem the first day of Passover week, Matthew 21:12-13 says, "He went into the temple and threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. Jesus said to all the people there, 'It is written in the Scriptures, My temple will be called a house for prayer. But you are changing it into a hideout for robbers!'"
Hucksters. Faith peddlers. People making a franchise out of the faith. This was not a temper tantrum. It was an intentional message from Jesus. Cash in on my people and you've got me to answer to. God will never hold guiltless those who exploit the privilege of worship.
From And the Angels Were Silent
Ezra 8
List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra
8 These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2 of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom;
of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel;
of the descendants of David, Hattush 3 of the descendants of Shekaniah;
of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;
4 of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;
5 of the descendants of Zattu,[a] Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;
6 of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;
7 of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
8 of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;
9 of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;
10 of the descendants of Bani,[b] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;
11 of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
12 of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;
13 of the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
14 of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zakkur, and with them 70 men.
The Return to Jerusalem
15 I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. 20 They also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, 25 and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. 26 I weighed out to them 650 talents[c] of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents,[d] 100 talents[e] of gold, 27 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,[f] and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
28 I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” 30 Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. 32 So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.
33 On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.
35 Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering,[g] twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.
Ezra 8:5 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:32); Hebrew does not have Zattu.
Ezra 8:10 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:36); Hebrew does not have Bani.
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 24 tons or about 22 metric tons
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
Ezra 8:26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
Ezra 8:27 That is, about 19 pounds or about 8.4 kilograms
Ezra 8:35 Or purification offering
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:28-30
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Footnotes:
Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
Insight
Today’s Scripture reading has sometimes been misused by well-intentioned Christians. When a believer has been devastated by the loss of a loved one, another believer may glibly quote: “All things work together for good” (v.28). But for someone feeling the hurt and loss of grief, this statement usually provides little consolation. A more careful examination of the biblical text offers an important insight. The broader context shows that the blessings and bruises believers experience must be understood as part of the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. We may not understand why a person was taken from us in this life, but by faith we can have the assurance that all life experiences work together to make us more like Jesus Christ.
Hyperseeing
February 12, 2014 — by David H. Roper
When He is revealed, we shall be like Him. —1 John 3:2
Sculptors have a term for the artist’s ability to look at a rough piece of stone and see it in its final, perfected form. It is called “hyperseeing.”
Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941) is the sculptor who created many well-known public works of art. Probably the most famous is Mt. Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Borglum’s housekeeper captured the concept of hyperseeing when she gazed up at the massive faces of the four US presidents on Mt. Rushmore for the first time. “Mr. Borglum,” she gasped, “how did you know Mr. Lincoln was in that rock?”
Hyperseeing is also a good description of our all-seeing God. He sees all that we are and more. He sees what we shall be when He has completed His work and we stand before Him, holy and without blemish: the exact likeness, the very image of Jesus. The God who started this great work in you will keep at it until He completes it on the very day Jesus Christ appears (see Phil. 1:6).
God will not be denied! He has such a longing for our perfection that nothing can or will remain an obstacle until He has finished the work He began so long ago.
If only . . . if only we will put ourselves in the Master Sculptor’s hands.
Doubt whispers, “Thou art such a blot;
He cannot love poor thee.”
If what I am He lovest not,
He loves what I shall be. —MacDonald
God works in us to grow us into what He wants us to be.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, ’You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’ `—Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us, . . . but let not God speak with us . . . .” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
One Roof - #7068
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Norway is 35 times smaller than Russia, but they went head-to-head with Russia for the most medals won in the 1994 Winter Olympics. One of Norway's speed skaters won the gold medal in Lillehammer. A Norwegian skier stole America's spot at mogul skiing. And one after another, Norway dominated cross-country events. Little Norway was a big winner in those Olympics.
It wasn't always like that. In the late 1980s Norway finally decided they were going to set out to build a team of champions. There were several reasons they succeeded. But one had to be that top sports center in Oslo, Norway. It's a huge sports center where athletes from many sports train together in a single location. They can trade tips, they can encourage one another, and they can learn from each other's strengths. Apparently Norway was an Olympic winner because they did it together.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Roof."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians chapter 1, beginning at verse 27, "Stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel." By the way, this word contending is an athletic word. And then he says, "Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you." This talks about how the Gospel can get to the lost people who desperately need to hear it. And it talks about how believers can shed their inferiority complex and start acting like winners. The secret just happen to be the same as that of Norway's Olympians that year; work together under one roof - at least spiritually speaking.
You know what? Usually we don't. We have our little denominational organizations, and our methodological cliques, and we're fighting each other over the distinctives of each group. This is no way to win! And we aren't. Jesus suggested why the enemy is so strong in our world. When He was accused of casting out demons in Satan's power, He said, "Come on! A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand." He was implying that Satan's kingdom of evil is united.
Christ, on the other hand, allows us to choose, and so we fragment over this 10% we don't agree on instead of coming together on the 90% that we do agree on and this urgent mission every believer has to rescue the dying whatever it takes. Instead, Christians end up building a hundred little kingdoms instead of Jesus' one big kingdom.
We end up shooting at each other instead of at our real enemy. We could learn something from those Norwegian champions. Let's work under one spiritual roof! Let's learn from each other's strengths. Let's find a cause larger than our own performance, our own events; things that will pull us together. That cause is defined in this verse, "contending for the faith of the Gospel"; reaching the lost with the good news about Jesus.
I think there are two things that most of the believers in your community would agree on. There might not be a whole lot, but these are two you can get them to agree on. Number one, the people in your community are lost. Number two, Jesus Christ is their only hope. Is that not enough of an agenda to bring us together to do something about those lost people? We could only be divided if we have lost sight of the lost people that surround us, because there are so many more of them. Our only hope is to go into the rescue together. Does it matter - do we care - who gets the credit, who gets the glory as long as they're in heaven with us?
In the 1994 Winter Olympics the world got to see the secret of winning; coming together under one roof to prepare to fight for a cause greater than any one participant. We have a town to win; a community to reach. We have dying people to rescue. It's time we begin to pray together and plan together under one roof for the cause of the Gospel of Christ; the greatest cause on this planet. On the roof it says The Kingdom of God.
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