Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Allow Fear to Win
The fear-filled cannot love deeply. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. They cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? Fear paralyzes people. Are you afraid? Afraid of job loss? Afraid of what people are saying about you?
Jesus wages a war against fear. In Matthew 10:28 He says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Fear’s main goal is to keep you from God’s plan for your life. Don’t allow it to win! Punch fear in the face! If anything should be afraid, it should be fear itself.
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 24
“Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. 2 When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. 3 But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, 4 the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.
5 “A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married.
6 “It is wrong to take a set of millstones, or even just the upper millstone, as security for a loan, for the owner uses it to make a living.
7 “If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.
8 “In all cases involving serious skin diseases,[c] be careful to follow the instructions of the Levitical priests; obey all the commands I have given them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.
10 “If you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to pick up the item he is giving as security. 11 You must wait outside while he goes in and brings it out to you. 12 If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight. 13 Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so he can stay warm through the night and bless you, and the Lord your God will count you as righteous.
14 “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. 15 You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.
16 “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.
17 “True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.
19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. 20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 16, 2015
Read: Isaiah 55:8-11
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
INSIGHT: We cannot know God unless He reveals Himself to us. An attribute of God is a characteristic that God has chosen to reveal about Himself through His Word. Incommunicable attributes are those that belong to God alone (e.g., omniscience [all-knowing]; omnipotence [all-powerful]; omnipresence [present everywhere]; immutability [unchangeable]; infinite [having no limits]; transcendence [beyond comprehension]).
Communicable attributes are those that human beings can also possess (e.g., compassion, love, mercy, goodness). In Isaiah 55:8-9, God reveals that He is unlike any other being and our finite minds can never fully understand Him (see Job 11:7-9; Ps. 131:1; Rom. 11:33). Throughout Scripture we are told that there is no one like God (see Ex. 15:11; Ps. 35:10; 89:6-8; Isa. 40:25).
God’s Refreshing Word
By Dennis Fisher
When I was a boy, our family would occasionally travel across Nevada. We loved the desert thunderstorms. Accompanied by lightning bolts and claps of thunder, huge sheets of rain would blanket the hot sand as far as the eye could see. The cooling water refreshed the earth—and us.
Water produces marvelous changes in arid regions. For example, the pincushion cactus is completely dormant during the dry season. But after the first summer rains, cactuses burst into bloom, displaying delicate petals of pink, gold, and white.
Likewise, in the Holy Land after a rainstorm, dry ground can seemingly sprout vegetation overnight. Isaiah used rain’s renewal to illustrate God’s refreshing Word: “As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11).
Scripture carries spiritual vitality. That’s why it doesn’t return void. Wherever it encounters an open heart, it brings refreshment, nourishment, and new life.
God’s Word is like refreshing rain
That waters crops and seed;
It brings new life to open hearts,
And meets us in our need. —Sper
The Bible is to a thirsty soul what water is to a barren land.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 16, 2015
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 16, 2015
3 Messages from God in the Disturbing Headlines - #7310
You know, people have been pretty worried lately. The news can get pretty unnerving.
I know our family's been seeing more anxiety through social media recently. People who haven't been watching the news seem to be watching it more now. Our national leaders, well, they've spoken more ominously than we've heard them speak.
A U.S. Senator had said that Ebola is "one of the most explosive, deadly epidemics in modern times." In Africa, the number of cases, at that point, had recently doubled.
And each day, well, we hear more sobering terrorism warnings. Porous borders that killers could cross. A terrorist army that's growing exponentially - many with passports that would open the door to Western nations.
It's grim stuff. But for us who belong to Jesus, we should be hearing our spiritual phone ringing. It's a wake-up call from God. And this is no time to let it go into voice mail.
Because God's calling to say, "If you're ever going to do something about the people who don't know Jesus, do it now!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "3 Messages from God in the Disturbing Headlines".
Number one, it's time to live for what others are dying for.
You can go online and you will graphically see the price that our brothers and sisters around the world are paying for their allegiance to Jesus. Torture. Rape. Crucifixion.
We have a faith that is paid for in blood. First by Jesus. Then by countless Jesus-followers, from the first-century Coliseum to crosses today. So I should be intimidated into silence because of what talking about Jesus might cost me? "I might be called a name... marginalized... rejected... disrespected." If I won't pay that puny a price, I should be ashamed.
The old hymn asks - "Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause, or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease? While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?"
Yeah, spiritual silence, that's no longer an option. It can cost someone Jesus. It can cost someone heaven.
The second message, I think, is that hearts are open because the world is crazy.
God calls us to make "the most of every opportunity because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). This is opportunity time. Hearts that are usually looking inward are suddenly open to looking upward. With storm clouds coming in from every direction, folks feel vulnerable, they feel unsafe. In the Bible's words, "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest... there is no peace" (Isaiah 57:20-21).
These are Jesus-times. Not to be missed. He's the One who speaks to the storm in the human heart, "Peace, be still!" And "do not let your hearts be troubled."
One other lesson: We have the hope people are starving for.
Peter calls it, "The reason for the hope you have" (1 Peter 3:15). That's what God says will interest people in my Jesus. Especially now. But only if I tell them about His unloseable love, proven on a cross.
And there's never been a better time to tell your "hope story" than now. Our word for today from the Word of God: Hebrews 6:19. What a verse for unraveling times like ours! Speaking of Jesus it says, "we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
My friend Dave used to keep his sailboat in Stamford Harbor in Connecticut. They've got a hurricane gate that they close in the face of this approaching storm. To protect every craft that makes it into the harbor. Actually my friend rode out a hurricane on his boat! He was blown around but he was safe.
Well, Jesus is the harbor where I'm safe in a Category 5 world.
How can I know where the peace is, where the anchor is, and then not tell the people in my personal world? No more silence. No more letting fear win. No more wimping out on sharing my Jesus.
It's too late for that.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Deuteronomy 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Go After the Small Drips
I wonder what formed the Grand Canyon? Maybe a few drips here and there. Slowly more and more water built up. Thunderstorms and lightning… angry expressions from the sky spilling out in the raging river of the Colorado. A once innocent stream now full of power and purpose. As years go by, the crevasse is dug.
Our anger builds like the Colorado. Slowly, small things drip, drip, drip down, annoying, irritating, finally enraging. That was mine! Drip. Get out of my way! Drip. Don't tell me what to do! Drip. The pressure and the buildup unleashing a frenzy of anger, pouring out in our words, sweeping away our loved ones, our homes, and our peace.
Don't wait until you have a gushing fire hydrant. Go after the small drips. Address every little irritant with forgiveness and prayer. Do it before your anger digs a canyon in your life!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 23
Regulations concerning Worship
[a]“If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
2 “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you. 6 As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.
7 “Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. 8 The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Miscellaneous Regulations
9 “When you go to war against your enemies, be sure to stay away from anything that is impure.
10 “Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day. 11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
12 “You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. 14 The camp must be holy, for the Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you.
15 “If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, you must not hand them over to their masters. 16 Let them live among you in any town they choose, and do not oppress them.
17 “No Israelite, whether man or woman, may become a temple prostitute. 18 When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the Lord your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man[b] or a woman, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.
19 “Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether you loan money, or food, or anything else. 20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. 22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket. 25 And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Read: Mark 10:13-16
Jesus Blesses the Children
One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.
NSIGHT: Jesus demonstrated that true faith in God was not bound by cultural concerns. In a patriarchal society, He met and talked with women (see John 4). He ate and drank with those who were considered impure (see Luke 7:36-30; 17:11-19; 19:1-10). He even embraced children, when most would push them aside (Mark 10:13-14). Jesus didn’t simply say that He had come to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10); He demonstrated it by showing that God’s love is open to everyone.
Kindness Gone Viral By Mart De Haan
News of a simple act of kindness on a New York subway has gone around the world. A young man, head covered by a hooded sweatshirt, fell asleep on the shoulder of an older passenger. When someone else offered to wake the young rider, the older man quietly said, “He must have had a long day. Let him sleep. We’ve all been there.” Then he let the tired fellow rider sleep on his shoulder for the better part of the next hour, until the older man gently eased away to get up for his stop. In the meantime, another passenger snapped a photograph and posted it on social media, and it went viral.
The man’s kindness seems to resonate with what we all long for—the kindness that reflects the heart of God. We see this gentleness in Jesus when His friends tried to protect Him from the noise and bother of little children. Instead, Jesus insisted on taking the little ones in His arms and blessing them (Mark 10:16). In the process, He invited all of us to trust Him like a little child (vv.13-16).
Jesus lets us know that all of us are safe in His presence. Whether awake or asleep, we can lean on Him. When we’re exhausted, He provides a safe place for us to rest.
Under His wings, I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild;
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child. —Cushing
God is a safe resting place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Price of a Runner's High - #7309
My friend, Bob, is a pastor, and he's also a jogger. Which some would say, he's a jogger but otherwise normal. Well one day he went jogging and he came home and he started to do some work at his desk. He started to write his address on some bills he was paying, except his wife noticed it wasn't his address. And that was her first clue. It turned out that Bob had suffered a mild stroke while he was running.
Now, jogging really is good for you, but in this case he'd had a stroke and he didn't even realize it. So he ended up losing his speech, thought functions, and he recovered slowly. Some of the sermon preparations that used to take hours, now took all week. It was amazing that in the middle of all of that, Bob felt okay when he had his stroke. The doctor said, "You probably experienced a runner's high. It's this mysterious euphoria that takes over and it covers up the pain." That's kind of scary. You can run so hard that you can't feel the damage being done.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Price of a Runner's High."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Luke 10, beginning at verse 38. Now, as we read this, remember that image of a man running so hard he isn't able to feel the damage being done. Let's go to Martha. "Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister's left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you're worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.'"
Well, here's Martha. And man, I can identify. She's running hard. She represents so many of us, absorbed in our busyness, our deadlines, our stress, our success, our responsibilities, our to-do list. But Martha is running so hard she's unaware of the damage being done. She was missing her Lord, even though she was serving Him. She was missing her sister.
Sound at all familiar? Well, maybe you're running pretty hard right now. Okay, be careful. There might be some damage that you can't feel because of your runner's high. Maybe you're unaware of a partner or a child who is being neglected. They're not yelling. They're not screaming for you. They're just quietly hurting and missing you. They've been left in your busy wake and you can't feel it because you're running so hard.
Maybe the people around you are being stepped on, ignored, feeling used. Could it be that you've become a stress carrier without even being aware of it? You walk into a room, an office, a church, wherever you go, to meetings, and you just bring stress with you. Pretty soon the whole room is stressed.
Maybe you've been losing Jesus in the process, or losing your love, or your joy, or your peace. Maybe you're losing someone you care about because you are running so hard. If you're pushing so hard that you can't feel the pain around you, you're pushing too hard. It's time to hit the brakes, pull over for a time of evaluation, and get in touch with your key relationships, starting with Jesus.
The price of a runner's high is too high for you to pay.
I wonder what formed the Grand Canyon? Maybe a few drips here and there. Slowly more and more water built up. Thunderstorms and lightning… angry expressions from the sky spilling out in the raging river of the Colorado. A once innocent stream now full of power and purpose. As years go by, the crevasse is dug.
Our anger builds like the Colorado. Slowly, small things drip, drip, drip down, annoying, irritating, finally enraging. That was mine! Drip. Get out of my way! Drip. Don't tell me what to do! Drip. The pressure and the buildup unleashing a frenzy of anger, pouring out in our words, sweeping away our loved ones, our homes, and our peace.
Don't wait until you have a gushing fire hydrant. Go after the small drips. Address every little irritant with forgiveness and prayer. Do it before your anger digs a canyon in your life!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 23
Regulations concerning Worship
[a]“If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
2 “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. 4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you. 6 As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.
7 “Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. 8 The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Miscellaneous Regulations
9 “When you go to war against your enemies, be sure to stay away from anything that is impure.
10 “Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day. 11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
12 “You must have a designated area outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. 14 The camp must be holy, for the Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you.
15 “If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, you must not hand them over to their masters. 16 Let them live among you in any town they choose, and do not oppress them.
17 “No Israelite, whether man or woman, may become a temple prostitute. 18 When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the Lord your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man[b] or a woman, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.
19 “Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether you loan money, or food, or anything else. 20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. 22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket. 25 And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Read: Mark 10:13-16
Jesus Blesses the Children
One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.
NSIGHT: Jesus demonstrated that true faith in God was not bound by cultural concerns. In a patriarchal society, He met and talked with women (see John 4). He ate and drank with those who were considered impure (see Luke 7:36-30; 17:11-19; 19:1-10). He even embraced children, when most would push them aside (Mark 10:13-14). Jesus didn’t simply say that He had come to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10); He demonstrated it by showing that God’s love is open to everyone.
Kindness Gone Viral By Mart De Haan
News of a simple act of kindness on a New York subway has gone around the world. A young man, head covered by a hooded sweatshirt, fell asleep on the shoulder of an older passenger. When someone else offered to wake the young rider, the older man quietly said, “He must have had a long day. Let him sleep. We’ve all been there.” Then he let the tired fellow rider sleep on his shoulder for the better part of the next hour, until the older man gently eased away to get up for his stop. In the meantime, another passenger snapped a photograph and posted it on social media, and it went viral.
The man’s kindness seems to resonate with what we all long for—the kindness that reflects the heart of God. We see this gentleness in Jesus when His friends tried to protect Him from the noise and bother of little children. Instead, Jesus insisted on taking the little ones in His arms and blessing them (Mark 10:16). In the process, He invited all of us to trust Him like a little child (vv.13-16).
Jesus lets us know that all of us are safe in His presence. Whether awake or asleep, we can lean on Him. When we’re exhausted, He provides a safe place for us to rest.
Under His wings, I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild;
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child. —Cushing
God is a safe resting place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Price of a Runner's High - #7309
My friend, Bob, is a pastor, and he's also a jogger. Which some would say, he's a jogger but otherwise normal. Well one day he went jogging and he came home and he started to do some work at his desk. He started to write his address on some bills he was paying, except his wife noticed it wasn't his address. And that was her first clue. It turned out that Bob had suffered a mild stroke while he was running.
Now, jogging really is good for you, but in this case he'd had a stroke and he didn't even realize it. So he ended up losing his speech, thought functions, and he recovered slowly. Some of the sermon preparations that used to take hours, now took all week. It was amazing that in the middle of all of that, Bob felt okay when he had his stroke. The doctor said, "You probably experienced a runner's high. It's this mysterious euphoria that takes over and it covers up the pain." That's kind of scary. You can run so hard that you can't feel the damage being done.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Price of a Runner's High."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Luke 10, beginning at verse 38. Now, as we read this, remember that image of a man running so hard he isn't able to feel the damage being done. Let's go to Martha. "Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister's left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you're worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.'"
Well, here's Martha. And man, I can identify. She's running hard. She represents so many of us, absorbed in our busyness, our deadlines, our stress, our success, our responsibilities, our to-do list. But Martha is running so hard she's unaware of the damage being done. She was missing her Lord, even though she was serving Him. She was missing her sister.
Sound at all familiar? Well, maybe you're running pretty hard right now. Okay, be careful. There might be some damage that you can't feel because of your runner's high. Maybe you're unaware of a partner or a child who is being neglected. They're not yelling. They're not screaming for you. They're just quietly hurting and missing you. They've been left in your busy wake and you can't feel it because you're running so hard.
Maybe the people around you are being stepped on, ignored, feeling used. Could it be that you've become a stress carrier without even being aware of it? You walk into a room, an office, a church, wherever you go, to meetings, and you just bring stress with you. Pretty soon the whole room is stressed.
Maybe you've been losing Jesus in the process, or losing your love, or your joy, or your peace. Maybe you're losing someone you care about because you are running so hard. If you're pushing so hard that you can't feel the pain around you, you're pushing too hard. It's time to hit the brakes, pull over for a time of evaluation, and get in touch with your key relationships, starting with Jesus.
The price of a runner's high is too high for you to pay.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Luke 6:1-26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28 reminds us, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those love Him.” This is one of the most helpful, comforting verses of the entire Bible, announcing God’s sovereignty in any painful, tragic situation we face.
God works. Paul’s word for this is sunergeo—the great-great-grandfather of the term synergy. Paul is saying that God can make all things sunergeo for the good. Blending faith with the failings, triumphs with the tears.
James makes the same point in James 1:2 when he says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
So what do we do in the meantime? We trust. We trust totally, and remember God is working for the good!
From Max on Life
Luke 6:1-26
A Discussion about the Sabbath
6 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 5 And Jesus added, “The Son of Man[a] is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
8 But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. 9 Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Crowds Follow Jesus
17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil[b] spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.
The Beatitudes
20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
“God blesses you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
for in due time you will laugh.
22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
Sorrows Foretold
24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,
for a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
Footnotes:
6:5 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
6:18 Greek unclean.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:24-33
Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.[a] 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. 32 When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him.
Footnotes:
11:26 Greek from false brothers.
Insight
As Paul recounts some of the things he has endured in the service of Christ, the scene from Damascus (vv.32-33) is of special interest. There, Paul’s aggressive preaching ministry created great tension in the Jewish community, resulting in his novel escape (see Acts 9:22-25).
It’s Worth It
By Marion Stroud
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. —2 Corinthians 11:30
“I can’t do it,” Robert said, throwing his pencil down in despair. “It’s just too hard!” Reading, writing, and spelling seemed impossible to our dyslexic 9-year-old. At last, a solution was offered. But it was tough. We had to do reading and spelling practice with him for 20 minutes every evening—without exception. Sometimes we just didn’t feel like doing it, and at times we despaired of seeing progress. But we were committed to getting Robert’s reading age and his chronological age to match, so we battled on.
After 2 1/2 years, all the tears and struggles seemed infinitely worthwhile. Robert learned to read and spell. And we all learned patient endurance.
The apostle Paul suffered all sorts of hardships as he pursued his goal of sharing the good news of Jesus with those who had never heard. Persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and misunderstood, sometimes he faced death itself (2 Cor. 11:25). But the joy of seeing people respond to his message made it all worthwhile.
If you feel that the task God has called you to is too hard, remember that the spiritual lessons and joy that are wrapped up in the journey may seem hidden at first, but they are certainly there! God will help you find them.
Sometimes we learn that hardships
Were blessings in disguise,
That earnest work and faith in God
Were proven to be wise. —Hess
The journey is as important as the destination.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Daddy, Carry Me - #7308
Our son-in-law has done our family a great favor. He took our clunky, old Super 8 movies and put them onto a DVD so we could watch them a little more easily. And not long ago I was watching a scene with our oldest son that really brought back some, well, tender feelings.
He was probably I guess four years old or so. We were at a tourist attraction on vacation. You could tell he was tired, he was in a new place, and there were a lot of new people around. You know where he was? Here we go, all snuggled up in my arms. He had his head on my shoulder, oh, and his trademark position. He's the only one of our kids that ever did this. He would take the collar of my shirt and put that in his ear with one hand and then he'd suck his thumb with the other hand. And that was just last week! No, no, no I'm just kidding. Today, well, he's gone into God's work, he's been a missionary to Native Americans. Now, we still have a very close bond, although I have to tell you, he hasn't been interested in his thumb or my collar for a number of years now. But that's why this home movie means a lot to me, for more reasons than one.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Daddy, Carry Me."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Deuteronomy 1, beginning at verse 29. God is talking to His people and He says, "I said, 'Do not be terrified. Do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you will fight for you as He did for you in Egypt before your very eyes and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a father carries his son; all the way you went until you reached this place.'"
I can't read this without remembering that home movie of my son and seeing myself in the movie. Except I'm the little guy and God is carrying me. I'm snuggled in His arms. Now, there are two times that a child tends to say, "Daddy, carry me." One is when kids are too tired to go on. And maybe you're there. You've got nothing left to give. "Daddy, carry me." Another time is when a child is fearful. They're in a situation where they've never been before. It's scary. Maybe you're frightened. Maybe you're unsure. Maybe something's going on with one of your kids, or your finances, or your marriage. Maybe you're suddenly alone. It could be an issue or a responsibility that has depleted all the resources you've got. You say, "I can't go any further."
The Israelites would have never made it through the wilderness. They would have never made it to the edge of The Promised Land, if they had to get there on their own strength and courage. They ran out. And God says, "I will carry you, my children. You will be safe in your Father's arms." That could be a picture of you right now. God's inviting you to stop trying to make it on your own, trying to depend on your own resources, trying to size up whether you should even decide to go on based on what you think you can do. When a father carries a son, it has nothing to do with the resources of the one being carried. It's all about how strong the one carrying you is.
Maybe you're like me. You like to tough it out. "I can figure out something here. I'll find a way. I can make it happen. I can handle this." Right now it's time for you not to do that. It's time for you to collapse in your Daddy's arms and try to find out how powerful He is. You say, "Lord, I've got no strength. I've got no energy to contribute. I'm not going to make it on my own." Well, that's a powerful moment. Your powerlessness - a powerful moment. That's the moment of really feeling His love, experiencing His take-over and sensing the release of His power into your exhaustion.
What's the result? Well, I know. Because I've carried a tired, scared child, and it bonds you incredibly. Allow yourself to surrender your strength for your Father's strength. Don't walk one more step on your own. Let Him carry you. "I carried you through the desert all the way," He said.
You collapse in your Daddy's arms and that will bring the two of you close as nothing else can.
Romans 8:28 reminds us, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those love Him.” This is one of the most helpful, comforting verses of the entire Bible, announcing God’s sovereignty in any painful, tragic situation we face.
God works. Paul’s word for this is sunergeo—the great-great-grandfather of the term synergy. Paul is saying that God can make all things sunergeo for the good. Blending faith with the failings, triumphs with the tears.
James makes the same point in James 1:2 when he says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
So what do we do in the meantime? We trust. We trust totally, and remember God is working for the good!
From Max on Life
Luke 6:1-26
A Discussion about the Sabbath
6 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 5 And Jesus added, “The Son of Man[a] is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
8 But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. 9 Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Crowds Follow Jesus
17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil[b] spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.
The Beatitudes
20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
“God blesses you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
for in due time you will laugh.
22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.
Sorrows Foretold
24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,
for a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
Footnotes:
6:5 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
6:18 Greek unclean.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:24-33
Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.[a] 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. 32 When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him.
Footnotes:
11:26 Greek from false brothers.
Insight
As Paul recounts some of the things he has endured in the service of Christ, the scene from Damascus (vv.32-33) is of special interest. There, Paul’s aggressive preaching ministry created great tension in the Jewish community, resulting in his novel escape (see Acts 9:22-25).
It’s Worth It
By Marion Stroud
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. —2 Corinthians 11:30
“I can’t do it,” Robert said, throwing his pencil down in despair. “It’s just too hard!” Reading, writing, and spelling seemed impossible to our dyslexic 9-year-old. At last, a solution was offered. But it was tough. We had to do reading and spelling practice with him for 20 minutes every evening—without exception. Sometimes we just didn’t feel like doing it, and at times we despaired of seeing progress. But we were committed to getting Robert’s reading age and his chronological age to match, so we battled on.
After 2 1/2 years, all the tears and struggles seemed infinitely worthwhile. Robert learned to read and spell. And we all learned patient endurance.
The apostle Paul suffered all sorts of hardships as he pursued his goal of sharing the good news of Jesus with those who had never heard. Persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and misunderstood, sometimes he faced death itself (2 Cor. 11:25). But the joy of seeing people respond to his message made it all worthwhile.
If you feel that the task God has called you to is too hard, remember that the spiritual lessons and joy that are wrapped up in the journey may seem hidden at first, but they are certainly there! God will help you find them.
Sometimes we learn that hardships
Were blessings in disguise,
That earnest work and faith in God
Were proven to be wise. —Hess
The journey is as important as the destination.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Daddy, Carry Me - #7308
Our son-in-law has done our family a great favor. He took our clunky, old Super 8 movies and put them onto a DVD so we could watch them a little more easily. And not long ago I was watching a scene with our oldest son that really brought back some, well, tender feelings.
He was probably I guess four years old or so. We were at a tourist attraction on vacation. You could tell he was tired, he was in a new place, and there were a lot of new people around. You know where he was? Here we go, all snuggled up in my arms. He had his head on my shoulder, oh, and his trademark position. He's the only one of our kids that ever did this. He would take the collar of my shirt and put that in his ear with one hand and then he'd suck his thumb with the other hand. And that was just last week! No, no, no I'm just kidding. Today, well, he's gone into God's work, he's been a missionary to Native Americans. Now, we still have a very close bond, although I have to tell you, he hasn't been interested in his thumb or my collar for a number of years now. But that's why this home movie means a lot to me, for more reasons than one.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Daddy, Carry Me."
Our word for today from the Word of God: Deuteronomy 1, beginning at verse 29. God is talking to His people and He says, "I said, 'Do not be terrified. Do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you will fight for you as He did for you in Egypt before your very eyes and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a father carries his son; all the way you went until you reached this place.'"
I can't read this without remembering that home movie of my son and seeing myself in the movie. Except I'm the little guy and God is carrying me. I'm snuggled in His arms. Now, there are two times that a child tends to say, "Daddy, carry me." One is when kids are too tired to go on. And maybe you're there. You've got nothing left to give. "Daddy, carry me." Another time is when a child is fearful. They're in a situation where they've never been before. It's scary. Maybe you're frightened. Maybe you're unsure. Maybe something's going on with one of your kids, or your finances, or your marriage. Maybe you're suddenly alone. It could be an issue or a responsibility that has depleted all the resources you've got. You say, "I can't go any further."
The Israelites would have never made it through the wilderness. They would have never made it to the edge of The Promised Land, if they had to get there on their own strength and courage. They ran out. And God says, "I will carry you, my children. You will be safe in your Father's arms." That could be a picture of you right now. God's inviting you to stop trying to make it on your own, trying to depend on your own resources, trying to size up whether you should even decide to go on based on what you think you can do. When a father carries a son, it has nothing to do with the resources of the one being carried. It's all about how strong the one carrying you is.
Maybe you're like me. You like to tough it out. "I can figure out something here. I'll find a way. I can make it happen. I can handle this." Right now it's time for you not to do that. It's time for you to collapse in your Daddy's arms and try to find out how powerful He is. You say, "Lord, I've got no strength. I've got no energy to contribute. I'm not going to make it on my own." Well, that's a powerful moment. Your powerlessness - a powerful moment. That's the moment of really feeling His love, experiencing His take-over and sensing the release of His power into your exhaustion.
What's the result? Well, I know. Because I've carried a tired, scared child, and it bonds you incredibly. Allow yourself to surrender your strength for your Father's strength. Don't walk one more step on your own. Let Him carry you. "I carried you through the desert all the way," He said.
You collapse in your Daddy's arms and that will bring the two of you close as nothing else can.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Deuteronomy 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Season of Suffering
God uses our struggles for His glory! The last three years of my dad's life were scarred by ALS. The disease took him from being a healthy mechanic to being a bed-bound paralytic. He lost his voice and his muscles, but he never lost his faith. Visitors noticed. Not so much in what he said, but more in what he didn't say. Never outwardly angry or bitter, Jack Lucado suffered with dignity.
His faith led one man to seek a like faith. This man sought me out and told me because of my dad's example, he became a Jesus follower. Did God orchestrate my father's illness for that very reason? Knowing the value God places on one soul, I wouldn't be surprised. And imagining the splendor of heaven, I know my father is not complaining. A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the great reward!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 22
If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility.[d] Take it back to its owner. 2 If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. 3 Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility.
4 “If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!
5 “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground, and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but let the mother go, so that you may prosper and enjoy a long life.
8 “When you build a new house, you must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof.
9 “You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop.
10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.
11 “You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.
12 “You must put four tassels on the hem of the cloak with which you cover yourself—on the front, back, and sides.
Regulations for Sexual Purity
13 “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her 14 and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’ 15 Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 16 Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. 18 The elders must then take the man and punish him. 19 They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver,[e] which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.
20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. 21 The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
22 “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.
23 “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, 29 he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver.[f] Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 [g]“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.
Footnotes:
22:1 Hebrew don’t hide yourself; similarly in 22:3.
22:19 Hebrew 100 [shekels] of silver, about 2.5 pounds or 1.1 kilograms in weight.
22:29 Hebrew 50 [shekels] of silver, about 1.25 pounds or 570 grams in weight.
22:30 Verse 22:30 is numbered 23:1 in Hebrew text.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Read: Psalm 77:1-15
For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven,
but my soul was not comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help. Interlude
4 You don’t let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days,
long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and ponder the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude
10 And I said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Interlude
Insight
King David enlisted three Levitical choirs and orchestras for the temple worship, led by Asaph, Jeduthun (or Ethan), and Heman (1 Chron. 16:37-41; 25:1-6; 2 Chron. 5:12). Psalm 77 was written by Asaph for Jeduthun. Asaph also composed Psalms 50 and 73-83.
Out Of The Darkness
By Dave Branon
I cried out to God . . . . Who is so great a God as our God? —Psalm 77:1,13
I don’t know what desperate situation gripped Asaph, the writer of Psalm 77, but I’ve heard, and made, similar laments. Over the past dozen years since I lost my daughter, many others who have experienced the loss of a loved one have shared with me heartbreaking sentiments like these:
Crying out to God (v.1). Stretching empty arms heavenward (v.2). Experiencing troubling thoughts about God because of horrible circumstances (v.3). Enduring unspeakable trouble (v.4). Cowering under the feeling of being cast aside (v.7). Fearing failed promises (v.8). Fearing a lack of mercy (v.8).
But a turnaround occurs for Asaph in verse 10 through a recollection of God’s great works. Thoughts turn to God’s love. To memories of what He has done. To His marvelous deeds of old. To the comfort of God’s faithfulness and mercy. To reminders of God’s wonders and greatness. To His strength and redemption.
Despair is real in this life, and answers do not come easily. Yet in the darkness—as we remember God’s glory, majesty, power, and love—our despair can slowly subside. Like Asaph, we can rehearse God’s acts, especially the salvation He brought through Jesus, and we can return to where we once were—resting gratefully in His mighty love.
Lord, we cannot fathom the depth of Your character
or the wisdom of Your actions when trouble visits us.
Help us to inch our way back into Your arms through
a rehearsal of Your goodness and a recollection of Your glorious love.
Remembering the past can bring hope to the present.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Surprising Heroes - #7307
Brian's a Youth Pastor, and Earl? His most unlikely volunteer. See, Earl wasn't the right age to help out with teenagers. A pretty simple guy, not very well educated. He had one of those faces that looked like it had been lived in for a long time. And he didn't think he had any abilities that would help. In fact, that's what he told Brian. He said, "You know, Brian, I can't do anything. But I really have a heart for kids." So Brian said, "Well, do you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" Earl said, "Well, sure! I can do that!" Well, that began a series of events that changed a life; really two lives forever.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprising Heroes."
Our word for today from the Word of God, we are in Matthew 20:6-7, where Jesus is telling one of His parables. It's about a man with a vineyard. He's gone out many times to get people to help him reap his crop, and as he gets to the end of the day he still needs more help. And here's what it says, "About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'"
Now, we're looking here at people who did not know that the Master had work for them. But the Master's got work for everybody, including you; including Earl. He went to work in that Coffee House the youth ministry had going... You guessed it, he was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Right!
One night this hard, rough and tumble biker - real intimidating guy - came in. And he angrily walked up after he heard Christ presented and he went to Brian and said, "I don't buy any of this! Show me one reason why I should!" Earl heard this, put his peanut butter knife down, and he started to cry in the corner. Brian pointed over and said to that biker, "You see that man over there? You see his tears? Those are for you man. He's praying for you." Suddenly that biker was soft for the first time that night, and he said, "That old guy's praying for me? He's crying for me?" Brian said, "Yeah, Jesus loves you, man." And that biker came to Christ that night.
There are a lot of Earls; maybe you're one of them. Maybe you think you don't have any outstanding abilities. You're like those people who said, "Well, no one hired me. No one has asked me to do anything." Would you be willing to say, "Lord, I don't know what I can do for You, but I want to make a difference with the time I have left. So, here am I. Send me."
You never know what God's going to use. Maybe your smile, your driving. Maybe he'll use your abilities as a preparer of home-cooked meals, or your ability to bake mouth watering cookies and cakes to reach hurting, lonely people. Maybe He's going to use your listening. Or your tears, like Earl's tears. Maybe your letter writing, your background; the pain of your background that could connect you to some other people with the same kind of background. Or maybe, He'll have you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
But would you let God lay some needy group of people, some ministry, some work for Him on your heart? And then tell someone that you have that burden, that you're willing to do anything. And trust God. He knows you intimately and He'll put you some place to minister. You are that unique person that could make a unique difference for Him. Even if you can't imagine it, Jesus is saying to you right now, "You also go and work in my vineyard."
Earl? His peanut butter and jelly sandwiches put him at the right place at the right time. His heart, his tears, brought a seemingly unreachable man to Jesus Christ. Changed a biker's life and it changed Earl's. Jesus needs you, to be one of His surprising heroes.
A Siri read my text
God uses our struggles for His glory! The last three years of my dad's life were scarred by ALS. The disease took him from being a healthy mechanic to being a bed-bound paralytic. He lost his voice and his muscles, but he never lost his faith. Visitors noticed. Not so much in what he said, but more in what he didn't say. Never outwardly angry or bitter, Jack Lucado suffered with dignity.
His faith led one man to seek a like faith. This man sought me out and told me because of my dad's example, he became a Jesus follower. Did God orchestrate my father's illness for that very reason? Knowing the value God places on one soul, I wouldn't be surprised. And imagining the splendor of heaven, I know my father is not complaining. A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the great reward!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 22
If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility.[d] Take it back to its owner. 2 If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. 3 Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility.
4 “If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!
5 “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground, and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but let the mother go, so that you may prosper and enjoy a long life.
8 “When you build a new house, you must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof.
9 “You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop.
10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.
11 “You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.
12 “You must put four tassels on the hem of the cloak with which you cover yourself—on the front, back, and sides.
Regulations for Sexual Purity
13 “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her 14 and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’ 15 Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 16 Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. 18 The elders must then take the man and punish him. 19 They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver,[e] which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.
20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. 21 The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
22 “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.
23 “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, 29 he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver.[f] Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 [g]“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.
Footnotes:
22:1 Hebrew don’t hide yourself; similarly in 22:3.
22:19 Hebrew 100 [shekels] of silver, about 2.5 pounds or 1.1 kilograms in weight.
22:29 Hebrew 50 [shekels] of silver, about 1.25 pounds or 570 grams in weight.
22:30 Verse 22:30 is numbered 23:1 in Hebrew text.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Read: Psalm 77:1-15
For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven,
but my soul was not comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help. Interlude
4 You don’t let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days,
long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and ponder the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude
10 And I said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Interlude
Insight
King David enlisted three Levitical choirs and orchestras for the temple worship, led by Asaph, Jeduthun (or Ethan), and Heman (1 Chron. 16:37-41; 25:1-6; 2 Chron. 5:12). Psalm 77 was written by Asaph for Jeduthun. Asaph also composed Psalms 50 and 73-83.
Out Of The Darkness
By Dave Branon
I cried out to God . . . . Who is so great a God as our God? —Psalm 77:1,13
I don’t know what desperate situation gripped Asaph, the writer of Psalm 77, but I’ve heard, and made, similar laments. Over the past dozen years since I lost my daughter, many others who have experienced the loss of a loved one have shared with me heartbreaking sentiments like these:
Crying out to God (v.1). Stretching empty arms heavenward (v.2). Experiencing troubling thoughts about God because of horrible circumstances (v.3). Enduring unspeakable trouble (v.4). Cowering under the feeling of being cast aside (v.7). Fearing failed promises (v.8). Fearing a lack of mercy (v.8).
But a turnaround occurs for Asaph in verse 10 through a recollection of God’s great works. Thoughts turn to God’s love. To memories of what He has done. To His marvelous deeds of old. To the comfort of God’s faithfulness and mercy. To reminders of God’s wonders and greatness. To His strength and redemption.
Despair is real in this life, and answers do not come easily. Yet in the darkness—as we remember God’s glory, majesty, power, and love—our despair can slowly subside. Like Asaph, we can rehearse God’s acts, especially the salvation He brought through Jesus, and we can return to where we once were—resting gratefully in His mighty love.
Lord, we cannot fathom the depth of Your character
or the wisdom of Your actions when trouble visits us.
Help us to inch our way back into Your arms through
a rehearsal of Your goodness and a recollection of Your glorious love.
Remembering the past can bring hope to the present.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
When He was alone…the twelve asked Him about the parable. —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Surprising Heroes - #7307
Brian's a Youth Pastor, and Earl? His most unlikely volunteer. See, Earl wasn't the right age to help out with teenagers. A pretty simple guy, not very well educated. He had one of those faces that looked like it had been lived in for a long time. And he didn't think he had any abilities that would help. In fact, that's what he told Brian. He said, "You know, Brian, I can't do anything. But I really have a heart for kids." So Brian said, "Well, do you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" Earl said, "Well, sure! I can do that!" Well, that began a series of events that changed a life; really two lives forever.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprising Heroes."
Our word for today from the Word of God, we are in Matthew 20:6-7, where Jesus is telling one of His parables. It's about a man with a vineyard. He's gone out many times to get people to help him reap his crop, and as he gets to the end of the day he still needs more help. And here's what it says, "About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'"
Now, we're looking here at people who did not know that the Master had work for them. But the Master's got work for everybody, including you; including Earl. He went to work in that Coffee House the youth ministry had going... You guessed it, he was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Right!
One night this hard, rough and tumble biker - real intimidating guy - came in. And he angrily walked up after he heard Christ presented and he went to Brian and said, "I don't buy any of this! Show me one reason why I should!" Earl heard this, put his peanut butter knife down, and he started to cry in the corner. Brian pointed over and said to that biker, "You see that man over there? You see his tears? Those are for you man. He's praying for you." Suddenly that biker was soft for the first time that night, and he said, "That old guy's praying for me? He's crying for me?" Brian said, "Yeah, Jesus loves you, man." And that biker came to Christ that night.
There are a lot of Earls; maybe you're one of them. Maybe you think you don't have any outstanding abilities. You're like those people who said, "Well, no one hired me. No one has asked me to do anything." Would you be willing to say, "Lord, I don't know what I can do for You, but I want to make a difference with the time I have left. So, here am I. Send me."
You never know what God's going to use. Maybe your smile, your driving. Maybe he'll use your abilities as a preparer of home-cooked meals, or your ability to bake mouth watering cookies and cakes to reach hurting, lonely people. Maybe He's going to use your listening. Or your tears, like Earl's tears. Maybe your letter writing, your background; the pain of your background that could connect you to some other people with the same kind of background. Or maybe, He'll have you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
But would you let God lay some needy group of people, some ministry, some work for Him on your heart? And then tell someone that you have that burden, that you're willing to do anything. And trust God. He knows you intimately and He'll put you some place to minister. You are that unique person that could make a unique difference for Him. Even if you can't imagine it, Jesus is saying to you right now, "You also go and work in my vineyard."
Earl? His peanut butter and jelly sandwiches put him at the right place at the right time. His heart, his tears, brought a seemingly unreachable man to Jesus Christ. Changed a biker's life and it changed Earl's. Jesus needs you, to be one of His surprising heroes.
A Siri read my text
Monday, January 12, 2015
Deuteronomy 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Can Use You
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger—Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan—sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God can use you. Because you’re imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you’re a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 21
Cleansing for Unsolved Murder
“When you are in the land the Lord your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don’t know who committed the murder. 2 In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. 3 When the nearest town has been determined, that town’s elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow. 4 They must lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and that has a stream running through it. There in the valley they must break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests must step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the Lord’s name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases.
6 “The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken. 7 Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. 8 O Lord, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood. 9 By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the Lord’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community.
Marriage to a Captive Woman
10 “Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. 11 And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. 12 If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, 13 and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife. 14 But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her.
Rights of the Firstborn
15 “Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love. 16 When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son. 17 He must recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him.
Dealing with a Rebellious Son
18 “Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. 19 In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 20 The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.
Various Regulations
22 “If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree,[b] 23 the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung[c] is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 12, 2015
Read: Colossians 1:13-23
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[a] and forgave our sins.
Christ Is Supreme
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,[b]
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.[c]
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Footnotes:
1:14 Some manuscripts add with his blood.
1:15 Or He is the firstborn of all creation.
1:18 Or the firstborn from the dead.
Insight
Paul mentions the believer’s past, present, and future in this passage. We “once were enemies,” but now in Christ “we have redemption” and are “reconciled” (vv.14,21). When Christ returns, He will “present [us] holy and blameless” if we “continue in the faith” (vv.22-23).
A Storyteller
By Randy Kilgore
You, who once were alienated . . . , yet now He has reconciled. —Colossians 1:21
In the years following the American Civil War (1861–1865), Union Major General Lew Wallace served as a governor of the New Mexico territories; New Mexico not yet having been admitted as a state. His work there put him in contact with many of the characters that make up the Wild West’s near-mythic history, including Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett. It was here that Wallace wrote what has been called by some “the most influential Christian book” of the 19th century, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Wallace witnessed the worst impact of sin on humanity as he saw the violence of the Civil War and the Wild West. In life and in his best-selling book, Wallace understood that only the story of Jesus Christ has the power of redemption and reconciliation.
For the follower of Christ, the climax of our lives was the moment God “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). Now we have the privilege of being storytellers of God’s wonderful redemption.
Lord, please take control of my words today.
Fill me with Your words of love and grace.
Use them to turn some heart toward You.
I can do nothing without You.
The difference Christ makes in your life is a story worth telling.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 12, 2015
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 12, 2015
Where to Go Before the Explosion - #7306
The tragic shooting that killed four students (and the shooter) at Marysville High School in Washington shocked everybody. When it first appeared that 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg was the shooter, it was all the more shocking.
Because he wasn't the typical loner, the bullying victim, the outsider. He was the Homecoming prince, a football player, the popular guy. But, as it turns out, there were hints of the anger and anguish in his soul. You could read about it on Facebook and Twitter.
Social media - the new confessional. That's where he spilled his romantically broken heart, his despair, his rage. Social networks have become the new place to dump the contents of your heart. All the contents of your heart, even the dark stuff. It's a catharsis, but it's not a cure.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Where to go Before the Explosion".
The authorities and talking heads will be analyzing that shooting for a long time. Teenage angst. Gun violence. Warning signs.
For my account, I find myself asking what we can learn about handling life's shattering moments. Without making tragic choices. Well here's some lessons I think:
First, don't stuff it. Buried pain is a ticking time bomb. A lot of us were raised to believe that our pain and brokenness should be kept inside, hidden behind this "I'm fine" mask. And all the while, this volcano is building inside.
And there's grief, and there's anger, and desperation, and feeling alone - I'll tell you, if you stuff those things they just keep growing. They morph into an emotional monster. Until that emotional monster explodes, doing irreversible damage. Like the eruption at Mt. St. Helen's years ago. The explosion didn't last long. What was blown away is gone forever.
And then, don't store it. Treat the wound before the infection sets in. Talk about it when the wound is fresh. Before it submerges and starts to take over your heart.
And don't take it to someone who's in the same swamp. You say, "but they get me." Well when we're broken, we don't just need someone who gives us sympathy. We need the objectivity of someone who's completely outside our situation. Someone who can help us see the big picture. Because pain distorts reality, convincing us that this wound will never heal. That everything's dark.
But there's never been a winter without a spring. Or a sunset without a sunrise. We need someone with perspective.
And another lesson is: have your "go to" person before your storm hits. When you live in "Tornado Alley," they tell you to "know where your shelter is before there's an emergency." That's a good idea emotionally, too. Decide what wise, objective person you can trust with your deepest, darkest feelings. As soon as they hit.
I'm so grateful I have found my "911" person. He's the one I've been able to trust with feelings I didn't dare tell anyone. Who has calmed my frantic soul when nothing and no one else could. Who's pointed me to hope when it looked like there was no hope.
He actually said, "The Lord has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted." The Bible says, "He is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those who are crushed in spirit." That's Jesus. And the more broken I've been, the closer He has seemed.
And as far as having someone who understands? No one has ever been more wounded, more broken than He was. Abandoned. Attacked. Crucified.
Of course, I'm not alone in finding refuge in the open arms of Jesus. So many people have found that, for a very long time, they've accepted His invitation. And it's in our word for today from the Word of God - Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." This man who loved you enough to die on a cross for you. This man who's powerful enough to walk out of His grave and conquer the biggest monster of all - death - stands ready to come into your life, at your invitation. If you have never had a moment when you began a personal relationship with the savior, I would ask you to tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Get to our website. Find there, we've just charted out Biblically, the path where you can be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com
See we're all Humpty Dumpty at times. All the King's horses and all the King's men can't put us together again.
But the King can.
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger—Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan—sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God can use you. Because you’re imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you’re a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 21
Cleansing for Unsolved Murder
“When you are in the land the Lord your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don’t know who committed the murder. 2 In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. 3 When the nearest town has been determined, that town’s elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow. 4 They must lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and that has a stream running through it. There in the valley they must break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests must step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the Lord’s name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases.
6 “The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken. 7 Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. 8 O Lord, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood. 9 By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the Lord’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community.
Marriage to a Captive Woman
10 “Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. 11 And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. 12 If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, 13 and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife. 14 But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her.
Rights of the Firstborn
15 “Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love. 16 When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son. 17 He must recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him.
Dealing with a Rebellious Son
18 “Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. 19 In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 20 The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.
Various Regulations
22 “If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree,[b] 23 the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung[c] is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 12, 2015
Read: Colossians 1:13-23
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[a] and forgave our sins.
Christ Is Supreme
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,[b]
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.[c]
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Footnotes:
1:14 Some manuscripts add with his blood.
1:15 Or He is the firstborn of all creation.
1:18 Or the firstborn from the dead.
Insight
Paul mentions the believer’s past, present, and future in this passage. We “once were enemies,” but now in Christ “we have redemption” and are “reconciled” (vv.14,21). When Christ returns, He will “present [us] holy and blameless” if we “continue in the faith” (vv.22-23).
A Storyteller
By Randy Kilgore
You, who once were alienated . . . , yet now He has reconciled. —Colossians 1:21
In the years following the American Civil War (1861–1865), Union Major General Lew Wallace served as a governor of the New Mexico territories; New Mexico not yet having been admitted as a state. His work there put him in contact with many of the characters that make up the Wild West’s near-mythic history, including Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett. It was here that Wallace wrote what has been called by some “the most influential Christian book” of the 19th century, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Wallace witnessed the worst impact of sin on humanity as he saw the violence of the Civil War and the Wild West. In life and in his best-selling book, Wallace understood that only the story of Jesus Christ has the power of redemption and reconciliation.
For the follower of Christ, the climax of our lives was the moment God “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). Now we have the privilege of being storytellers of God’s wonderful redemption.
Lord, please take control of my words today.
Fill me with Your words of love and grace.
Use them to turn some heart toward You.
I can do nothing without You.
The difference Christ makes in your life is a story worth telling.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 12, 2015
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 12, 2015
Where to Go Before the Explosion - #7306
The tragic shooting that killed four students (and the shooter) at Marysville High School in Washington shocked everybody. When it first appeared that 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg was the shooter, it was all the more shocking.
Because he wasn't the typical loner, the bullying victim, the outsider. He was the Homecoming prince, a football player, the popular guy. But, as it turns out, there were hints of the anger and anguish in his soul. You could read about it on Facebook and Twitter.
Social media - the new confessional. That's where he spilled his romantically broken heart, his despair, his rage. Social networks have become the new place to dump the contents of your heart. All the contents of your heart, even the dark stuff. It's a catharsis, but it's not a cure.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Where to go Before the Explosion".
The authorities and talking heads will be analyzing that shooting for a long time. Teenage angst. Gun violence. Warning signs.
For my account, I find myself asking what we can learn about handling life's shattering moments. Without making tragic choices. Well here's some lessons I think:
First, don't stuff it. Buried pain is a ticking time bomb. A lot of us were raised to believe that our pain and brokenness should be kept inside, hidden behind this "I'm fine" mask. And all the while, this volcano is building inside.
And there's grief, and there's anger, and desperation, and feeling alone - I'll tell you, if you stuff those things they just keep growing. They morph into an emotional monster. Until that emotional monster explodes, doing irreversible damage. Like the eruption at Mt. St. Helen's years ago. The explosion didn't last long. What was blown away is gone forever.
And then, don't store it. Treat the wound before the infection sets in. Talk about it when the wound is fresh. Before it submerges and starts to take over your heart.
And don't take it to someone who's in the same swamp. You say, "but they get me." Well when we're broken, we don't just need someone who gives us sympathy. We need the objectivity of someone who's completely outside our situation. Someone who can help us see the big picture. Because pain distorts reality, convincing us that this wound will never heal. That everything's dark.
But there's never been a winter without a spring. Or a sunset without a sunrise. We need someone with perspective.
And another lesson is: have your "go to" person before your storm hits. When you live in "Tornado Alley," they tell you to "know where your shelter is before there's an emergency." That's a good idea emotionally, too. Decide what wise, objective person you can trust with your deepest, darkest feelings. As soon as they hit.
I'm so grateful I have found my "911" person. He's the one I've been able to trust with feelings I didn't dare tell anyone. Who has calmed my frantic soul when nothing and no one else could. Who's pointed me to hope when it looked like there was no hope.
He actually said, "The Lord has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted." The Bible says, "He is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those who are crushed in spirit." That's Jesus. And the more broken I've been, the closer He has seemed.
And as far as having someone who understands? No one has ever been more wounded, more broken than He was. Abandoned. Attacked. Crucified.
Of course, I'm not alone in finding refuge in the open arms of Jesus. So many people have found that, for a very long time, they've accepted His invitation. And it's in our word for today from the Word of God - Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." This man who loved you enough to die on a cross for you. This man who's powerful enough to walk out of His grave and conquer the biggest monster of all - death - stands ready to come into your life, at your invitation. If you have never had a moment when you began a personal relationship with the savior, I would ask you to tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Get to our website. Find there, we've just charted out Biblically, the path where you can be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com
See we're all Humpty Dumpty at times. All the King's horses and all the King's men can't put us together again.
But the King can.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Deuteronomy 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Come Clean With God
No way around it! Confession is coming clean with God!
Check out the Old Testament example. As if David’s affair with Bathsheba wasn’t enough. As if the murder of her husband wasn’t enough! David danced around the truth. He denied his wrongdoing and it took a prophet to make David see what he didn’t want to see. And when he did, he didn’t like it one bit! At that point, David waved the white flag. No more combat with God. No more arguing with God—he confessed! He came clean with God! And what did God do? In David’s own words, “… and You forgave me! All my guilt is gone!” (Psalm 32:5).
Want to get rid of guilt? Come clean with God!
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 20
Regulations concerning War
“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! 2 When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. 3 He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. 4 For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’
5 “Then the officers of the army must address the troops and say, ‘Has anyone here just built a new house but not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home! You might be killed in the battle, and someone else would dedicate your house. 6 Has anyone here just planted a vineyard but not yet eaten any of its fruit? If so, you may go home! You might die in battle, and someone else would eat the first fruit. 7 Has anyone here just become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? Well, you may go home and get married! You might die in the battle, and someone else would marry her.’
8 “Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit commanders.
10 “As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. 11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. 12 But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. 13 When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town. 14 But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.
15 “But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter. 16 In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. 17 You must completely destroy[a] the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
19 “When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? 20 You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Read: Luke 12:4-7,22-32
“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.[a] Yes, he’s the one to fear.
6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins[b]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Footnotes:
12:5 Greek Gehenna.
12:6 Greek two assaria [Roman coins equal to 1/16 of a denarius].
Luke 12:22-32
Teaching about Money and Possessions
Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. 23 For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
27 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
29 “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
32 “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
What’s Your Motto?
By Anne Cetas
Do not fear . . . ; you are of more value than many sparrows. —Luke 12:7
Grug Crood, the dad of a caveman family in an animated movie, believes that there’s no safe place beyond their cave. They huddle together at night so he can protect them. He thinks his teenage daughter should give up her adventurous side because it can only lead to danger. His motto for his family is “Never not be afraid.” In other words, “Always be afraid.”
Jesus often told His followers the opposite: “Do not be afraid.” He said that to Simon when He called him to follow Him (Luke 5:10). When Jairus, a synagogue leader whose daughter was dying, came to Him, Jesus reassured him with those same words of care (8:50).
Luke 12 records Jesus telling His disciples not to be afraid when He taught them how God cared for them much more than for the sparrows (v.7). And after His resurrection, Jesus told the women who came to the tomb, “Rejoice! . . . Do not be afraid” (Matt. 28:9-10).
Fear is a universal feeling. We have concerns about loved ones, our needs, and the unknown future. How can we learn to have faith? The Lord has given us a foundation on which to build our confidence in Him: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Heb. 13:5-6).
Father, life in this world can sometimes be scary.
Thank You for the promise that Your love and care
will never be taken away from us. When fear seems
overwhelming, help us to remember Your promises.
The love of God frees us from the prison of fear.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 11, 2015
What My Obedience to God Costs Other People
As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. —Luke 23:26
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
No way around it! Confession is coming clean with God!
Check out the Old Testament example. As if David’s affair with Bathsheba wasn’t enough. As if the murder of her husband wasn’t enough! David danced around the truth. He denied his wrongdoing and it took a prophet to make David see what he didn’t want to see. And when he did, he didn’t like it one bit! At that point, David waved the white flag. No more combat with God. No more arguing with God—he confessed! He came clean with God! And what did God do? In David’s own words, “… and You forgave me! All my guilt is gone!” (Psalm 32:5).
Want to get rid of guilt? Come clean with God!
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 20
Regulations concerning War
“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! 2 When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. 3 He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. 4 For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’
5 “Then the officers of the army must address the troops and say, ‘Has anyone here just built a new house but not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home! You might be killed in the battle, and someone else would dedicate your house. 6 Has anyone here just planted a vineyard but not yet eaten any of its fruit? If so, you may go home! You might die in battle, and someone else would eat the first fruit. 7 Has anyone here just become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? Well, you may go home and get married! You might die in the battle, and someone else would marry her.’
8 “Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit commanders.
10 “As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. 11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. 12 But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. 13 When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town. 14 But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.
15 “But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter. 16 In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. 17 You must completely destroy[a] the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
19 “When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? 20 You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Read: Luke 12:4-7,22-32
“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.[a] Yes, he’s the one to fear.
6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins[b]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Footnotes:
12:5 Greek Gehenna.
12:6 Greek two assaria [Roman coins equal to 1/16 of a denarius].
Luke 12:22-32
Teaching about Money and Possessions
Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. 23 For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
27 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
29 “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.
32 “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
What’s Your Motto?
By Anne Cetas
Do not fear . . . ; you are of more value than many sparrows. —Luke 12:7
Grug Crood, the dad of a caveman family in an animated movie, believes that there’s no safe place beyond their cave. They huddle together at night so he can protect them. He thinks his teenage daughter should give up her adventurous side because it can only lead to danger. His motto for his family is “Never not be afraid.” In other words, “Always be afraid.”
Jesus often told His followers the opposite: “Do not be afraid.” He said that to Simon when He called him to follow Him (Luke 5:10). When Jairus, a synagogue leader whose daughter was dying, came to Him, Jesus reassured him with those same words of care (8:50).
Luke 12 records Jesus telling His disciples not to be afraid when He taught them how God cared for them much more than for the sparrows (v.7). And after His resurrection, Jesus told the women who came to the tomb, “Rejoice! . . . Do not be afraid” (Matt. 28:9-10).
Fear is a universal feeling. We have concerns about loved ones, our needs, and the unknown future. How can we learn to have faith? The Lord has given us a foundation on which to build our confidence in Him: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Heb. 13:5-6).
Father, life in this world can sometimes be scary.
Thank You for the promise that Your love and care
will never be taken away from us. When fear seems
overwhelming, help us to remember Your promises.
The love of God frees us from the prison of fear.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 11, 2015
What My Obedience to God Costs Other People
As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. —Luke 23:26
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Luke 5:17-39, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Stubborn Peace
Who do you know with a stubborn peace? Their problems aren't any different, but there's a serenity that softens the corners of their lips.
A priest visited just such a man in the hospital. The man was nearing death. The priest noticed an empty chair beside the bed and wondered if someone else had been there. The old man smiled, "I place Jesus on that chair, and I talk to him." The priest was puzzled so the man explained. "Years ago a friend told me prayer is as simple as talking to a good friend. So every day I pull up a chair and Jesus and I have a good talk."
When his daughter informed the priest her father had died, she explained, "When I got to his room, I found him dead. Strangely, his head was resting, not on the pillow, but on an empty chair beside his bed." The picture of stubborn peace!
From The Applause of Heaven
Luke 5:17-39
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man[a] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew)
27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?[b]”
31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
A Discussion about Fasting
33 One day some people said to Jesus, “John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?”
34 Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. 35 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be stored in new wineskins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.”
Footnotes:
5:24 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
5:30 Greek with tax collectors and sinners?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Read: John 3:1-8,13-16
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Footnotes:
3:3 Or born from above; also in 3:7.
3:5 Or and spirit. The Greek word for Spirit can also be translated wind; see 3:8.
3:6 Greek what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 The Greek word for you is plural; also in 3:12.
John 3:13-16New Living Translation (NLT)
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[a] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[b]
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[c] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Footnotes:
3:13 Some manuscripts add who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
3:15 Or everyone who believes will have eternal life in him.
3:16 Or For God loved the world so much that he gave.
Insight
Nicodemus was one of Israel’s religious rulers and leading teachers (v.10). He apparently turned to Christ and even assisted Joseph of Arimathea with Jesus’ burial (19:38-39).
Too Late To Change?
By David C. McCasland
Nicodemus said to [Jesus], “How can a man be born when he is old?” —John 3:4
There are sayings in many languages about the difficulty of changing long-established habits. In English, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” In French, “Ce n’est pas à un vieux singe qu’on apprend à faire la grimace” (You can’t teach an old monkey how to pull a funny face). In Spanish, “El loro viejo no aprende a hablar” (An old parrot can’t learn to speak).
When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be “born again” to “see the kingdom of God,” he replied, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:3-4). Professor and author Merrill Tenney suggests that Nicodemus was saying, in effect, “I acknowledge that a new birth is necessary, but I am too old to change. My pattern of life is set. Physical birth is out of the question and psychological rebirth seems even less probable . . . . Is not my case hopeless?”
Jesus’ reply included these words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (v.16). That is the offer of new life and a new beginning for anyone, young or old.
Whatever our age or situation in life, with God’s power, it’s not too late to change.
Father, old habits are hard to break, new ones
are harder to learn, and sometimes we don’t want
to do either. Thank You for Your faithfulness to
continue teaching us new ways, Your ways.
Because God is powerful, change is possible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Opened Sight
I now send you, to open their eyes…that they may receive forgiveness of sins… —Acts 26:17-18
This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “…that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion— only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.
This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “…an inheritance among those who are sanctified….” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.
Who do you know with a stubborn peace? Their problems aren't any different, but there's a serenity that softens the corners of their lips.
A priest visited just such a man in the hospital. The man was nearing death. The priest noticed an empty chair beside the bed and wondered if someone else had been there. The old man smiled, "I place Jesus on that chair, and I talk to him." The priest was puzzled so the man explained. "Years ago a friend told me prayer is as simple as talking to a good friend. So every day I pull up a chair and Jesus and I have a good talk."
When his daughter informed the priest her father had died, she explained, "When I got to his room, I found him dead. Strangely, his head was resting, not on the pillow, but on an empty chair beside his bed." The picture of stubborn peace!
From The Applause of Heaven
Luke 5:17-39
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man[a] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew)
27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?[b]”
31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
A Discussion about Fasting
33 One day some people said to Jesus, “John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?”
34 Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. 35 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be stored in new wineskins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.”
Footnotes:
5:24 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
5:30 Greek with tax collectors and sinners?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Read: John 3:1-8,13-16
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Footnotes:
3:3 Or born from above; also in 3:7.
3:5 Or and spirit. The Greek word for Spirit can also be translated wind; see 3:8.
3:6 Greek what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 The Greek word for you is plural; also in 3:12.
John 3:13-16New Living Translation (NLT)
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[a] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[b]
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[c] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Footnotes:
3:13 Some manuscripts add who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
3:15 Or everyone who believes will have eternal life in him.
3:16 Or For God loved the world so much that he gave.
Insight
Nicodemus was one of Israel’s religious rulers and leading teachers (v.10). He apparently turned to Christ and even assisted Joseph of Arimathea with Jesus’ burial (19:38-39).
Too Late To Change?
By David C. McCasland
Nicodemus said to [Jesus], “How can a man be born when he is old?” —John 3:4
There are sayings in many languages about the difficulty of changing long-established habits. In English, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” In French, “Ce n’est pas à un vieux singe qu’on apprend à faire la grimace” (You can’t teach an old monkey how to pull a funny face). In Spanish, “El loro viejo no aprende a hablar” (An old parrot can’t learn to speak).
When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be “born again” to “see the kingdom of God,” he replied, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:3-4). Professor and author Merrill Tenney suggests that Nicodemus was saying, in effect, “I acknowledge that a new birth is necessary, but I am too old to change. My pattern of life is set. Physical birth is out of the question and psychological rebirth seems even less probable . . . . Is not my case hopeless?”
Jesus’ reply included these words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (v.16). That is the offer of new life and a new beginning for anyone, young or old.
Whatever our age or situation in life, with God’s power, it’s not too late to change.
Father, old habits are hard to break, new ones
are harder to learn, and sometimes we don’t want
to do either. Thank You for Your faithfulness to
continue teaching us new ways, Your ways.
Because God is powerful, change is possible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Opened Sight
I now send you, to open their eyes…that they may receive forgiveness of sins… —Acts 26:17-18
This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “…that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion— only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.
This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “…an inheritance among those who are sanctified….” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Deuteronomy 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Can Use You
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger-Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan-sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars-he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you've done, God can use you. Because you're imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you're a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 19
Cities of Refuge
“When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. 2 Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 3 Survey the territory,[c] and divide the land the Lord your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the cities of refuge for safety.
4 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax to chop down a tree, and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
6 “If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. Then the slayer would die unfairly, since he had never shown hostility toward the person who died. 7 That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 “And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, 9 you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.) 10 That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
11 “But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge. 12 In that case, the elders of the murderer’s hometown must send agents to the city of refuge to bring him back and hand him over to the dead person’s avenger to be put to death. 13 Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.
Concern for Justice
14 “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
15 “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, 17 then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. 18 The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, 19 you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. 20 Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. 21 You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
19:3 Or Keep the roads in good repair.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 09, 2015
Read: Psalm 119:97-104
Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
100 I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.
101 I have refused to walk on any evil path,
so that I may remain obedient to your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations,
for you have taught me well.
103 How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.
104 Your commandments give me understanding;
no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Insight
The author of Psalm 119 (the longest psalm in the Bible) is not named. Some scholars say it was penned by Ezra, whose devotion to God’s Word is well-attested (Ezra 7:10; Neh. 8:1-9). Others say David composed it. Despite being scorned and ridiculed for trusting the Scriptures (vv.22-23,31,42,46,78), the psalmist did not waver but remained fully committed to them. In today’s passage, the psalmist affirms his deep love for God’s law (v.97) and testifies how constant meditation on it has made him wiser than his enemies (v.98), his teachers (v.99), and the older (wiser) men of his day (v.100). God’s Word provides wisdom and perspective for living.
Love Letter
By Poh Fang Chia
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. —Psalm 119:97
Each morning when I reach my office, I have one simple habit—check all my emails. Most of the time, I’ll work through them in a perfunctory fashion. There are some emails, however, that I’m eager to open. You guessed it—those from loved ones.
Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist: “Oh, how I love Your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The Scriptures are “Your commandments” (v.98), “Your testimonies” (v.99), “Your precepts” (v.100), “Your word” (v.101, emphasis added).
A question by Thomas Manton (1620–1677), once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?”
It is said of some people that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God. Familiarity with the Word of God, or rather the God of the Word, breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity.
As you open your Bible, remember that God—the One who loves you the most—has a message for you.
Oh, may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glean,
May light upon me shine! —Hodder
Knowing the Bible helps us know the God of the Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 09, 2015
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 09, 2015
Never Without Your Weapon - #7305
Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Old Jerusalem. And as I walked through that city, I saw a peculiar site. Some Israeli soldiers who appeared to be on a holiday, because they had their arm around their girl, they were laughing, they were shopping. The curious part was that they each had a gun strapped over their shoulder; the Uzi with a full clip of ammunition. Those Israeli soldiers, well they know that they always need to be prepared for war, even when they're taking the day off. They always carry their weapon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Without Your Weapon."
Now our word for today from the Word of God, we're in Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. (I will not read it all, our program is too short for that). But it is appropriately devoted to the power of the Word of God. Verse 9: "How can a young man keep his way pure?" Now, you may or may not be young, but I'll bet you've asked the question, "How can I win over this temptation?" Here's the answer, "By living according to Your Word, Lord."
Then he says, "I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your command." In other words, "Lord, I really want to do the right thing, but sometimes I get off on a detour." And here's the strategy for winning that battle. "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." So here's David talking about memorizing the words of God from the Bible and making them part of your personality.
See, that's the weapon you use to fight sin and temptation. You say, "Oh, I read the Bible." No, this is talking about knowing the Bible by heart; memorizing it. For example, I've memorized Ephesians 6:10-18, it's the great passage on spiritual warfare. And many mornings as I get ready or I haven't been feeling that great, or I'm facing some heavy load or maybe some gloomy stuff, I quote that passage. And many times it has turned the spiritual tide of my heart.
D. L. Moody said, "When you think sin, think scripture." And you can't do that if you don't have scripture buried in your personality by memorization. You can't always reach for your Bible, but you can reach in and pull up whatever you've made part of you. This is like portable spiritual power wrapped up in scripture committed to memory.
Now if you haven't been consciously, consistently committing verses to memory, you're just a lot weaker than you need to be. What are some of the promises of God that stand out in those moments when, let's say, worry is winning? Well how about memorizing Psalm 55:22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Now, I've sent that verse to the door many times when worry's been knocking.
Or learn His promises that will help you fight temptation. Like 1 Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful! He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able, but with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it." How about James 4:7, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Or that great spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6.
How about learning the warnings of scripture to fight sin with when it looks inviting? James 1:15 is a great one, "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." All of a sudden you're reminded that the sin that looked so good is a killer. Write the verses you want to memorize on a card, and then learn them by a handle, a title on them: temptation, worry, whatever you want to use as your subject matter. Keep that card in places where you always go. Review, review, review. Try it out on as many people as you can.
Those Israeli soldiers have won the respect of the whole world. That day in Jerusalem I saw one reason why. They know something that every follower of Christ has got to remember. We have to always be prepared for war. A battle can break out anytime. And it doesn't stop just because you're relaxing.
So, always carry your weapons; the artillery of God's Word that you've got hidden in your heart.
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger-Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan-sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars-he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you've done, God can use you. Because you're imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you're a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
From Max on Life
Deuteronomy 19
Cities of Refuge
“When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. 2 Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 3 Survey the territory,[c] and divide the land the Lord your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the cities of refuge for safety.
4 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax to chop down a tree, and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
6 “If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. Then the slayer would die unfairly, since he had never shown hostility toward the person who died. 7 That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 “And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, 9 you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.) 10 That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
11 “But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge. 12 In that case, the elders of the murderer’s hometown must send agents to the city of refuge to bring him back and hand him over to the dead person’s avenger to be put to death. 13 Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.
Concern for Justice
14 “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
15 “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, 17 then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. 18 The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, 19 you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. 20 Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. 21 You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
19:3 Or Keep the roads in good repair.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 09, 2015
Read: Psalm 119:97-104
Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
100 I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.
101 I have refused to walk on any evil path,
so that I may remain obedient to your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations,
for you have taught me well.
103 How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.
104 Your commandments give me understanding;
no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Insight
The author of Psalm 119 (the longest psalm in the Bible) is not named. Some scholars say it was penned by Ezra, whose devotion to God’s Word is well-attested (Ezra 7:10; Neh. 8:1-9). Others say David composed it. Despite being scorned and ridiculed for trusting the Scriptures (vv.22-23,31,42,46,78), the psalmist did not waver but remained fully committed to them. In today’s passage, the psalmist affirms his deep love for God’s law (v.97) and testifies how constant meditation on it has made him wiser than his enemies (v.98), his teachers (v.99), and the older (wiser) men of his day (v.100). God’s Word provides wisdom and perspective for living.
Love Letter
By Poh Fang Chia
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. —Psalm 119:97
Each morning when I reach my office, I have one simple habit—check all my emails. Most of the time, I’ll work through them in a perfunctory fashion. There are some emails, however, that I’m eager to open. You guessed it—those from loved ones.
Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist: “Oh, how I love Your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The Scriptures are “Your commandments” (v.98), “Your testimonies” (v.99), “Your precepts” (v.100), “Your word” (v.101, emphasis added).
A question by Thomas Manton (1620–1677), once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?”
It is said of some people that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God. Familiarity with the Word of God, or rather the God of the Word, breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity.
As you open your Bible, remember that God—the One who loves you the most—has a message for you.
Oh, may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glean,
May light upon me shine! —Hodder
Knowing the Bible helps us know the God of the Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 09, 2015
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 09, 2015
Never Without Your Weapon - #7305
Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Old Jerusalem. And as I walked through that city, I saw a peculiar site. Some Israeli soldiers who appeared to be on a holiday, because they had their arm around their girl, they were laughing, they were shopping. The curious part was that they each had a gun strapped over their shoulder; the Uzi with a full clip of ammunition. Those Israeli soldiers, well they know that they always need to be prepared for war, even when they're taking the day off. They always carry their weapon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Without Your Weapon."
Now our word for today from the Word of God, we're in Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. (I will not read it all, our program is too short for that). But it is appropriately devoted to the power of the Word of God. Verse 9: "How can a young man keep his way pure?" Now, you may or may not be young, but I'll bet you've asked the question, "How can I win over this temptation?" Here's the answer, "By living according to Your Word, Lord."
Then he says, "I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your command." In other words, "Lord, I really want to do the right thing, but sometimes I get off on a detour." And here's the strategy for winning that battle. "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." So here's David talking about memorizing the words of God from the Bible and making them part of your personality.
See, that's the weapon you use to fight sin and temptation. You say, "Oh, I read the Bible." No, this is talking about knowing the Bible by heart; memorizing it. For example, I've memorized Ephesians 6:10-18, it's the great passage on spiritual warfare. And many mornings as I get ready or I haven't been feeling that great, or I'm facing some heavy load or maybe some gloomy stuff, I quote that passage. And many times it has turned the spiritual tide of my heart.
D. L. Moody said, "When you think sin, think scripture." And you can't do that if you don't have scripture buried in your personality by memorization. You can't always reach for your Bible, but you can reach in and pull up whatever you've made part of you. This is like portable spiritual power wrapped up in scripture committed to memory.
Now if you haven't been consciously, consistently committing verses to memory, you're just a lot weaker than you need to be. What are some of the promises of God that stand out in those moments when, let's say, worry is winning? Well how about memorizing Psalm 55:22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Now, I've sent that verse to the door many times when worry's been knocking.
Or learn His promises that will help you fight temptation. Like 1 Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful! He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able, but with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it." How about James 4:7, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Or that great spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6.
How about learning the warnings of scripture to fight sin with when it looks inviting? James 1:15 is a great one, "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." All of a sudden you're reminded that the sin that looked so good is a killer. Write the verses you want to memorize on a card, and then learn them by a handle, a title on them: temptation, worry, whatever you want to use as your subject matter. Keep that card in places where you always go. Review, review, review. Try it out on as many people as you can.
Those Israeli soldiers have won the respect of the whole world. That day in Jerusalem I saw one reason why. They know something that every follower of Christ has got to remember. We have to always be prepared for war. A battle can break out anytime. And it doesn't stop just because you're relaxing.
So, always carry your weapons; the artillery of God's Word that you've got hidden in your heart.
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