1 Samuel 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Power of a Godly Touch

The power of a godly touch! Have you known it? The doctor who treated you, the teacher who dried your tears? Was there a hand holding yours at a funeral? A handshake of welcome at a new job? A pastoral prayer for healing? Can't we offer the same?
Many already do! You use your hands to pray over the sick. If you aren't touching them personally, your hands are sending notes, making calls, baking pies. You've learned the power of touch. But others of us tend to forget. Our hearts are good; it's just that our memories are bad. We fear saying the wrong thing, acting the wrong way. So rather than do it incorrectly, we no nothing at all.
Aren't we glad Jesus didn't make the same mistake? Jesus touched the untouchables of the world. Will you do the same?
From Just Like Jesus

1 Samuel 7

So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the Lord. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it. 2 The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.

Samuel Leads Israel to Victory
3 Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.

5 Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)

7 When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. 8 “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. 9 So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.

10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 11 The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.

12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah.[a] He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”

13 So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines. 14 The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.

15 Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life. 16 Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places. 17 Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.

Footnotes:

7:12 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Shen.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 13, 2015

Read: 1 Samuel 23:1-5

David Protects the Town of Keilah

One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors. 2 David asked the Lord, “Should I go and attack them?”

“Yes, go and save Keilah,” the Lord told him.

3 But David’s men said, “We’re afraid even here in Judah. We certainly don’t want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!”

4 So David asked the Lord again, and again the Lord replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”

5 So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah.

INSIGHT: In today’s passage we are told twice that David “inquired of the Lord” (vv. 2,4), but we are not told how he sought out God’s will. Some say David himself was the prophetic voice (2 Sam. 23:2; Acts 4:25) or that he cast lots since the Lord directed the lots (Prov. 16:33). He may have simply petitioned God in prayer with an open heart.

Pray First

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

David inquired of the Lord. —1 Samuel 23:2

When my husband and I supervise our son’s piano practice sessions, we begin by asking God to help us. We pray first because neither my husband nor I know how to play the instrument. Together, all three of us are coming to understand musical mysteries such as the meaning of “staccato” and “legato” and when to use the piano’s black keys.

Prayer becomes a priority when we realize that we need God’s help. David needed God’s assistance in a dangerous situation as he considered fighting the Philistines in the city of Keilah. Before engaging in battle, “David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’” (1 Sam. 23:2). God gave His approval. However, David’s men admitted that the enemy forces intimidated them. Before a single sword was lifted against the Philistines, David prayed again. God promised him the victory he later claimed (v.4).

Does prayer guide our lives, or is it our last resort when trouble strikes? We sometimes fall into the habit of making plans and then asking God to bless them, or praying only in moments of desperation. God does want us to turn to Him in moments of need. But He also wants us to remember that we need Him all the time (Prov. 3:5-6).

Dear God, please guide me as I walk through this life. Help me not to act only by my own wisdom, but to seek Your will in every situation.
God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. —Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 13, 2015

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming

Cast your burden on the Lord… —Psalm 55:22

We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him— to literally “cast your burden,” which He has given you, “on the Lord….” If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, “What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!”

“Cast your burden on the Lord….” You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God’s shoulder. “…the government will be upon His shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6). Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 13, 2015

Control - The Decisive Battle - #7371

I used to introduce my younger son by calling him "my baby" which is a little ridiculous if you look at the two of us. The boy I used to pick up is now the man who picks me up. And that's pretty embarrassing. He would greet me at an airport or some public place, still does, put his arms around me and lift me in the air. When I stand next to this moose in our family, I ask myself, "How did this child of mine ever get so much bigger than I am?"

A while back, a disturbing thought occurred to me, maybe this isn't just about my son growing. Could it be I'm shrinking? I'm sure I used to measure like 5'8", but the doctor says I'm 5'7" now. Hello! Who took the inch? Don't you dare tell me it went to my waist either! Actually, I understand as you keep having birthdays that your tissues and vertebrae begin to sort of scrunch together and you start to shrink. That's a pretty depressing thought when you don't have that much to start with in the first place! But shrinking as you get older may not be all bad.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Control - The Decisive Battle."

In a sense, I actually hope I'm shrinking as I get older in the way John the Baptist described when he was talking about his relationship with Jesus. It's in our word for today from the Word of God, John 3:30 - "He must become greater; I must become less." John's goal was to shrink. I think I understand that better now than I used to. John wanted his life and his work to involve an increasingly smaller percentage of him and a progressively larger percentage of Jesus. In the strange economics of discipleship, the less there is of you in what you do, the greater you become.

This is especially difficult for those of us who want to be "make it happen" people. There are two lifelong battlefields where we wrestle with the Lord over the "me first" thing. One is the area of control. We don't mind giving the Lord time, or money, or service. We give Him loyalty, we give Him hard work. We'll give Him anything but control. I want to maintain control of the areas that really matter to me. It might be my career, or my family, my children, my money. I want to control my ministry, or my image, my talent, my plans.

For most of us, there is a major control issue that lets the control of Jesus Christ go only this far and no farther. And there can never be less of me and more of Jesus until that issue is settled with my white flag. And maybe you've been through just enough pain, just enough humbling that you're finally ready to surrender what you have held tightly for so long and that you have tried so hard to control.

The other battlefield where our ego wrestles against the takeover of Jesus is the issue of credit. We really want the credit for what we do. We want to be noticed, appreciated, promoted, and admired. Recognition is important to us. But God has said, "I am the Lord; that is My name; I will not give My glory to another." We can't know the power of having Jesus really in charge until we are ready to say, "I don't care if my name's on it or not. I don't care who knows. I am here to get people to think about You, Jesus, not me."

If you can surrender the control, if you can surrender the credit, you are ready for the incredible shrinking you. Our lives become more incredible than we could have ever imagined as our ego and our interests and our self-reliance begin to recede, and our lives become more about Jesus than they ever have before.

Frankly, I'm looking forward to the years ahead, and to shrinking more and more, so my life can be bigger than ever as I make more and more room for my Jesus.

Luke 18:1-23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Three Cookie Days

Every day, God prepares for us a plate of experiences.  Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not!  Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables, twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash.  Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good?  All are important and all are from God. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.”

The next time your plate has a portion you find hard to swallow, talk to God about it.  Jesus did. In the garden of Gethsemane His Father handed Him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to heaven.

“My Father,” He prayed, “if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me.  Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Mark 14:36).

from The Great House of God

Luke 18:1-23

Parable of the Persistent Widow

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man[a] returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[b]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus Blesses the Children
15 One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.

16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

The Rich Man
18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. 20 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’[c]”

21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.

Footnotes:

18:8 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
18:11 Some manuscripts read stood and prayed this prayer to himself.
18:20 Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 12, 2015

Read: Ezekiel 29:1-9

A Message for Egypt

On January 7,[a] during the tenth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, turn and face Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh the king and all the people of Egypt. 3 Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord:

“I am your enemy, O Pharaoh, king of Egypt—
    you great monster, lurking in the streams of the Nile.
For you have said, ‘The Nile River is mine;
    I made it for myself.’
4 I will put hooks in your jaws
    and drag you out on the land
    with fish sticking to your scales.
5 I will leave you and all your fish
    stranded in the wilderness to die.
You will lie unburied on the open ground,
    for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.
6 All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord,
    for to Israel you were just a staff made of reeds.
7 When Israel leaned on you,
    you splintered and broke
    and stabbed her in the armpit.
When she put her weight on you,
    you collapsed, and her legs gave way.
8 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both people and animals. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile River is mine; I made it,’

Footnotes:

29:1 Hebrew On the twelfth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on January 7, 587 B.c.; also see note on 1:1.

INSIGHT: The psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Ps. 24:1 NIV). Ezekiel underscores this point to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Pharaoh claimed to have created the Nile (Ezek. 29:3), but Ezekiel shows that God is angry with Pharaoh’s arrogant claim. God is the true Creator and He controls the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea (vv. 3-5).

That Is Mine!

By Lawrence Darmani

I am the Lord; that is My name. —Isaiah 42:8

The Nile of Africa, which spans 6,650 kilometers (more than 4,100 miles) and flows northward across several northeastern African countries, is the world’s longest river. Over the centuries, the Nile has provided sustenance and livelihood for millions of citizens in the countries it passes through. Currently, Ethiopia is building what will become Africa’s largest hydro-power dam on the Nile. It will be a great resource for the area.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, claimed to be the Nile’s owner and originator. He and all Egypt boasted, “My River is my own; I have made it for myself” (Ezek. 29:3,9). They failed to acknowledge that God alone provides natural resources. As a result, God promised to punish the nation (vv.8-9).

We are to care for God’s creation, and not forget that everything we have comes from the Lord. Romans 11:36 says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.” He is the One who also endows humanity with the ability to manufacture and invent man-made resources. Whenever we talk about a good thing that has come to us or that we have accomplished, we need to remember what God says in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord; that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another.”

Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things. Praise Your glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with Your glory.
To God be the glory—great things He has done!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 12, 2015

Complete and Effective Dominion

Death no longer has dominion over Him.…the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God… —Romans 6:9-11

Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level. And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin.

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)— not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us. The life that was in Jesus becomes ours because of His Cross, once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin. But once we do decide, the full life of God comes in immediately. Jesus came to give us an endless supply of life— “…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here, and the only Source of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” But any effort to “hang on” to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us. We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him.

1 Samuel 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Put on Christ

Scripture often describes our behavior as the clothes we wear. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter urges us to be "clothed with humility." David speaks of evil people who clothe themselves "with cursing." Garments can symbolize character, and like His garment, Jesus' character was seamless. The character of Jesus was a seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth-from God's thoughts to Jesus' actions. From God's tears to Jesus' compassion. From God's word to Jesus' response. All one piece. A picture of the character of Jesus.
But when Christ was nailed to the cross, He took off His robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe. He wore our sin so we could wear His righteousness.
From He Chose the Nail

1 Samuel  6

The Philistines Return the Ark

The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”

3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”

4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked.

And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land. 5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.

7 “Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen. 8 Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. 9 If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the Lord who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know it was not his hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance.”

10 So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen. 11 Then the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. 12 And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.

13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed! 14 The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering. 15 Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord that day by the people of Beth-shemesh. 16 The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.

17 The five gold tumors sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering to the Lord were gifts from the rulers of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The five gold rats represented the five Philistine towns and their surrounding villages, which were controlled by the five rulers. The large rock[e] at Beth-shemesh, where they set the Ark of the Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.

The Ark Moved to Kiriath-Jearim
19 But the Lord killed seventy men[f] from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. And the people mourned greatly because of what the Lord had done. 20 “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?”

21 So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!”

6:19 As in a few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read 70 men, 50,000 men. Perhaps the text should be understood to read the Lord killed 70 men and 50 oxen.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 11, 2015

Read: 1 Samuel 17:33-50

 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”

34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.

“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.

41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.

When We’re Let Down

By Dennis Fisher |

The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands. —1 Samuel 17:47

On August 4, 1991, the MTS Oceanos cruise ship ran into a terrible storm off the coast of South Africa. When the ship began to sink, the captain decided to abandon ship and left with his officers, failing to notify those onboard of any problem. Passenger Moss Hills, a British musician, noticed that something was wrong and sent out a Mayday signal to the South African coast guard. Then, taking matters into their own hands, Moss, his wife Tracy, and other entertainers on board helped organize the evacuation of all passengers by assisting them as they were lifted into helicopters.

Sometimes those we look to for leadership can let us down. When King Saul and his officers faced the belligerent insults of the Philistine giant Goliath, they responded with fear and timidity (1 Sam. 17:11). But a young musician and shepherd boy named David had faith in God that transformed his perspective on this threat. David said to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword . . . . But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts” (v.45). David defeated the enemy and turned the tide of battle (v.50). He did not look to earthly leaders for his strength but to the living God.

When others let us down, God may be calling us to provide leadership in His strength and for His honor.

Dear Lord, I don’t have the power on my own to lead others through a difficult situation. But You are all-powerful. Give me the courage to help others as I rely on Your strength that cannot fail.
Only as we follow Christ can we lead others in the right direction.
By Dennis Fisher | See Other Authors

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 11, 2015

Complete and Effective Divinity

If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection… —Romans 6:5

Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.

The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God— His complete and effective divinity— to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house— He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to “reckon” that I am actually “dead indeed to sin,” because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness— the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order.

1 Samuel 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Into His Likeness

Strange as it may seem, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that Christians actually have within themselves a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ. Strange is the word! If I have the mind of Jesus, why do I still think so much like me? Why do I still have the hang-ups of Max? Why do I still hate traffic jams?
God has ambitious plans for us. The same one who saved your soul longs to remake your heart. His plan is nothing short of a total transformation. Colossians 3:10 reminds us, "You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God." Let's fix our eyes on Jesus! Perhaps in seeing him, we will see what we can become.
From Just Like Jesus

1 Samuel 5

The Ark in Philistia

After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 3 But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. 4 But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.

6 Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.[c] 7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”

The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.

10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it[d] will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.

5:6 Greek version and Latin Vulgate read tumors; and rats appeared in their land, and death and destruction were throughout the city.
5:11 Or he.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 10, 2015

Read: James 2:14-17 |

Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

INSIGHT: James makes a strong connection here between invisible faith and the visible works that faith produces. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul declares faith to be completely distinct from works. There is no conflict between these two points, however, for Paul agrees with James in Ephesians 2:10, saying, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Paul says that salvation in Christ is rooted in faith apart from works, but that this faith will result in the kind of works for which God has made us in Christ.

Sharing A Burger

By Dave Branon

Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. —Hebrews 13:16

Lee Geysbeek of Compassion International told about a woman who had the opportunity to travel to a distant land to visit the child she sponsored. She decided to take the child, who was living in abject poverty, to a restaurant.

The boy ordered a hamburger, and the sponsor ordered a salad. When the food came to the table, the boy, who assuredly had never had such a meal in his life, surveyed the scene. He looked at his huge hamburger and over at his sponsor’s small salad. Then he took his knife and cut the burger in half, offered it to his sponsor, rubbed his tummy, and asked, “Hungry?”

A child who had next to nothing his whole life was willing to share half of what he had with someone he thought might need more. This child can be a good reminder the next time we meet someone in physical, emotional, or spiritual need. As followers of Jesus, our faith in Him should be mirrored through our actions (James 2:17).

We encounter people in need every day. Some around the globe, some simply around the corner. Some in need of a warm meal, others a kind word. What a difference followers of Christ, who have experienced His love, could make by doing good and sharing (Heb. 13:16).

Today, Lord, help me see beyond my own problems to the needs of others. Guide my hand to give instead of get, to offer instead of ask, and to bless instead of seeking blessings. May Your name be honored.
To be doing good is man’s most glorious task. —Sophocles

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 10, 2015

Complete and Effective Decision About Sin

…our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. —Romans 6:6

Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin—that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you– not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified— just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.

Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life— to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin— that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.

Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20).

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 10, 2015


How A Christian is Seduced By Our Culture - #7370

It opened in theaters on Valentine's Weekend - Fifty Shades of Grey. A hundred million copies of the book have been sold. See, it's known for its portrayal of a young virgin seduction into sado-masochistic sex in a charming man's "room of pain." A friend told me that it was the talk of all the women in her office; forty and 50-year-old women "giggling like schoolgirls." Dying to see it. To see a woman submitting to sexual violence in the name of "exploring her dark desires."

The top ten advance ticket sales were from Bible Belt states mostly. A lot of anecdotal evidence and Facebook postings suggest a great "buzz" about that movie from people with Christian backgrounds.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How A Christian Is Seduced By Our Culture."

Christian. That's the ones of whom the Bible says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). To whom God says in our word for today from the Word of God (Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 3), "Among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity...you are light in the Lord...have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness."

It's not that God is against sexual passion. Far from it. He invented it! To unite, to ignite the lifetime love of a husband and wife. "Rejoice in the wife of your youth," He says. "Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19 - NLT).

But sex the Inventor's way always means honoring a woman, respecting a woman, uplifting a woman; never hurting her, using her, violating her. Ephesians 5:28 (NLT) says, "Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies." "The two will become one flesh," Jesus said. A holy, tender, loving merging of two lives, expressed with the passionate merging of their bodies together.

But "Christian" interest in a morally bankrupt, "must-see" movie exposes much larger issues; more troubling issues, like the compartmentalizing of our faith. It's like one slice of pie you lather in whipped cream. So we've got a "Jesus slice" of our life now, and I pour all the "spiritual" there. Then there's the rest of my life where I do whatever I please. "Hey, I believe in Jesus. But this is my business. Jesus is my belief. This is how I treat my family, this is my love life, and this is my entertainment."

Nope. "You must be holy in everything you do" (1 Peter 1:15 - NLT). Everything. If I'm deciding where Jesus is in charge and where He isn't, then He's not Lord. I am. I have dethroned the Son of God and made me my de facto God.

Then there's our naiveté about entertainment. "It's only a movie. It's only a song. it's only a TV show." See, entertainment is our hellish enemy's "stealth bomber" that slips death into our soul under the radar.

James 1:15 - what a hammer this is! "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." We'd run from a frontal temptation to do this thing we think we'll never do. So the enemy of our soul just plants a thought, a desire, an indelible image. First, sin fascinates you. Then, it assassinates you.

The terrorist from hell says, "Watch this. It won't hurt." The Savior who loves you says, "Guard your heart...it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). A little poison in the reservoir becomes death in the water.

There are a thousand shades of dark, inviting us to what looks like a party but ends up in a prison; a prison that Jesus Christ, Prince of Heaven, came to save us from. To show us we are more than a body to be used. We are a soul to be cherished.

This very day I would love to have you experience this most genuine, most lasting of all loves for yourself. Let your search for that love end today. Would you meet me at our website ANewStory.com and let me show you how?

You're too precious to degrade, too precious to defile; worth dying for.

1 Samuel 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Your Heart, His Home

The crowning attribute of Christ was this: his heart was spiritual. His thoughts reflected his intimate relationship with the Father. Our hearts seem so far from his. He is pure; we're greedy. He is peaceful; we're hassled. He is purposeful; we're distracted. He is pleasant; we're cranky. The distance between our hearts and his seems so immense! How could we ever hope to have the heart of Jesus?
Ready for a surprise? You already do. One of the supreme yet unrealized promises of God is simply this: if you've given your life to Jesus, Jesus has given himself to you. He has made your heart his home. It would be hard to say it any more succinctly than Paul does in Galatians 2:20, "Christ lives in me."
God is willing to change us into the likeness of the Savior. Shall we accept his offer?
From Just Like Jesus

1 Samuel 4:

1 And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark
At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. 3 After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it[a] will save us from our enemies.”

4 So they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. 5 When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!

6 “What’s going on?” the Philistines asked. “What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?” When they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, 7 they panicked. “The gods have[b] come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”

10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

The Death of Eli
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.

14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked.

The messenger rushed over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.”

“What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.

17 “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”

18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.

19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. 20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.

21 She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 09, 2015

Read: Psalm 119:1-8

Aleph

Joyful are people of integrity,
    who follow the instructions of the Lord.
2 Joyful are those who obey his laws
    and search for him with all their hearts.
3 They do not compromise with evil,
    and they walk only in his paths.
4 You have charged us
    to keep your commandments carefully.
5 Oh, that my actions would consistently
    reflect your decrees!
6 Then I will not be ashamed
    when I compare my life with your commands.
7 As I learn your righteous regulations,
    I will thank you by living as I should!
8 I will obey your decrees.
    Please don’t give up on me!
Footnotes:

119 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; there are twenty-two stanzas, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter named in its heading.

INSIGHT: Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. The entire psalm celebrates God’s Word and speaks of its priority and sufficiency in the daily life of the believer. The psalmist uses different words to describe God’s Word: the law of the Lord (v. 1), testimonies (v. 2), ways (v. 3), precepts (v. 4), statutes (v. 5), commandments (v. 6), righteous judgments (v. 7), and word (v. 9). Through the Bible, God communicates His standards for our lives, His guidance, and His ways.

The Mud Puddle

By David C. Egner

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! —Psalm 119:2

My friend Ed was telling me a story about his little son. He was standing in a mud puddle, so Ed told him to get out. But instead, his son began running through the puddle. “No running through it either,” he said. So the boy began walking through the water. When Ed told him, “No walking!” the boy stood with just his toes in the water, looking defiantly at his dad. The child knew what his father wanted, but he didn’t want to do it.

Sometimes I’m like that stubborn little boy. I know that what I’m doing isn’t pleasing to the Lord, but I do it anyway. God told the children of Israel to “fully obey the Lord your God” (Deut. 28:1 niv), but they failed repeatedly. The psalmist acknowledged his struggle in Psalm 119, “Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!” (v.5 niv).

Jealousy, hatred, rebellion—they occur all too often. But God provided for our redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit helps us when we are tempted (1 Cor. 10:13); and when we confess our wrongdoing, God promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

If you are like me and keep running back into the mud puddles of life, don’t give up. God will help you to resist temptation, and He will never stop loving you!

Dear Lord, help me when I’m tempted. Bring the promises of the Bible to mind and strengthen me by Your Holy Spirit to say no to temptation. Let all my words and deeds bring honor to Your name.
To master temptation, let Christ master you.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 09, 2015

Have You Seen Jesus?

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them… —Mark 16:12

Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.

You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25).

Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes. And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not. You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too. “And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don’t believe.

O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it,
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 09, 2015

What Matters Most When Things Are Out Of Control - #7369

Oh, the hazards of shopping in a mall! Let's see, overheating your credit card, maybe a pick pocket, an occasional mugging in the parking lot, being run into by a ship. What? Well, that's exactly what happened a while back to about a thousand Christmas shoppers at the Riverwalk Shopping Complex in New Orleans. Navigating the most dangerous stretch in the Mississippi River near there, this freighter suddenly lost power. It's unbelievable! In or near its path were two cruise ships holding 1,700 people, and a riverboat casino with 800 people on board. The potential was there for hundreds of fatalities.

But the pilot of the freighter got his emergency horn wailing, and that gave people on the ship and at the end of the mall a warning. He dropped his anchors in a desperate attempt to at least slow the ship and somehow he managed to steer without power between all three ships. Oh, yeah, the freighter plowed into the Riverfront stretch of stores and restaurants, but because of how that pilot responded when things were out-of-control the people were saved. Here's the amazing headline that followed: "No Deaths in New Orleans Accident."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What Matters Most When Things Are Out Of Control."

In that out-of-control moment one man knew what really mattered - save the people. That's an important value any time our ship is out of control. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 27. The ship that's carrying the Apostle Paul to Rome as a prisoner is essentially out of control. They have had two weeks of a violent storm that has battered him and the 276 people aboard; sweeping them across the Mediterranean. They don't know where they are. They're afraid they're going to be cast aground somewhere with many lives lost, if not everyone.

Well, God appears to Paul with an important reminder of all that really matters in a situation like that. And Paul reports it to his fellow passengers. Here it is, "Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.'"

Well, from that moment on, Paul does whatever it will take to make sure no person is lost. The ship is going to be lost, but it's the people on the ship who really matter anyway. That's important to keep in mind whenever your ship seems to be out of control.

Like the pilot in that frightening moment on the Mississippi - save the people. Now, your ship could be your business, your project, your finances, maybe it's your schedule that's out-of-control, your responsibilities, it might be something in your life that's stressful, maybe some trouble, something that's getting out-of-control and could even go aground. This is no time for panic. This is a time for right priorities. Protect the people from getting hurt.

What happens to the ship is not nearly as important as what happens to the people. It's easy to lose sight of that in a crisis. A crisis has the tendency to consume you and actually cause you to neglect the people around you. Even to take it out on the people around you. A crisis cannot leave your relationships the same as they were. It will either pull you closer together than you've ever been, or it's going to drive you farther apart. Which way it goes may depend largely on you and whether or not you put protecting the people above saving the ship.

This is a scary time; a time when the ship is out-of-control. And it might even crash, but just remember your bottom line, "Choose the course that will save the people." Ships can be replaced, but people can't.

Luke 17:20-37 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Who Says We Can't Change?

Here's some good news. You aren't stuck with today's personality. You aren't condemned to "grumpydom." You are tweak-able! So what if you were born a bigot? You don't have to die one.
Where did we get the idea we can't change? Where do statements come from such as, "It's just my nature to worry," or. . . "I'll always be pessimistic. I'm just that way." Or, "I have a bad temper. I can't help the way I react?" Who says? Would we say, "it's just my nature to have a broken leg. I can't do anything about it." Of course not. If our body malfunctions, we seek help. Shouldn't we do the same with our hearts? Can't we seek aid for our sour attitudes? Of course we can. Jesus can change our hearts! He wants us to have a heart like his!
From Just Like Jesus


Luke 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs.[a] 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.[b]”

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns,[c] but you won’t see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day[d] when the Son of Man comes. 25 But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly[e] and be rejected by this generation.

26 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. 34 That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.[f]”

37 “Where will this happen, Lord?”[g] the disciples asked.

Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”[h]

Footnotes:

17:20 Or by your speculations.
17:21 Or is within you, or is in your grasp.
17:22 Or long for even one day with the Son of Man. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
17:24 Some manuscripts do not include on the day.
17:25 Or suffer many things.
17:35 Some manuscripts add verse 36, Two men will be working in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Compare Matt 24:40.
17:37a Greek “Where, Lord?”
17:37b Greek “Wherever the carcass is, the vultures gather.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Read: Philippians 4:10-20

Paul’s Thanks for Their Gifts

How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

20 Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Footnotes:

4:13 Greek through the one.

INSIGHT: Paul says, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content . . . . I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:11,13). Paul’s contentment came from the sufficiency of knowing Christ, not from the gifts he received from the Philippian believers (vv. 14-17). However, these sacrificial gifts were a “sweet-smelling aroma” to God (v. 18; see Lev. 7:12-15).

Fragrant Living

By Joe Stowell

I am full, having received . . . the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma . . . well pleasing to God. —Philippians 4:18

I’m grateful that God has given us the sense of smell so we can enjoy the many fragrances of life. I think of how much I enjoy something as simple as the fresh and inviting aroma of after-shave lotion in the morning. Or the mellow smell of fresh-cut grass in the spring. I especially enjoy sitting in the backyard when the delicate scent of my favorite roses fills the air. And then there are the savory aromas of delicious food.

So it catches my attention when the apostle Paul says that our generous acts of love toward others are like a “sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18). When we think of helping those in need, we usually think of it as the right thing to do—or even the Christlike thing to do. But Paul says that our intentional act of reaching out to meet someone’s need actually fills the throne room of God with a fragrance that brings pleasure to Him.

We can please God with the aromas that rise from being a blessing to others! What an added incentive this is for us to perform deeds of kindness in His name.

Who might need your act of kindness today? Ask God to lead you to someone. Be a blessing. It’s a fragrant thing to do!

Here is what I hope to do for others today: "Reflect the freeing light of Christ to my neighbor."
Blessing others is a blessing to God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 08, 2015

His Resurrection Destiny

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? —Luke 24:26

Our Lord’s Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself.

Christ’s resurrection destiny— His foreordained purpose— was to bring “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We never have exactly the same relationship to God that the Son of God has, but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship. When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life— a life He had never lived before He was God Incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before. And what His resurrection means for us is that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we will have a body like His glorious body, but we can know here and now the power and effectiveness of His resurrection and can “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Paul’s determined purpose was to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).

Jesus prayed, “…as You have given Him authority over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him” (John 17:2). The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 08, 2015

How Losing Trust Can Lose a Soul - #7368

There he was in the homes of some ten million Americans every night - NBC's TV news anchorman. The voice that millions trust, or did trust. The most experienced, most watched anchorman in the country facing the worst possible question, "Can we believe him?"

Because of dramatic stories that he told about his assignments in the Middle East and during Hurricane Katrina; except in different tellings, there were different accounts. Accounts challenged by people who actually were there. So an anchorman had lost the one thing that a man with that kind of influence really can't do without - trust. I mean, if you're reporting important news, credibility is everything, especially if that news is life-or-death information from God.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Losing Trust Can Lose a Soul."

The Gospel! That's what it's called. That means "Good News." It is the only news in the world on which eternities depend. The Bible says in Romans 1:16 (NLT), "This Good News about Christ...is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes."

And every follower of Jesus is God's embedded reporter of that news to the people in their circle of influence - at work, at school, where you live, where you play, where you shop. It's spelled out really clearly and powerfully in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 19-20. "He gave us this wonderful message...we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!'"

When you're the one responsible to report the Ultimate Story - God's Story - there's one thing you can't afford to lose - trust - because your life doesn't back it up. A person has to first trust the messenger usually before they will trust the message. So most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. And most people who reject Jesus do it because of a Christian they know.

Your life, my life is either a magnet that attracts a lost person to Jesus, or it's an excuse for them to walk away from Him. In so doing, to walk possibly into an eternity without Him. So, I really need to constantly ask myself, "Is my life backing up the message? What is there in my life, what is there in the way I talk, what is there in the way I treat people, what is there in my attitude that contradicts what Jesus is like?"

Like lying for example. Like talking behind someone's back. Is that part of the you that people know where you're the ambassador? How about that short fuse? The dirty joke? A mean spirit? A selfish attitude? "Checking out" women? Hurting words? It could be just that "me first" vibe you give out. A critical spirit? No time to stop for the wounded person? That just so contradicts everything you say about Jesus.

And if I've lost their trust by my hypocrisy, I need to seek their forgiveness. Because I failed to show them how real Jesus is. I want to be a reason for people to trust Jesus, because they could trust me.

1 Samuel 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Just the Way You Are

Don't confuse God's love with the love of people. That kind of love often increases with performances and decreases with mistakes. When my daughter was a toddler, she loved going to the park and playing in the sandbox. And often I'd give her an ice-cream treat. One day as I turned to do that, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt. Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there.
God does the same for us. "Spit the dirt out, honey," our Father urges. I've got something better for you." Jesus wants to give us a heart like his. Can you imagine a better offer?
From Just Like Jesus

1 Samuel 3

The Lord Speaks to Samuel

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.

2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle[x] near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.

6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”

Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”

7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God[y] and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

Samuel Speaks for the Lord
15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle[z] as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” Samuel replied.

17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”

19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

3:3 Hebrew the Temple of the Lord.
3:13 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads his sons have made themselves contemptible.
3:15 Hebrew the house of the Lord.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 07, 2015

True Disciples
21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Building on a Solid Foundation
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

INSIGHT: Here, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returns to a theme He had already discussed earlier in this message—the Father’s will. In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus teaches His followers the “model prayer,” which begins with “Our Father” and continues with “Your will be done.” The Father is the object of our worship and devotion, and in everything we want His purposes to be fulfilled.

Firm Foundation

By Bill Crowder

Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. —Matthew 7:24

Earthquakes are prevalent in the Pacific Rim region known as the “Ring of Fire.” Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the world’s largest earthquakes occur there. I learned that many buildings in the city of Hong Kong have been built on granite, which could help minimize damage in the event of an earthquake. The foundation of buildings is especially important in earthquake-prone regions of the world.

Jesus Christ told His followers that a stable foundation is critical in building lives. He said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matt. 7:24-25). The foundation of Jesus Christ is what will give us the stability our hearts and lives need now and into the future.

By allowing the Lord’s wisdom to guide us in our relationships, decisions, and priorities, we find that He provides the most trustworthy foundation any life could be built upon.

Gracious Father, You are the Lord God, the King of heaven, and I choose to place my hope in You because You alone are worthy of my trust.
Jesus is the best foundation upon which to build a solid life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 07, 2015

He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. —Mark 9:9

As the disciples were commanded, you should also say nothing until the Son of Man has risen in you— until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you truly understand what He taught while here on earth. When you grow and develop the right condition inwardly, the words Jesus spoke become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before. In fact, you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to deal with them.

Our Lord doesn’t hide these things from us, but we are not prepared to receive them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life. Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). We must have a oneness with His risen life before we are prepared to bear any particular truth from Him. Do we really know anything about the indwelling of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His Word is becoming understandable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we don’t have His Spirit. And our own unyielding and headstrong opinions will effectively prevent God from revealing anything to us. But our insensible thinking will end immediately once His resurrection life has its way with us.

“…tell no one….” But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration— their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don’t add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before His resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me?

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 07, 2015

When Life Feels Meaningless - #7367

Well, several years ago it was our turn again for the cicadas to pay us a brief visit. You can't really complain; they only drop by every 17 years. What a life these critters have! They suck on a root in the ground for a while, they finally emerge, they climb a tree, they make a lot of noise for about three weeks, and they die. You talk about "get a life!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Life Feels Meaningless."

Live a little while, make some noise, and then you're gone. Ecclesiastes 1, our word for today from the Word of God - the diary of one of the richest, most successful, most brilliant men who ever lived - the Jewish King Solomon. He opens his life's testimony with his bottom line on living. Here's what he ways, "Meaningless, meaningless, utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless." Man alive! He says, "I haven't found meaning in anything I've done!" Then he goes on to say, "The eye has never enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing." So he says there's never enough!

As he passed through his life cycle, here are some of the noises that Solomon made. He says in 1:17, "I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, but this too is chasing after the wind." Then he says, "I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. But that also proved to be meaningless. I surveyed all that my hands had done and all that I have toiled to achieve," which, by the way, was pretty incredible. He said, "Everything was meaningless." And then finally, "Like the fool, the wise man too must die."

After a life full of pleasure, achievement, relationships and learning, Solomon sums it all up in one word: meaningless! Like those cicadas, a short stay, make a little noise, and then you're gone. Solomon's search and Solomon's conclusion have been repeated over and over again in millions of lives...maybe yours. Maybe there's been activity but not much meaning. You've lived long enough to feel the hollowness of so many things that were supposed to make your life fulfilling. Nothing has really done it for you.

You might be interested though, in the key that Solomon finally found in the meaning that had eluded him his whole colorful life - chapter 3, verse 11 of Ecclesiastes: "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." See, there's this eternity vacuum in us that can never be filled by anything or anyone that earth has to offer. We're not just 70-year cicadas going through a largely meaningless lifestyle for 70 years. We're built for eternity!

In his final chapter he says things like, "Remember your Creator." Now he's looking for meaning in the only direction it can possibly come from - the One who gave us our life in the first place. The Bible actually says, speaking of Jesus Christ, "You were created by Him and for Him." You can't find your purpose until you find the One you were made by and made for, and that's Jesus. That's why He can make this exciting promise in John 10:10, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full." All the life you were made for is in Jesus Christ. But for you to have life, it cost Jesus His life.

The next verse says, "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." It's no mistake Jesus refers to us as sheep. We've wandered away from God, like sheep, the Bible says. It's called sin. The penalty is death. But Jesus, God's own Son, paid that penalty on the cross for you. Your last meaningless day is the day you reach out to the author of your life; the day you tell Jesus you are putting all of your trust in Him. And this could be that day.

That's why I want to invite you to visit our website. Because right there I will lay out for you in simple and non-religious language how you can be sure you have begun the relationship that begins life the way it was meant to be. Our website - ANewStory.com.

One day it was very quiet in our yard again. That short, seemingly meaningless life of the cicadas was over. You were made for so much more than that. You were made for eternity, and that begins the moment that you begin with Jesus.

1 Samuel 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Heart Like His

What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you? His priorities would be governing your actions. His love would be directing your behavior. Would people notice a change? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy? Keep working on this for a moment. Adjust the lens of your imagination until you have a clear picture of Jesus leading your life—then snap the shutter and frame the image. What you see is what God wants. Nothing short of a new heart. In Philippians 2:5 it says, to “think and act like Christ Jesus.” He wants you to have a heart like His.

I’m going to risk something here. It’s dangerous to sum up grand truths in one statement, but I’m going to try. God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus!

From Just Like Jesus

1 Samuel 2

Hannah’s Prayer of Praise

Then Hannah prayed:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
    The Lord has made me strong.[l]
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
    I rejoice because you rescued me.
2 No one is holy like the Lord!
    There is no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Stop acting so proud and haughty!
    Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;
    he will judge your actions.
4 The bow of the mighty is now broken,
    and those who stumbled are now strong.
5 Those who were well fed are now starving,
    and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
    and the woman with many children wastes away.
6 The Lord gives both death and life;
    he brings some down to the grave[m] but raises others up.
7 The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
    he brings some down and lifts others up.
8 He lifts the poor from the dust
    and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
    placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s,
    and he has set the world in order.
9 “He will protect his faithful ones,
    but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
10     Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
    the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
    he increases the strength[n] of his anointed one.”
11 Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.

Eli’s Wicked Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.

16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” 17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt.

18 But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest.[o] 19 Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.[p]” 21 And the Lord blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.[q] 23 Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? 24 You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the Lord’s people are not good. 25 If someone sins against another person, God[r] can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death.

26 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the Lord and with the people.

A Warning for Eli’s Family
27 One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord: “I revealed myself[s] to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. 28 I chose your ancestor Aaron[t] from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest[u] as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. 29 So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!

30 “Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi[v] would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. 31 The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. 32 You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. 33 The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death.[w] 34 And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!

35 “Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. 36 Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 06, 2015

Read: Psalm 18:1-3,46 |

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

I love you, Lord;
    you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
    my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
    and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and he saved me from my enemies.

The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
    May the God of my salvation be exalted!

INSIGHT: Psalm 18 is a song of thanksgiving. The long superscription, taken from 2 Samuel 22:1, gives the circumstances that led David to write this song of deliverance: “A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” David used seven metaphors to describe the Lord: He is a rock, fortress, and deliverer. He is our strength, shield, horn of salvation, and stronghold (vv. 2-3).

Solid-Rock Faith

By Philip Yancey

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. —Psalm 18:2

My wife and I both have grandmothers who have lived past 100. Talking with them and their friends, I detect a trend that seems almost universal in the reminiscences of older people: They recall difficult times with a touch of nostalgia. The elderly swap stories about World War II and the Great Depression; they speak fondly of hardships such as blizzards, the childhood outhouse, and the time in college when they ate canned soup and stale bread 3 weeks in a row.

Paradoxically, difficult times may help nourish faith and strengthen personal bonds. Seeing this principle lived out, I can better understand one of the mysteries relating to God. Faith boils down to a question of trust. If I do stand on a solid rock of trust in God (Ps. 18:2), the worst of circumstances will not destroy that relationship.

Solid-rock faith allows me to believe that despite the chaos of the present moment, God does reign. Regardless of how worthless I may feel, I truly matter to a God of love. No pain lasts forever, and no evil triumphs in the end.

Solid-rock faith sees even the darkest deed of all history, the death of God’s Son, as a necessary prelude to the brightest moment in all history—His resurrection and triumph over death.

Lord, You are the Rock, the object of my faith. My faith stands on You and not on my shifting feelings; otherwise I would be sure to fall.
Christ, the Rock, is our sure hope.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 06, 2015

The Collision of God and Sin

…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree… —1 Peter 2:24

The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.

The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating “God was manifested in the flesh…” from “…He made Him…to be sin for us…” (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.

The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

When Life is Just "More Of The Same" - #6323
Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Like most countries, America has some holidays that are pretty meaningful. We've got the Fourth of July to celebrate our independence. We've got Veterans' Day and Memorial Day, and those are great times to remember all those who've fought for our freedom. We celebrate the birthdays of some great Americans like Lincoln and Washington and Martin Luther King. And then there's this one oddball day on your calendar. Groundhog Day.

Only in America, huh? A day named for the chubby cousin of a rat. A town whose main event is a groundhog playing peek-a-boo. As Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff says, "I love this country!"

We even have a movie called "Groundhog Day." It's actually set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the home of the king groundhog. But it was hearing about the premise of the movie, not the location that intrigues me.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Life is Just 'More of the Same.'"

Basically, Bill Murray plays a TV newscaster who keeps reliving the same day over and over again. It happens to be Groundhog Day in the town that's the epicenter of that celebration. In the movie, the idea of repeating the same day again and again is played for laughs. Unfortunately, for too many people, that's their real life. And there's nothing funny about it.

"Same old, same old" - that's how life feels for a lot of people. Just a disconnected, seemingly meaningless series of events that start to feel pretty much the same. We start wondering about "why am I here?" somewhere in our turbulent teenage years I think. Unfortunately, a lot of us do our whole life and still don't know the answer. We've got this pile of puzzle pieces on the floor in front of us, and we don't have the top of the puzzle box. We can't figure out what it all makes.

For me, for countless millions over 2,000 years, that's where Jesus comes in. Not the religion called Christianity, but Jesus. People have written volumes on the purpose of life. God does it in six words in the Bible. He's talking about Jesus when He says we are "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16 ). I'm created by Jesus. I'm created for Jesus. And life will not add up until I have Jesus. Or maybe more accurately, Jesus has me.

The only One who really knows the purpose of your life is the One who gave you your life. And He says that you were made for a relationship with Jesus, His Son. A relationship that honestly, our sin has spoiled. We've decided we'd do life our way instead of God's way. But it is a relationship that His death for our sin has made possible. And then three days after he died, He walked out of His grave under His own power so He can walk into your life, today. You know, the earth's life depends on its revolving around the sun. If the earth goes off on an orbit away from the sun, all life will cease. In the same way our life depends on our revolving around the Son. The Son of God.

Maybe you've never begun a personal relationship with Jesus. Maybe you do not yet belong to the One you were made by and made for. This could be the end of a lifetime search. It begins when you say, "Jesus, I get it now. I was made by You, I was made for You, but instead I've lived for me, and I am in trouble with God. But I believe, Jesus, that some of those sins You were dying for on that cross were mine. Because You're alive, I can tell You today, "I'm Yours."

I want to direct you to our website and ask you to spend a couple of minutes there checking it out, because I'm there and I've got a chance there to present to you in more detail how you can be sure you have this relationship with Jesus. The website is YoursForLife.net.

I'm thanking God today that life doesn't have to be a meaningless parade of days that replay the same old questions and the same old emptiness. On the day we step into the relationship we were made for, we step into the "more" God put us here for, and the search is over.