Humility is such an elusive virtue. Once you think you have it, you don't, or you wouldn't think you did. You've heard the story of the boy who received the "Most Humble Badge" and had it taken away because he wore it?
God hates arrogance-because we haven't done anything to be arrogant about. Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant? Of course not. It's only a tool, it gets no credit for the accomplishment.
The message of the 23rd Psalm is that we have nothing to be proud about either. We have rest, salvation, blessings,, and a home in heaven-and we did nothing to earn any of it! Who did? Who did the work? The Psalmist says the Lord, our Shepherd, leads His sheep-not for our names' sake but-for His name's sake!
This is all done for God's glory!
From Traveling Light
Job 30
“But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed[a] the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.
9 “And now those young men mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
10 They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right the tribe[c] attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.
13 They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me.
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16 “And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.
18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me[d];
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.
30 My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,
and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 5:21-34
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Insight
Jairus, as a “[ruler] of the synagogue” (Mark 5:22), was a lay leader responsible for organizing and supervising the affairs of the local synagogue. This included the conduct and teaching of the worship services.
Interruptions
By Poh Fang Chia
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. —Psalm 33:11
My sister and I were looking forward to our holiday in Taiwan. We had purchased our plane tickets and booked our hotel rooms. But 2 weeks before the trip, my sister learned she had to stay at home in Singapore to handle an emergency. We were disappointed that our plans were interrupted.
Jesus’ disciples were accompanying Him on an urgent mission when their trip was interrupted (Mark 5:21-42). The daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, was dying. Time was of the essence, and Jesus was on His way to their home. Then, suddenly, Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched My clothes?” (v.30).
The disciples seemed irritated by this and said, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” (v.31). But Jesus saw it as an opportunity to minister to a suffering woman. Her illness had made her ceremonially unclean and unable to participate in community life for 12 years! (see Lev. 15:25-27).
While Jesus was talking to this woman, Jairus’ daughter died. It was too late—or so it seemed. But the delay allowed Jairus to experience an even deeper knowledge of Jesus and His power—even power over death!
Sometimes our disappointment can be God’s appointment.
Disappointment—His appointment
No good thing will He withhold;
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold. —Young
Look for God’s purpose in your next interruption.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 19, 2014
Out of the Wreck I Rise
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? —Romans 8:35
God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble . . .” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors . . .” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.
“Shall tribulation . . . ?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).
“Shall . . . distress . . . ?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?
“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?
Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Intimidated Into Silence - #6876
I think I attended what they would have called a racially-troubled elementary school when I was in kindergarten and first grade. The only thing is the kids didn't know it; somebody forgot to tell us it was racially troubled. It was a changing neighborhood and I guess the adults were real tense about what was going on between the black and white kids. We just didn't know there was any difference between us.
I was out on the playground one day and we were playing dive bomber. It was winter and we all had hats and coats on. The idea was you're supposed to come in with your arm real low and knock off the other guy's hat. Well, in the process, I connected with the head of one of the black kids in our class. I'm a klutz; I missed. Up comes this big, sixth grade patrol boy on a power trip. We called them patrol boys, crossing guards, whatever...they looked huge to a little first grader. This patrol boy said, "Did you try to knock his hat off?" I said, "Yeah, I was just trying to knock his hat off!" I was so confused I just didn't know what to answer him.
He said, "Wait a minute! Did you say you were trying to knock his head off!?" Oh that isn't what I said. I said I was trying to knock his hat off. Did you know I was so intimidated by that crazy patrol boy I couldn't tell him what really happened. Then he said, "Then I'm taking you to the principal's office." That did it! You can't imagine how big that sixth grader looked to me, and then he's got the power of the principal behind him. I had something important to say, but he seemed just too big to say it to.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Intimidated Into Silence."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 29:25. It says, "The fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." I have a friend who has a very powerful, wealthy father who has shown a lot of Christian leaders generosity over the years. And, therefore, he's been approached by many of those people for contributions. They've spent hours on end developing his friendship. His re-born daughter said something that really made me sad. She said, "Ron, as far as I know, not one of them has ever shared the Gospel with my Dad." Oh, they went to him for financial support for the Lord's work, and I can understand they probably didn't want to offend him, but because this man is rich and powerful, people won't tell him about Jesus.
Is that what Proverbs is saying, "The fear of man trips you up," "It's a trap," "It's a snare." Let's bring it down to where we live. There's probably someone in your world who's powerful, maybe a supervisor, a strong relative, maybe someone whose favor you need for some reason. Have you ever tried to tell that person about Jesus or have you been intimidated into silence? No one should miss a chance at heaven because they're in a powerful position and they scare people away. I mean, I'm a child of the King of the universe. I don't need to fear or be intimidated by anyone. I know who I am. I'll be that forever; no one can take that away from me. That's my identity that you can't take.
Why don't you begin to pray that the Lord will help you see that intimidating person through God's eyes? What does God see? He sees someone lost, and lonely, hurting, a sinner needing the cross. Then pray for a natural opportunity - an easy way to get into a conversation. Our three-open prayer, "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth." Pray for the courage to take that opportunity. Pray for an approach that can begin with their need.
I once looked at a powerful patrol boy, and I had nothing to say to him. And I should have said something to him; I had something important to say. It looks dumb to me today. Now, today someone looks almost too big to you to tell the most important news of all. Don't look back one day and say, "Why didn't I tell them?" Because when it comes to the message of salvation, silence is not golden, it's fatal.
| A Word With You - Your Hindrances |
Monday, May 19, 2014Download MP3 (right click to save) When you work in a ministry as I do, you're spending priorities are usually more on people than on things. For example, we have never invested real heavily in office furniture. We've sort of waited for what the Lord supplied, and God has really met our needs. Now, sometimes that gives our office sort of an eclectic look; it's not one style, but it's nice-it's functional. I remember when I once received a new guest chair for my office. It was a nice, black leather swivel chair, and it was a busy chair; a lot of people in and out of there. And it was always so interesting to watch people get in and out of it; especially out. It was relatively easy to plop down into this chair, but there was something about the height and the angle that made it a struggle to get out. You know, life has a lot of positions like that, doesn't it? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Easy to get In, Hard to Get Out." Our word for today from the Word of God is from the first Psalm. There's a lot of Psalms, but this is the first one, and we're only going to read the first verse. It says this: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat (Or there's the chair.) ... in the seat of mockers." This verse is really about how easy it is to get into the wrong thing and how hard it is to get out of it. Sounds like a chair I once met. Notice the three postures here. First, you walk. It says, "In the middle of some wrong things." Now, you're just flirting with it; you're just "walking in the counsel of the wicked." You're exposed briefly to it. You're kind of listening to what they have to say. You plan to move on; you're walking, you're in motion. Not a serious issue; it's just a little glimpse – just walking. Then it talks about "standing in the way of sinners." Oh-Oh! Slow down now! I'm spending more time around the wrong thing; I'm soaking up more wrong input. My resistance is eroding. It's starting to look a little more interesting than I thought it would. And you notice where the person ends up who was just walking, and then standing? They're sitting in the seat of mockers. Sitting in the middle of sin? I never planned to do this. Suddenly I'm in it. You may very well be in that sinking process right now without even knowing it and God directed you here today to point it out. You're walking with sin. You're not doing it; you're just letting yourself get close; flirt with it a little bit, a small lie, a few immoral fantasies, a little compromise of your honesty and integrity. You're not doing anything, you're just fantasizing. A little cheating, some media input that glamorizes what God hates, some dark thoughts. Or maybe you've come to the point where you're standing in the middle of what God hates. It's getting harder not to do it isn't it? You're on your way to the slavery stage. See, sin seduces you slowly...not to make you happy, but to take you prisoner. Would you please run before you're all the way in? Don't get hooked. Are you flirting with what you should be fleeing from? The devil will do everything necessary to make it easy for you to walk into his trap: good looks, good feelings, green lights, great promises, and then you will hear that cell door slam shut and he will lock you in. Just ask anyone who sat in that chair in my office. The easiest time to get out is before you get in. |
