Max Lucado Daily: The Authoritative Word
Let God's Word be the authoritative word in your world! It's a decision that rubs against the skin of our culture. We prefer the authority of the voting booth, pollster, or whatever feels good.
Paul reminded the young pastor, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 3:15: "Since you were a child you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise." And in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul states the power of Scripture against any stronghold. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
These are verses I invite you to memorize with me in a Scripture Memory Challenge-a verse a week for the next 4 weeks.
Get started at GloryDaysToday.com!
An Unmoving Target
Don't chart your course according to the opinions of people or suggestions of culture. If you do, you'll make the mistake the farmer's son made. He sent the boy to prepare a field, reminding him to till straight lines.
"Select an object on the far side of the field, and plow straight to it," the father said.
Later when the father checked on the boy's progress, every row was uneven and wavy. He said, "I thought I told you to select an object and plow toward it."
"I did," the boy answered, "but the rabbit kept hopping,"
A straight line, like a good life, requires an unmoving target. Set your sights on the unchanging principles of God. Let God's Word be the authoritative word in your world.
I invite you to memorize God's Word-a new verse every week for four weeks. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com.
1 Kings 1
The Struggle for the Succession
1 King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2 So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king, and be his attendant; let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king may be warm.” 3 So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful. She became the king’s attendant and served him, but the king did not know her sexually.
5 Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah. 8 But the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and David’s own warriors did not side with Adonijah.
9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or the warriors or his brother Solomon.
11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it? 12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king?’ 14 Then while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old; Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king. 16 Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What do you wish?” 17 She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne. 18 But now suddenly Adonijah has become king, though you, my lord the king, do not know it. 19 He has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the children of the king, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army; but your servant Solomon he has not invited. 20 But you, my lord the king—the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his ancestors, that my son Solomon and I will be counted offenders.”
22 While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan came in. 23 The king was told, “Here is the prophet Nathan.” When he came in before the king, he did obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground. 24 Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For today he has gone down and has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s children, Joab the commander[a] of the army, and the priest Abiathar, who are now eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he did not invite me, your servant, and the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon. 27 Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not let your servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
The Accession of Solomon
28 King David answered, “Summon Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. 29 The king swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has saved my life from every adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do this day.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
32 King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33 the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34 There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” 36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so ordain. 37 As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
38 So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. 39 There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?” 42 While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.” 43 Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king; 44 the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king’s mule; 45 the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard. 46 Solomon now sits on the royal throne. 47 Moreover the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed 48 and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring[b] to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’”
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own ways. 50 Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar. 51 Solomon was informed, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” 52 So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53 Then King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 25, 2015
Read: Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba![a] Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness[b] with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Footnotes:
Romans 8:15 Aramaic for Father
Romans 8:16 Or 15 a spirit of adoption, by which we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit itself bears witness
INSIGHT:
Notice in today’s Bible reading the extensive nature of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that the Spirit leads us as God’s children (v. 14), enables us through adoption to call God our Father (v. 15), and affirms God’s saving work in our hearts (v. 16). It is one of the truly great passages in the New Testament on the work of the Spirit in our lives—and one we should celebrate! Bill Crowder
First Steps
By Philip Yancey
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16
A friend stopped me the other day with some exciting news and then spent 10 minutes describing for me the first steps of her 1-year-old nephew. He could walk! Later I realized how bizarre we might have sounded to an eavesdropper. Most people can walk. What was the big deal?
It struck me that childhood provides a quality of specialness that nearly vanishes for the rest of life. Thinking about our treatment of children gave me further appreciation for the fact that God chooses the word picture of “children” to describe our relationship with Him. The New Testament announces that we are God’s children, with all the rights and privileges of worthy heirs (Rom. 8:16-17). Jesus (the “one and only” Son of God) came, we’re told, to make possible our adoption as sons and daughters in God’s family.
Our experiences here on earth are mere glimpses of the fullness of God's #love.
I imagine God views each halting step forward in my spiritual “walk” with the eagerness of a parent watching a child take that very first step.
Perhaps when the secrets of the universe are finally revealed, we will learn an underlying purpose of watching children grow. It may be that God has granted us these times of specialness to awaken us to His infinite love. Of the fullness of that love, our experiences here on earth are mere glimpses.
Loving heavenly Father, increase our awareness of Your love for us and Your delight in us so we can show the world the difference You make in our lives.
You are loved.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 25, 2015
The “Go” of Relationship
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. —Matthew 5:41
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, “I am here for God to send me where He will.” Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 25, 2015
Repairing The Damage - #7490
It's just a humble little house in the country, but it's been a dream of a friend of ours for years. Actually, it was her grandparents' house most of her life. She lived just down the road from them as a child and she spent many hours and made many memories in that little place. After Grandma and Granddad died, her dad owned the house. But by then he lived four hours away, so he just rented it out for years. It never was a great house but it really fell apart over the last few years; holes in the roof, fleas in the carpet, critters invading the house through its many holes, rotting wood and deterioration.
Our friend's dream has been that someday she might be able to get her hands on that house she loved and make it into something. She got her chance. Her dad deeded the house to our friend and her sister and this past summer they teamed up to make it a neat little place in the country. She put on a full court press to get all those holes fixed, to replace things that were rotting or infested or worn out and she started to put her won-derful creative and beautifying touches to work to make it a special little spot.
Another friend who used to go by once in a while when it was still rented confided to her how he felt about the house, "This place was a dump. I thought it should be bulldozed." He doesn't think that now. He was very impressed with what that dump had become.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Repairing The Damage."
All those years our friend had been seeing that house deteriorate and she just kept waiting for a day when it might be hers and she could take what had become a mess and make it into something beautiful. What she did for a house, Jesus does for people's lives. Maybe yours.
Our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" A new creation. There was an amazing change that took place in that house that was going straight downhill when someone who loved it finally was allowed to have it.
And I've seen that same miracle take place so dramatically in human lives, when a life that was getting more and more damaged was finally turned over to Jesus Christ. And He has lovingly gone to work to repair what looked "unrepairable" and to fix what looked unfixable to forgive what seemed unforgivable and to make a person into a new creation.
It could be that you're in the market now for a re-creation miracle of your own. Things have been under your management for a long time. And maybe from the outside things look pretty good. But inside, there's a lot you're tired of. You're tired of ending up lonely, you're tired of your dark side winning, maybe the anger has done enough damage, the selfishness, the habit you have never been able to shake.
It could be that over the years you've accumulated more stress and more pain than you can handle anymore. Or more guilt than you can deal with anymore. Whatever the damage that's accumulated during the years when you've been running things, there is Someone who has loved you all along who's been saying all these years, "If only you would let Me have your life. I could do with it what you've never been able to do." Think about it. The Son of God promises to make you a new creation, the old you behind you, a new beginning.
All these years there's been a dark, destructive force inside, keeping you from becoming the per¬son you really want to be. It's called sin. Sin Jesus took on Himself when He died on the cross for you. You can't be your own Savior. Only Jesus can be that. But He won't force His way in. He starts the forgiving, the healing, the re-creating the day you open the door and say, "Jesus, this place isn't mine anymore. It's Yours." That wonderful new beginning could be this very day for you if you're ready for the Savior to become your Savior and you tell Him that right now
Our website is there to help you get this done. I hope you'll go there - ANewStory.com or that you'll text us at 442-244-WORD.
There's so much Jesus has been wanting to do in your life but your life has never belonged to Him. Until today. You're going to be amazed at the change.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
John 18:1-18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: An Unmoving Target
Don't chart your course according to the opinions of people or suggestions of culture. If you do, you'll make the mistake the farmer's son made. He sent the boy to prepare a field, reminding him to till straight lines.
"Select an object on the far side of the field, and plow straight to it," the father said.
Later when the father checked on the boy's progress, every row was uneven and wavy. He said, "I thought I told you to select an object and plow toward it."
"I did," the boy answered, "but the rabbit kept hopping,"
A straight line, like a good life, requires an unmoving target. Set your sights on the unchanging principles of God. Let God's Word be the authoritative word in your world.
I invite you to memorize God's Word-a new verse every week for four weeks. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com.
Defined/Refined/Aligned
Our best days-our Glory Days-are ahead of us. God has a Promised Land for us to take. A Promised Land life in which Paul said in Romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us." In 2 Corinthians 4:16, he says we have a life in which we do not lose heart. It's a life defined by grace, refined by challenge, and aligned with a heavenly call. In God's land, we serve out of our giftedness and delight in our assignments. We may stumble, but we do not collapse. We boast only in Christ, trust only in God, and lean wholly on his power.
You and your Promised Land life-is yours for the taking! Your Glory Days await you. Are you ready to march? I invite you to join me at GloryDaysToday.com-to memorize God's Word as a powerful and useful weapon against any stronghold!
John 18:1-18
Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested
After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2 Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. 3 The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.
4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.
5 “Jesus the Nazarene,”[a] they replied.
“I am he,”[b] Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” 9 He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”[c]
10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”
Jesus at the High Priest’s House
12 So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 First they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.[d] 14 Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”
Peter’s First Denial
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16 Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 17 The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
18 Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
Footnotes:
18:5a Or Jesus of Nazareth; also in 18:7.
18:5b Or “The ‘I am’ is here”; or “I am the Lord”; Greek reads I am; also in 18:6, 8. See Exod 3:14.
18:9 See John 6:39 and 17:12.
18:13 Greek that year.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Read: Psalm 27
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
2 When evil people come to devour me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.
4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
6 Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.
7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!
8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
9 Do not turn your back on me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
O God of my salvation!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close.
11 Teach me how to live, O Lord.
Lead me along the right path,
for my enemies are waiting for me.
12 Do not let me fall into their hands.
For they accuse me of things I’ve never done;
with every breath they threaten me with violence.
13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I am here in the land of the living.
14 Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
The Upside of Setbacks
By Bill Crowder
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
American swimmer Dara Torres had a remarkable career, appearing in five different Olympics from 1984 to 2008. Late in her career, Torres broke the US record for the 50-meter freestyle—25 years after she herself set that record. But it wasn’t always medals and records. Torres also encountered obstacles in her athletic career: injuries, surgery, as well as being almost twice the age of most other competitors. She said, “I’ve wanted to win at everything, every day, since I was a kid. . . . I’m also aware that setbacks have an upside; they fuel new dreams.”
“Setbacks have an upside” is a great life lesson. Torres’s struggles motivated her to reach for new heights. They have a spiritual benefit too. As James said, “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).
Adopting this perspective on the difficulties of life is not easy, but it is worthwhile. Trials provide opportunity to deepen our relationship with God. They also provide the opening to learn lessons that success cannot teach by developing in us the kind of patience that waits on God and trusts Him for the strength to endure.
The psalmist reminds us, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Ps. 27:14).
In my times of trial, dear Lord, teach me to wait for You. But please teach me even more to trust the love You have for me. And as I do, may I learn Your wisdom and have the patience to endure.
The setbacks of life can teach us to wait upon the Lord for His help and strength.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The “Go” of Preparation
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “…go your way. First be reconciled to your brother….” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Why Customers Aren't Coming - #7489
If you've driven across America much, you might have seen a sign at one point that says "Wall Drug Store". It's in Wall, South Dakota. They advertise all over the country. I was even in Singapore and I saw an arrow pointing West. It said something like "Wall Drug Store 10,000 miles." This once little drug store in an unknown town grew into a major tourist attraction. On some days I've heard they'll draw like 20,000 people! But it wasn't always that way.
In 1931 a young pharmacist and his wife bought the drug store in Wall, a dusty little town on the edge of the Badlands. And for five years, they barely eked out a living. They were on the verge of giving up, and then the druggist's wife had an idea. Because of the new Mt. Rushmore attraction, lots of cars were going by but they weren't stopping. Her idea? Advertise the one thing those travelers needed after driving across that hot prairie in the 1930's - ice water. So they put out signs for free ice water and people began to stop. The rest is history. Here's what the couple said looking back over the years at the amazing things that had happened. No matter where you live; you can succeed because wherever you are, you can reach out to other people with something they need!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Why Customers Aren't Coming."
People weren't coming when all the drug store did was sell their products. But people started pouring in when that store identified a need those people had and started doing something about it!
Jesus was doing that with people 2,000 years go. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4:6. Jesus was giving the Samaritans a chance to know Him as their Savior. And believe me, it was going to be a hard sell. He's a Jew and the Samaritans don't like Jews. They're very into their religion. As Jesus enters the area, He meets a hardened Samaritan woman at a well where they both stop for a drink. Does He come up and say, "How do you do? I'm the Messiah."
"When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'" Verse 10, "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water." He starts by talking about a need she has - water. That's why she's at the well. Not necessarily ice water in this case, but water. In verse 13 Jesus says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst." Her reaction? "Sir, give me this water."
Jesus ends up talking about eternal life and this woman's endless search for love in her relationships with men. Then He gently leads her to deal with the sin in those relationships. Eventually, this woman gets her whole village to come out and meet Jesus. How did it all start? By Jesus identifying a need that the woman cared about and using it to turn her attention to a Savior.
Question: How can there be so many Christians and so few lost people coming to Christ or even coming to church or to Christian meetings? We're selling our product-the good news of Jesus. But they drive right on by. They don't care about sin so they don't care about what Jesus did for sin.
But would they start coming if we identified a need they feel and started doing something about it? If we began helping them be a husband or wife or a parent, or with their children's needs, or helping them with their singleness, offering services that would meet the needs of local teenagers. And in our personal witness, would more people listen if we took an interest in their felt needs? If we told them what a difference Jesus makes for our loneliness, our emptiness, our hurting relationships, the pain of our past? It's not about changing the Gospel; it's about changing our starting point to get to the Gospel.
Jesus knew that closed hearts open when you start with a need that matters to people. When it comes to interesting people in the Savior who died for them, you really can succeed wherever you are-if you reach out to them with something they need!
Don't chart your course according to the opinions of people or suggestions of culture. If you do, you'll make the mistake the farmer's son made. He sent the boy to prepare a field, reminding him to till straight lines.
"Select an object on the far side of the field, and plow straight to it," the father said.
Later when the father checked on the boy's progress, every row was uneven and wavy. He said, "I thought I told you to select an object and plow toward it."
"I did," the boy answered, "but the rabbit kept hopping,"
A straight line, like a good life, requires an unmoving target. Set your sights on the unchanging principles of God. Let God's Word be the authoritative word in your world.
I invite you to memorize God's Word-a new verse every week for four weeks. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com.
Defined/Refined/Aligned
Our best days-our Glory Days-are ahead of us. God has a Promised Land for us to take. A Promised Land life in which Paul said in Romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us." In 2 Corinthians 4:16, he says we have a life in which we do not lose heart. It's a life defined by grace, refined by challenge, and aligned with a heavenly call. In God's land, we serve out of our giftedness and delight in our assignments. We may stumble, but we do not collapse. We boast only in Christ, trust only in God, and lean wholly on his power.
You and your Promised Land life-is yours for the taking! Your Glory Days await you. Are you ready to march? I invite you to join me at GloryDaysToday.com-to memorize God's Word as a powerful and useful weapon against any stronghold!
John 18:1-18
Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested
After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2 Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. 3 The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.
4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.
5 “Jesus the Nazarene,”[a] they replied.
“I am he,”[b] Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” 9 He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”[c]
10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”
Jesus at the High Priest’s House
12 So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 First they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.[d] 14 Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”
Peter’s First Denial
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16 Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 17 The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
18 Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
Footnotes:
18:5a Or Jesus of Nazareth; also in 18:7.
18:5b Or “The ‘I am’ is here”; or “I am the Lord”; Greek reads I am; also in 18:6, 8. See Exod 3:14.
18:9 See John 6:39 and 17:12.
18:13 Greek that year.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Read: Psalm 27
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
2 When evil people come to devour me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.
4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
6 Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.
7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!
8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
9 Do not turn your back on me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
O God of my salvation!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close.
11 Teach me how to live, O Lord.
Lead me along the right path,
for my enemies are waiting for me.
12 Do not let me fall into their hands.
For they accuse me of things I’ve never done;
with every breath they threaten me with violence.
13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I am here in the land of the living.
14 Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
The Upside of Setbacks
By Bill Crowder
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
American swimmer Dara Torres had a remarkable career, appearing in five different Olympics from 1984 to 2008. Late in her career, Torres broke the US record for the 50-meter freestyle—25 years after she herself set that record. But it wasn’t always medals and records. Torres also encountered obstacles in her athletic career: injuries, surgery, as well as being almost twice the age of most other competitors. She said, “I’ve wanted to win at everything, every day, since I was a kid. . . . I’m also aware that setbacks have an upside; they fuel new dreams.”
“Setbacks have an upside” is a great life lesson. Torres’s struggles motivated her to reach for new heights. They have a spiritual benefit too. As James said, “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).
Adopting this perspective on the difficulties of life is not easy, but it is worthwhile. Trials provide opportunity to deepen our relationship with God. They also provide the opening to learn lessons that success cannot teach by developing in us the kind of patience that waits on God and trusts Him for the strength to endure.
The psalmist reminds us, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Ps. 27:14).
In my times of trial, dear Lord, teach me to wait for You. But please teach me even more to trust the love You have for me. And as I do, may I learn Your wisdom and have the patience to endure.
The setbacks of life can teach us to wait upon the Lord for His help and strength.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The “Go” of Preparation
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “…go your way. First be reconciled to your brother….” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Why Customers Aren't Coming - #7489
If you've driven across America much, you might have seen a sign at one point that says "Wall Drug Store". It's in Wall, South Dakota. They advertise all over the country. I was even in Singapore and I saw an arrow pointing West. It said something like "Wall Drug Store 10,000 miles." This once little drug store in an unknown town grew into a major tourist attraction. On some days I've heard they'll draw like 20,000 people! But it wasn't always that way.
In 1931 a young pharmacist and his wife bought the drug store in Wall, a dusty little town on the edge of the Badlands. And for five years, they barely eked out a living. They were on the verge of giving up, and then the druggist's wife had an idea. Because of the new Mt. Rushmore attraction, lots of cars were going by but they weren't stopping. Her idea? Advertise the one thing those travelers needed after driving across that hot prairie in the 1930's - ice water. So they put out signs for free ice water and people began to stop. The rest is history. Here's what the couple said looking back over the years at the amazing things that had happened. No matter where you live; you can succeed because wherever you are, you can reach out to other people with something they need!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Why Customers Aren't Coming."
People weren't coming when all the drug store did was sell their products. But people started pouring in when that store identified a need those people had and started doing something about it!
Jesus was doing that with people 2,000 years go. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4:6. Jesus was giving the Samaritans a chance to know Him as their Savior. And believe me, it was going to be a hard sell. He's a Jew and the Samaritans don't like Jews. They're very into their religion. As Jesus enters the area, He meets a hardened Samaritan woman at a well where they both stop for a drink. Does He come up and say, "How do you do? I'm the Messiah."
"When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'" Verse 10, "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water." He starts by talking about a need she has - water. That's why she's at the well. Not necessarily ice water in this case, but water. In verse 13 Jesus says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst." Her reaction? "Sir, give me this water."
Jesus ends up talking about eternal life and this woman's endless search for love in her relationships with men. Then He gently leads her to deal with the sin in those relationships. Eventually, this woman gets her whole village to come out and meet Jesus. How did it all start? By Jesus identifying a need that the woman cared about and using it to turn her attention to a Savior.
Question: How can there be so many Christians and so few lost people coming to Christ or even coming to church or to Christian meetings? We're selling our product-the good news of Jesus. But they drive right on by. They don't care about sin so they don't care about what Jesus did for sin.
But would they start coming if we identified a need they feel and started doing something about it? If we began helping them be a husband or wife or a parent, or with their children's needs, or helping them with their singleness, offering services that would meet the needs of local teenagers. And in our personal witness, would more people listen if we took an interest in their felt needs? If we told them what a difference Jesus makes for our loneliness, our emptiness, our hurting relationships, the pain of our past? It's not about changing the Gospel; it's about changing our starting point to get to the Gospel.
Jesus knew that closed hearts open when you start with a need that matters to people. When it comes to interesting people in the Savior who died for them, you really can succeed wherever you are-if you reach out to them with something they need!
Psalm 145, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Defined/Refined/Aligned
Our best days-our Glory Days-are ahead of us. God has a Promised Land for us to take. A Promised Land life in which Paul said in Romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us." In 2 Corinthians 4:16, he says we have a life in which we do not lose heart. It's a life defined by grace, refined by challenge, and aligned with a heavenly call. In God's land, we serve out of our giftedness and delight in our assignments. We may stumble, but we do not collapse. We boast only in Christ, trust only in God, and lean wholly on his power.
You and your Promised Land life-is yours for the taking! Your Glory Days await you. Are you ready to march? I invite you to join me at GloryDaysToday.com-to memorize God's Word as a powerful and useful weapon against any stronghold!
Facing God
Today's MP3
The Hebrews did what God commanded-and God protected them. Joshua 5:1 says, "So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites. . .and all the kings of the Canaanites. . . heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan. . .their heart melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the children of Israel."
Devotion prompted divine protection. Don't face Satan by facing Satan. Face Satan by facing God. Don't give Old Scratch the time of day. Colossians 2:15 says, "God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.
Satan is a fallen angel whose time is short. Don't let him mess with your glory days. Neutralize him. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com to remember what God has done!
God's Faithfulness
Life has many unanswered questions, but be settled about God's faithfulness to you! Romans 8:32 declares, If God "did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all," will he not also give you all you need for a Promised Land life? God's Word is sure!
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the reminder that Scripture is powerful and a useful weapon against any stronghold. "All Scripture is God-breathed…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
I invite you to join me in a Scripture Memory Challenge. Let's memorize together the verses in 2 Timothy 3:16-17! I'll show you how easy it is at GloryDaysToday.com.
Psalm 145
A psalm of praise of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.
6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
He showers compassion on all his creation.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord,
and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;
they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds
and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
You rule throughout all generations.
The Lord always keeps his promises;
he is gracious in all he does.[c]
14 The Lord helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope;
you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand,
you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord,
and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
forever and ever.
Footnotes:
145 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; each verse (including 13b) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
145:13 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek and Syriac versions; the Masoretic Text lacks the final two lines of this verse.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
September 23, 2015
Read: Song of Solomon 1:1-4
This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other.
Young Woman[a]
2 Kiss me and kiss me again,
for your love is sweeter than wine.
3 How fragrant your cologne;
your name is like its spreading fragrance.
No wonder all the young women love you!
4 Take me with you; come, let’s run!
The king has brought me into his bedroom.
Young Women of Jerusalem
How happy we are for you, O king.
We praise your love even more than wine.
Young Woman
How right they are to adore you.
Footnotes:
1:1 The headings identifying the speakers are not in the original text, though the Hebrew usually gives clues by means of the gender of the person speaking.
INSIGHT:
Although the writer of this book is not identified, the authorship of Song of Solomon—also referred to as Song of Songs—is traditionally attributed to Solomon (he is briefly mentioned in 1:5; 3:9-11; 8:11-12). Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and many scholars view “Solomon’s Song of Songs” (Song 1:1) as meaning “the best of songs.” For centuries, beginning around the Middle Ages, many interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of Christ’s love for the church. However, most scholars today see it as an anthology of about 20 poems that describe two lovers celebrating their intimate love for each other. Song of Solomon and the book of Esther are the only two biblical books that never mention God. Sim Kay Tee
No Wonder!
By Keila Ochoa
We love Him because He first loved us. —nkjv 1 John 4:19
“He’s perfect for you,” my friend told me. She was talking about a guy she had just met. She described his kind eyes, his kind smile, and his kind heart. When I met him I had to agree. Today he’s my husband, and no wonder I love him!
In the Song of Solomon the bride describes her lover. His love is better than wine and more fragrant than ointments. His name is sweeter than anything in this world. So she concludes that it’s no wonder he is loved.
Jesus' #love satisfies our every need.
But there is Someone far greater than any earthly loved one, Someone whose love is also better than wine. His love satisfies our every need. His “fragrance” is better than any perfume because when He gave Himself for us, His sacrifice became a sweet-smelling aroma to God (Eph. 5:2). Finally, His name is above every name (Phil. 2:9). No wonder we love Him!
It is a privilege to love Jesus. It is the best experience in life! Do we take the time to tell Him so? Do we express with words the beauty of our Savior? If we show His beauty with our lives, others will say, “No wonder you love Him!”
Lord, You are beautiful! No wonder we love You! Deepen our love for You today, we pray. Help us see Your beauty in new ways.
Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends: facebook.com/ourdailybread
God’s Word tells us of His love; our words tell Him of our love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2015
The Missionary’s Goal
He…said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”
“…there they crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ‘up to Jerusalem.’ ”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
September 23, 2015
The Two-Minute Warning - #7488
Maybe you're someone who watches a lot of sports, or maybe you're someone who watches someone who watches sports a lot. But if you're too busy to turn on a football game and sit there watching the whole thing, you can do what I do sometimes. Just turn on the end of the game. Some of the most amazing things happen when the game is almost over, especially after they sound that two-minute warning. Suddenly, everybody knows it's time to throw caution to the wind and go for broke, "Let's get some points on the board!" It's time for those bold, accelerated series of plays that are designed for those urgent moments when you realize time is running out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Two-Minute Warning."
Could it be that you and I are living at a time when our world is hearing God's two-minute warning? Many of the devoted believers of the world's three great religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are expecting the coming of the Messiah soon. There is a sense all over the world that we could be living in the countdown to God's wrap-up of human history. For those studying the only book in history that has a perfect record on fulfilled prophecies, the Bible, that wrap-up is the personal return of Jesus Christ.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and following, "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." No one can predict the time the Lord will come. But because of signs the Bible says will precede His coming, those alive at the time should be able to feel its approach. Verse 4, "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled."
I'm not a prophecy specialist and I know dedicated believers disagree on some of the details leading up to Jesus' return. But I have to tell you, as I understand Scripture, the world has never looked so much like the world Jesus has said He is going to return to as it does now. Since Jesus was here, there has never been an Israel until now. There's never been the prophesied return of the Jews to their land from all over the world until now. There's never been the technology for an antichrist to identify and regulate the commerce of every person on earth with the mark of the beast until now. There's never been in modern times the possibility of the prophesied temple to be rebuilt, until now.
Whatever your prophetic slant, it's hard not to feel that Jesus could come soon and time might be short. The game clock may very well be ticking down from God's two-minute warning. I think Satan has got his eye on the clock. Revelations 12:10 says, "Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short." Maybe you need to check the game clock and change your game plan. Maybe it's a time for the urgent living of a two-minute drill.
Here are some questions that might apply to you in light of what time it's getting to be.
1. Why are you spending so much of your life building a bigger and bigger stack of earth-stuff?
2. Why aren't you spending a lot more time with Jesus, so you'll know Him better when you see Him?
3. Why aren't you doing more to get the people you care about ready to meet Jesus?
4. And most important, are you sure you belong to Jesus? How much longer are you going to wait to open your heart to Him? It's pretty late in the game.
Someday will be your last opportunity to open your heart to the man who died for every sin you've ever committed. We don't know when Jesus is coming back to earth or when our last heart beat is going to come. That's why the Bible says, "Today is the time. Today is the day of salvation."
Maybe that's talking to you. Maybe the two-minute warning is ticking down on your life and my life and we don't even know it. So, while you still have opportunity, be ready to live and ready to die, and ready for eternity. The only way you can is by making Jesus your Savior from your sin.
Are you ready for that? Would you go to our website ANewStory.com? Or would you text us at 442-244-WORD?
When you realize time is short, your priorities change. In sports, you go for broke. Well, take a look at God's game clock today. Why don't you play the rest of your game in light of what time it is!
Our best days-our Glory Days-are ahead of us. God has a Promised Land for us to take. A Promised Land life in which Paul said in Romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us." In 2 Corinthians 4:16, he says we have a life in which we do not lose heart. It's a life defined by grace, refined by challenge, and aligned with a heavenly call. In God's land, we serve out of our giftedness and delight in our assignments. We may stumble, but we do not collapse. We boast only in Christ, trust only in God, and lean wholly on his power.
You and your Promised Land life-is yours for the taking! Your Glory Days await you. Are you ready to march? I invite you to join me at GloryDaysToday.com-to memorize God's Word as a powerful and useful weapon against any stronghold!
Facing God
Today's MP3
The Hebrews did what God commanded-and God protected them. Joshua 5:1 says, "So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites. . .and all the kings of the Canaanites. . . heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan. . .their heart melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the children of Israel."
Devotion prompted divine protection. Don't face Satan by facing Satan. Face Satan by facing God. Don't give Old Scratch the time of day. Colossians 2:15 says, "God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.
Satan is a fallen angel whose time is short. Don't let him mess with your glory days. Neutralize him. Join me at GloryDaysToday.com to remember what God has done!
God's Faithfulness
Life has many unanswered questions, but be settled about God's faithfulness to you! Romans 8:32 declares, If God "did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all," will he not also give you all you need for a Promised Land life? God's Word is sure!
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the reminder that Scripture is powerful and a useful weapon against any stronghold. "All Scripture is God-breathed…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
I invite you to join me in a Scripture Memory Challenge. Let's memorize together the verses in 2 Timothy 3:16-17! I'll show you how easy it is at GloryDaysToday.com.
Psalm 145
A psalm of praise of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.
6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
He showers compassion on all his creation.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord,
and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;
they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds
and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
You rule throughout all generations.
The Lord always keeps his promises;
he is gracious in all he does.[c]
14 The Lord helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope;
you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand,
you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord,
and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
forever and ever.
Footnotes:
145 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; each verse (including 13b) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
145:13 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek and Syriac versions; the Masoretic Text lacks the final two lines of this verse.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
September 23, 2015
Read: Song of Solomon 1:1-4
This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other.
Young Woman[a]
2 Kiss me and kiss me again,
for your love is sweeter than wine.
3 How fragrant your cologne;
your name is like its spreading fragrance.
No wonder all the young women love you!
4 Take me with you; come, let’s run!
The king has brought me into his bedroom.
Young Women of Jerusalem
How happy we are for you, O king.
We praise your love even more than wine.
Young Woman
How right they are to adore you.
Footnotes:
1:1 The headings identifying the speakers are not in the original text, though the Hebrew usually gives clues by means of the gender of the person speaking.
INSIGHT:
Although the writer of this book is not identified, the authorship of Song of Solomon—also referred to as Song of Songs—is traditionally attributed to Solomon (he is briefly mentioned in 1:5; 3:9-11; 8:11-12). Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), and many scholars view “Solomon’s Song of Songs” (Song 1:1) as meaning “the best of songs.” For centuries, beginning around the Middle Ages, many interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of Christ’s love for the church. However, most scholars today see it as an anthology of about 20 poems that describe two lovers celebrating their intimate love for each other. Song of Solomon and the book of Esther are the only two biblical books that never mention God. Sim Kay Tee
No Wonder!
By Keila Ochoa
We love Him because He first loved us. —nkjv 1 John 4:19
“He’s perfect for you,” my friend told me. She was talking about a guy she had just met. She described his kind eyes, his kind smile, and his kind heart. When I met him I had to agree. Today he’s my husband, and no wonder I love him!
In the Song of Solomon the bride describes her lover. His love is better than wine and more fragrant than ointments. His name is sweeter than anything in this world. So she concludes that it’s no wonder he is loved.
Jesus' #love satisfies our every need.
But there is Someone far greater than any earthly loved one, Someone whose love is also better than wine. His love satisfies our every need. His “fragrance” is better than any perfume because when He gave Himself for us, His sacrifice became a sweet-smelling aroma to God (Eph. 5:2). Finally, His name is above every name (Phil. 2:9). No wonder we love Him!
It is a privilege to love Jesus. It is the best experience in life! Do we take the time to tell Him so? Do we express with words the beauty of our Savior? If we show His beauty with our lives, others will say, “No wonder you love Him!”
Lord, You are beautiful! No wonder we love You! Deepen our love for You today, we pray. Help us see Your beauty in new ways.
Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends: facebook.com/ourdailybread
God’s Word tells us of His love; our words tell Him of our love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2015
The Missionary’s Goal
He…said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”
“…there they crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ‘up to Jerusalem.’ ”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
September 23, 2015
The Two-Minute Warning - #7488
Maybe you're someone who watches a lot of sports, or maybe you're someone who watches someone who watches sports a lot. But if you're too busy to turn on a football game and sit there watching the whole thing, you can do what I do sometimes. Just turn on the end of the game. Some of the most amazing things happen when the game is almost over, especially after they sound that two-minute warning. Suddenly, everybody knows it's time to throw caution to the wind and go for broke, "Let's get some points on the board!" It's time for those bold, accelerated series of plays that are designed for those urgent moments when you realize time is running out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Two-Minute Warning."
Could it be that you and I are living at a time when our world is hearing God's two-minute warning? Many of the devoted believers of the world's three great religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are expecting the coming of the Messiah soon. There is a sense all over the world that we could be living in the countdown to God's wrap-up of human history. For those studying the only book in history that has a perfect record on fulfilled prophecies, the Bible, that wrap-up is the personal return of Jesus Christ.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and following, "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." No one can predict the time the Lord will come. But because of signs the Bible says will precede His coming, those alive at the time should be able to feel its approach. Verse 4, "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled."
I'm not a prophecy specialist and I know dedicated believers disagree on some of the details leading up to Jesus' return. But I have to tell you, as I understand Scripture, the world has never looked so much like the world Jesus has said He is going to return to as it does now. Since Jesus was here, there has never been an Israel until now. There's never been the prophesied return of the Jews to their land from all over the world until now. There's never been the technology for an antichrist to identify and regulate the commerce of every person on earth with the mark of the beast until now. There's never been in modern times the possibility of the prophesied temple to be rebuilt, until now.
Whatever your prophetic slant, it's hard not to feel that Jesus could come soon and time might be short. The game clock may very well be ticking down from God's two-minute warning. I think Satan has got his eye on the clock. Revelations 12:10 says, "Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short." Maybe you need to check the game clock and change your game plan. Maybe it's a time for the urgent living of a two-minute drill.
Here are some questions that might apply to you in light of what time it's getting to be.
1. Why are you spending so much of your life building a bigger and bigger stack of earth-stuff?
2. Why aren't you spending a lot more time with Jesus, so you'll know Him better when you see Him?
3. Why aren't you doing more to get the people you care about ready to meet Jesus?
4. And most important, are you sure you belong to Jesus? How much longer are you going to wait to open your heart to Him? It's pretty late in the game.
Someday will be your last opportunity to open your heart to the man who died for every sin you've ever committed. We don't know when Jesus is coming back to earth or when our last heart beat is going to come. That's why the Bible says, "Today is the time. Today is the day of salvation."
Maybe that's talking to you. Maybe the two-minute warning is ticking down on your life and my life and we don't even know it. So, while you still have opportunity, be ready to live and ready to die, and ready for eternity. The only way you can is by making Jesus your Savior from your sin.
Are you ready for that? Would you go to our website ANewStory.com? Or would you text us at 442-244-WORD?
When you realize time is short, your priorities change. In sports, you go for broke. Well, take a look at God's game clock today. Why don't you play the rest of your game in light of what time it is!
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Psalm 144 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Faithfulness
Life has many unanswered questions, but be settled about God’s faithfulness to you! Romans 8:32 declares, If God “did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all,” will he not also give you all you need for a Promised Land life? God’s Word is sure!
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the reminder that Scripture is powerful and a useful weapon against any stronghold. “All Scripture is God-breathed…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
I invite you to join me in a Scripture Memory Challenge. Let’s memorize together the verses in 2 Timothy 3:16-17! I’ll show you how easy it is at GloryDaysToday.com.
(watch the video for Max’s tips on scripture memorization :)
Psalm 144
A psalm of David.
1 Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
He trains my hands for war
and gives my fingers skill for battle.
2 He is my loving ally and my fortress,
my tower of safety, my rescuer.
He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
He makes the nations[a] submit to me.
3 O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them,
mere mortals that you should think about them?
4 For they are like a breath of air;
their days are like a passing shadow.
5 Open the heavens, Lord, and come down.
Touch the mountains so they billow smoke.
6 Hurl your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies!
Shoot your arrows and confuse them!
7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me;
rescue me from deep waters,
from the power of my enemies.
8 Their mouths are full of lies;
they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God!
I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.
10 For you grant victory to kings!
You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword.
11 Save me!
Rescue me from the power of my enemies.
Their mouths are full of lies;
they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
12 May our sons flourish in their youth
like well-nurtured plants.
May our daughters be like graceful pillars,
carved to beautify a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
with crops of every kind.
May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands,
even tens of thousands,
14 and may our oxen be loaded down with produce.
May there be no enemy breaking through our walls,
no going into captivity,
no cries of alarm in our town squares.
15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this!
Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.
Footnotes:
144:2 Some manuscripts read my people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Read: 1 Peter 5:1-9
Advice for Elders and Young Men
5 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.
5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[a]
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers[b] all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
Footnotes:
5:5 Prov 3:34 (Greek version).
5:9 Greek your brotherhood.
INSIGHT:
The apostle Peter wrote this letter to a church that was suffering persecution. In today’s passage he addressed the leaders of the church concerning their attitude, their motivation, and their method. He encouraged them to serve from a willing heart and not out of obligation (v. 2). They were to be motivated by the opportunity to serve, not by money (v.2). Finally, they were not to abuse their power, but to use their position as an opportunity to exemplify a life lived in service to Christ (v. 3). J.R. Hudberg
A Fishing Lesson
By David Egner
Resist [the devil], standing firm in the faith. 1 Peter 5:9
I was fishing quietly on the clear, still waters of Piatt Lake, casting next to a lush weedbed. I watched a large smallmouth bass sneak out of the thick vegetation to investigate. He approached the tempting night crawler on the end of my line, stared at it, and backed into the weeds. This happened several times until he spotted the hook. Then he whipped his tail and disappeared into his lair, never to come out again.
Satan dangles temptation, like a fishhook, right in front of us. It looks tasty. It promises gratification. But Satan’s power ends there. He cannot force us to take the hook. His power stops at the edge of our will—at our decision point. When we are warned by the Holy Spirit and decide to say no, Satan can do no more. James says he runs away (4:7).
As believers, we can receive great comfort from the words of the apostle Peter, who himself experienced great temptation (Matt. 26:33-35). In later life he wrote, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion . . . . Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Just as that big old bass ignored my hook, we can in God’s strength successfully resist Satan’s most enticing tactics!
Father in heaven, thank You for the promise of Your help when we are tempted and for the truth that Satan’s power is limited. Give us the wisdom to recognize temptation and the humility to rely on Your Spirit for the strength to resist.
Respond to the lies of Satan with the truth of God’s Word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am ….I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master… —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “…for One is your Teacher, the Christ…” (Matthew 23:8).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord…”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it— a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
THE LION THAT STALKS US ALL - #7487
Wow, they had my attention when the reporter started talking about a young woman being attacked by a lion in a game park in South Africa. See, I've been to a game park in South Africa where lions roam freely. And the lions were an issue.
My South African friend, Ted, was driving me through this massive game reserve during a break at the conference where I was speaking. It was winter at that time. The grass was tall. He said, "You'll see the big animals - but not the cats. Oh they'll be there - in the grass." I've got to tell you, it was amazing to drive behind two slow-moving giraffes and ostriches. We didn't try to pass. We got behind some zebras.
I'll never forget the once-in-a-lifetime sight of 30 elephants all ages and sizes. They were having a family meeting right next to the road. For the first time since we entered the park, I started to get out of the car to take pictures.
My friend made one comment: "I'll watch your back." When I asked him what he meant, he said, "Well, there have been four tourists mauled to death by lions in the past few months." You know, it's surprising what great pictures you can get through the window of a car!!! I nearly lost my head ducking back into the car!
Sadly, the young woman who was mauled to death hadn't even gotten out of the car. She just had her window rolled down. But a lioness, with her cubs nearby, leaped through the window to attack. I thought about Ted's "watch your back" and how that lion killed that woman and only needed an open window.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Lion That Stalks Us All."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 5:8. Here's a sobering picture from the Bible; a picture of the clear and present danger all of us humans face from the lion from hell. It says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." And then there's this "watch your back" warning from God in Ephesians 4:26, "Do not give the devil a foothold."
The devil doesn't mind if people don't take him seriously. In fact, he prefers it so he can do deadly damage before we ever realize what's happening. And it only takes one open window for your spiritual enemy to get in, and he pounces on your carelessness.
That one click to check out that website. The one night with friends who bring you down. The extended time alone with that person you have feelings for. That first thought of leaving your marriage. It doesn't take much. One dark secret. One "white lie." Bitterness that you bury. A small compromise. A little gossip. An innocent "flirtation". Those angry, wounding words. Devilish opportunities, that's what they are; open windows to tragedy.
The lion from hell only needs an opening to ultimately destroy a life, a reputation, a marriage, a future. He never tells you where this little detour will take you. If you knew, you would keep the window closed. The Bible says, "Desire, when it has conceived, "gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:15).
The lion is strong but I am not defenseless. My Savior is stronger. The Bible says Jesus is "the someone stronger who attacks and overpowers" the enemy of our soul (Luke 11:22). He did, in fact in the Bible's words, "triumph" over all the forces of darkness "by His cross" (Colossians 1:15).
When He is invited into a life, He brings all the power that raised Him from the dead. He is the death-beater - the "lion tamer" - because He offered up His life to pay for human sin and break its hold.
I don't know if you've ever taken for yourself what He died to give you, and to give you finally power over all the forces of darkness around you and in you. You can do that today. Say, "Jesus, I'm yours." You want to know more about how that happens, go to our website ANewStory.com. Or text us at 442-244-WORD.
See, when the devil comes knocking, you send Jesus to the door and you keep your windows closed.
Life has many unanswered questions, but be settled about God’s faithfulness to you! Romans 8:32 declares, If God “did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all,” will he not also give you all you need for a Promised Land life? God’s Word is sure!
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the reminder that Scripture is powerful and a useful weapon against any stronghold. “All Scripture is God-breathed…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
I invite you to join me in a Scripture Memory Challenge. Let’s memorize together the verses in 2 Timothy 3:16-17! I’ll show you how easy it is at GloryDaysToday.com.
(watch the video for Max’s tips on scripture memorization :)
Psalm 144
A psalm of David.
1 Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
He trains my hands for war
and gives my fingers skill for battle.
2 He is my loving ally and my fortress,
my tower of safety, my rescuer.
He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
He makes the nations[a] submit to me.
3 O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them,
mere mortals that you should think about them?
4 For they are like a breath of air;
their days are like a passing shadow.
5 Open the heavens, Lord, and come down.
Touch the mountains so they billow smoke.
6 Hurl your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies!
Shoot your arrows and confuse them!
7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me;
rescue me from deep waters,
from the power of my enemies.
8 Their mouths are full of lies;
they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God!
I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.
10 For you grant victory to kings!
You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword.
11 Save me!
Rescue me from the power of my enemies.
Their mouths are full of lies;
they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.
12 May our sons flourish in their youth
like well-nurtured plants.
May our daughters be like graceful pillars,
carved to beautify a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
with crops of every kind.
May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands,
even tens of thousands,
14 and may our oxen be loaded down with produce.
May there be no enemy breaking through our walls,
no going into captivity,
no cries of alarm in our town squares.
15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this!
Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.
Footnotes:
144:2 Some manuscripts read my people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Read: 1 Peter 5:1-9
Advice for Elders and Young Men
5 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.
5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[a]
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers[b] all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
Footnotes:
5:5 Prov 3:34 (Greek version).
5:9 Greek your brotherhood.
INSIGHT:
The apostle Peter wrote this letter to a church that was suffering persecution. In today’s passage he addressed the leaders of the church concerning their attitude, their motivation, and their method. He encouraged them to serve from a willing heart and not out of obligation (v. 2). They were to be motivated by the opportunity to serve, not by money (v.2). Finally, they were not to abuse their power, but to use their position as an opportunity to exemplify a life lived in service to Christ (v. 3). J.R. Hudberg
A Fishing Lesson
By David Egner
Resist [the devil], standing firm in the faith. 1 Peter 5:9
I was fishing quietly on the clear, still waters of Piatt Lake, casting next to a lush weedbed. I watched a large smallmouth bass sneak out of the thick vegetation to investigate. He approached the tempting night crawler on the end of my line, stared at it, and backed into the weeds. This happened several times until he spotted the hook. Then he whipped his tail and disappeared into his lair, never to come out again.
Satan dangles temptation, like a fishhook, right in front of us. It looks tasty. It promises gratification. But Satan’s power ends there. He cannot force us to take the hook. His power stops at the edge of our will—at our decision point. When we are warned by the Holy Spirit and decide to say no, Satan can do no more. James says he runs away (4:7).
As believers, we can receive great comfort from the words of the apostle Peter, who himself experienced great temptation (Matt. 26:33-35). In later life he wrote, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion . . . . Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Just as that big old bass ignored my hook, we can in God’s strength successfully resist Satan’s most enticing tactics!
Father in heaven, thank You for the promise of Your help when we are tempted and for the truth that Satan’s power is limited. Give us the wisdom to recognize temptation and the humility to rely on Your Spirit for the strength to resist.
Respond to the lies of Satan with the truth of God’s Word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am ….I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master… —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “…for One is your Teacher, the Christ…” (Matthew 23:8).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord…”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it— a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
THE LION THAT STALKS US ALL - #7487
Wow, they had my attention when the reporter started talking about a young woman being attacked by a lion in a game park in South Africa. See, I've been to a game park in South Africa where lions roam freely. And the lions were an issue.
My South African friend, Ted, was driving me through this massive game reserve during a break at the conference where I was speaking. It was winter at that time. The grass was tall. He said, "You'll see the big animals - but not the cats. Oh they'll be there - in the grass." I've got to tell you, it was amazing to drive behind two slow-moving giraffes and ostriches. We didn't try to pass. We got behind some zebras.
I'll never forget the once-in-a-lifetime sight of 30 elephants all ages and sizes. They were having a family meeting right next to the road. For the first time since we entered the park, I started to get out of the car to take pictures.
My friend made one comment: "I'll watch your back." When I asked him what he meant, he said, "Well, there have been four tourists mauled to death by lions in the past few months." You know, it's surprising what great pictures you can get through the window of a car!!! I nearly lost my head ducking back into the car!
Sadly, the young woman who was mauled to death hadn't even gotten out of the car. She just had her window rolled down. But a lioness, with her cubs nearby, leaped through the window to attack. I thought about Ted's "watch your back" and how that lion killed that woman and only needed an open window.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Lion That Stalks Us All."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 5:8. Here's a sobering picture from the Bible; a picture of the clear and present danger all of us humans face from the lion from hell. It says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." And then there's this "watch your back" warning from God in Ephesians 4:26, "Do not give the devil a foothold."
The devil doesn't mind if people don't take him seriously. In fact, he prefers it so he can do deadly damage before we ever realize what's happening. And it only takes one open window for your spiritual enemy to get in, and he pounces on your carelessness.
That one click to check out that website. The one night with friends who bring you down. The extended time alone with that person you have feelings for. That first thought of leaving your marriage. It doesn't take much. One dark secret. One "white lie." Bitterness that you bury. A small compromise. A little gossip. An innocent "flirtation". Those angry, wounding words. Devilish opportunities, that's what they are; open windows to tragedy.
The lion from hell only needs an opening to ultimately destroy a life, a reputation, a marriage, a future. He never tells you where this little detour will take you. If you knew, you would keep the window closed. The Bible says, "Desire, when it has conceived, "gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:15).
The lion is strong but I am not defenseless. My Savior is stronger. The Bible says Jesus is "the someone stronger who attacks and overpowers" the enemy of our soul (Luke 11:22). He did, in fact in the Bible's words, "triumph" over all the forces of darkness "by His cross" (Colossians 1:15).
When He is invited into a life, He brings all the power that raised Him from the dead. He is the death-beater - the "lion tamer" - because He offered up His life to pay for human sin and break its hold.
I don't know if you've ever taken for yourself what He died to give you, and to give you finally power over all the forces of darkness around you and in you. You can do that today. Say, "Jesus, I'm yours." You want to know more about how that happens, go to our website ANewStory.com. Or text us at 442-244-WORD.
See, when the devil comes knocking, you send Jesus to the door and you keep your windows closed.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Psalm 143, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Thoroughly Equipped
This is the second week of our Glory Days Scripture Memory Challenge to memorize a verse a week.
This week's verse is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
It reminds us that Scripture is a weapon useful in all situations. I encourage you to make 2 Timothy 3:16-17 a verse to memorize this week-your reminder that you're being equipped for an eternal assignment that will empower you to live a life set apart for a holy calling. This is no guarantee of an easy life, but it is the assurance of God's help. You are God's child! You are indwelled by the Spirit of the living God!
Join me at GloryDaysToday.com for more information.
A Deposit of Power
This may be the best-kept secret in Christendom. Conversion is more than a removal of sin. It's a deposit of power! When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God's royal family. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." You have access to all the family blessings.
Surprised? You ain't heard nothin' yet! Paul described the value of your portfolio. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
Whatever He has-we have! We were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you from Egypt so that He could bless you in the Promised Land. The gift has been given. Will you trust it? Don't measure your life by your ability; measure it by God's!
Visit GloryDaysToday.com to learn more.
Psalm 143
A psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my plea!
Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
2 Don’t put your servant on trial,
for no one is innocent before you.
3 My enemy has chased me.
He has knocked me to the ground
and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.
4 I am losing all hope;
I am paralyzed with fear.
5 I remember the days of old.
I ponder all your great works
and think about what you have done.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Interlude
7 Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
for my depression deepens.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will die.
8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
I run to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.
11 For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.
Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.
12 In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies
and destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 21, 2015
Read: Ecclesiastes 9:4-12
There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
5 The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. 6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. 7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave,[a] there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
Footnotes:
9:10 Hebrew to Sheol.
INSIGHT:
Solomon’s wisdom was legendary in his day (1 Kings 4:34) and so was his pursuit of knowledge. First Kings 4:32-33 says, “He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.” Bill Crowder
A Fly’s Reminder
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Anyone who is among the living has hope. Ecclesiastes 9:4
When I first began working in the small office I now rent, the only inhabitants were a few mopey flies. Several of them had gone the way of all flesh, and their bodies littered the floor and windowsills. I disposed of all but one, which I left in plain sight.
That fly carcass reminds me to live each day well. Death is an excellent reminder of life, and life is a gift. Solomon said, “Anyone who is among the living has hope” (Eccl. 9:4). Life on earth gives us the chance to influence and enjoy the world around us. We can eat and drink happily and relish our relationships (vv. 7,9).
Gladness & purpose can be found by relying on God’s strength.
We can also enjoy our work. Solomon advised, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (v. 10). Whatever our vocation or job or role in life, we can still do things that matter, and do them well. We can encourage people, pray, and express love with sincerity each day.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “Time and chance happen to them all. . . . No one knows when their hour will come” (vv. 11-12). It’s impossible to know when our lives on earth will end, but gladness and purpose can be found in this day by relying on God’s strength and depending on Jesus’ promise of eternal life (John 6:47).
Dear God, help me to manage my time well and enjoy the gifts of this world today. Thank you for the promise of eternal life through Your Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 21, 2015
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant… —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in John 3:16— “For God so loved the world….”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 21, 2015
Act Before the Price Goes Up - #7486
It pays to book your airline reservations in advance. You probably know that if you didn't do it at some point and you lost the two week in advance or three week in advance fare like I have.
I missed booking one of those fares 14 days in advance by one day! I booked 13 days in advance. That should do it! Well, that extra day? One day was worth an extra $100 on the airfare. I put off booking my flight. I'd been waiting for all my plans to come together, and it cost me. The longer you wait, the more it costs.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Act Before the Price Goes Up."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Psalm 32. I'll begin reading at verse 1. It comes out of the experience of King David. "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."
Now David goes on to tell us that he knows what he's talking about. "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand (He's talking about God) was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Then there's this great turning point. "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.'"
You can almost hear the sigh of relief when he says, "...and you forgave all the guilt of my sin." The biggest thing here is that he had business to do with God, and it was business that was fairly unpleasant; acknowledging his sin, uncovering what he had covered, confessing it. He said, "I was wasted...I was groaning. Things were heavy on me. My strength was sapped." He wasn't feeling good. There's a lot of unnecessary frustration and pain when you put God off.
That might be what's happening to you right now. Because maybe like those airline reservations, the longer you wait the more it costs. It will never be easier to deal with what the Holy Spirit is convicting you of than it is right now. It's only going to get tougher from here, because your heart is getting harder as you quench the Spirit.
God's warning and God's consequences are going to get harder and tougher as you ignore what He's trying to move you to do and to face. As you escalate your resistance, God will have to escalate His working in your life. And God loves you too much to let you go on in your sin. Because sin will ultimately destroy everything you care about. He's not going to let you go further on this detour, because peace and happiness and fulfillment and the meaning of your life depends on you being in the center of His will, not pursuing your own. He makes it expensive to run from Him. The cost is going up every minute.
Doesn't it make sense to get out of the fire and say, "That's it, God, I'm done with this thing. I confess. I acknowledge my sin. Let's deal with this garbage." Maybe God in His love for you has had you running into one wall after another so you would finally stop and turn to Him and go to the cross where His Son paid for every sin, every wrong and dirty and proud and hurtful thing you've ever done. And He wants you to experience that forgiveness where as David said, "You forgave the guilt of my sin."
This could be the day you're forgiven. This could be the day you're clean. This could be the day that the war turns to peace and you say, "Jesus, I'm finally stopping. I'm finally coming to Your cross to deal with my sin and find my Savior." You ready for that? Our website's all about it. Go there. ANewStory.com. Or text us at 442-244-WORD.
It's not going to get any easier. So if the Holy Spirit is talking to your heart even right now about making this decision, then why don't you act before the price goes up?
This is the second week of our Glory Days Scripture Memory Challenge to memorize a verse a week.
This week's verse is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
It reminds us that Scripture is a weapon useful in all situations. I encourage you to make 2 Timothy 3:16-17 a verse to memorize this week-your reminder that you're being equipped for an eternal assignment that will empower you to live a life set apart for a holy calling. This is no guarantee of an easy life, but it is the assurance of God's help. You are God's child! You are indwelled by the Spirit of the living God!
Join me at GloryDaysToday.com for more information.
A Deposit of Power
This may be the best-kept secret in Christendom. Conversion is more than a removal of sin. It's a deposit of power! When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God's royal family. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." You have access to all the family blessings.
Surprised? You ain't heard nothin' yet! Paul described the value of your portfolio. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
Whatever He has-we have! We were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you from Egypt so that He could bless you in the Promised Land. The gift has been given. Will you trust it? Don't measure your life by your ability; measure it by God's!
Visit GloryDaysToday.com to learn more.
Psalm 143
A psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my plea!
Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
2 Don’t put your servant on trial,
for no one is innocent before you.
3 My enemy has chased me.
He has knocked me to the ground
and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.
4 I am losing all hope;
I am paralyzed with fear.
5 I remember the days of old.
I ponder all your great works
and think about what you have done.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Interlude
7 Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
for my depression deepens.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will die.
8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
I run to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.
11 For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.
Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.
12 In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies
and destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 21, 2015
Read: Ecclesiastes 9:4-12
There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
5 The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. 6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. 7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave,[a] there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
Footnotes:
9:10 Hebrew to Sheol.
INSIGHT:
Solomon’s wisdom was legendary in his day (1 Kings 4:34) and so was his pursuit of knowledge. First Kings 4:32-33 says, “He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.” Bill Crowder
A Fly’s Reminder
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Anyone who is among the living has hope. Ecclesiastes 9:4
When I first began working in the small office I now rent, the only inhabitants were a few mopey flies. Several of them had gone the way of all flesh, and their bodies littered the floor and windowsills. I disposed of all but one, which I left in plain sight.
That fly carcass reminds me to live each day well. Death is an excellent reminder of life, and life is a gift. Solomon said, “Anyone who is among the living has hope” (Eccl. 9:4). Life on earth gives us the chance to influence and enjoy the world around us. We can eat and drink happily and relish our relationships (vv. 7,9).
Gladness & purpose can be found by relying on God’s strength.
We can also enjoy our work. Solomon advised, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (v. 10). Whatever our vocation or job or role in life, we can still do things that matter, and do them well. We can encourage people, pray, and express love with sincerity each day.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “Time and chance happen to them all. . . . No one knows when their hour will come” (vv. 11-12). It’s impossible to know when our lives on earth will end, but gladness and purpose can be found in this day by relying on God’s strength and depending on Jesus’ promise of eternal life (John 6:47).
Dear God, help me to manage my time well and enjoy the gifts of this world today. Thank you for the promise of eternal life through Your Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 21, 2015
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant… —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in John 3:16— “For God so loved the world….”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 21, 2015
Act Before the Price Goes Up - #7486
It pays to book your airline reservations in advance. You probably know that if you didn't do it at some point and you lost the two week in advance or three week in advance fare like I have.
I missed booking one of those fares 14 days in advance by one day! I booked 13 days in advance. That should do it! Well, that extra day? One day was worth an extra $100 on the airfare. I put off booking my flight. I'd been waiting for all my plans to come together, and it cost me. The longer you wait, the more it costs.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Act Before the Price Goes Up."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Psalm 32. I'll begin reading at verse 1. It comes out of the experience of King David. "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."
Now David goes on to tell us that he knows what he's talking about. "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand (He's talking about God) was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Then there's this great turning point. "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.'"
You can almost hear the sigh of relief when he says, "...and you forgave all the guilt of my sin." The biggest thing here is that he had business to do with God, and it was business that was fairly unpleasant; acknowledging his sin, uncovering what he had covered, confessing it. He said, "I was wasted...I was groaning. Things were heavy on me. My strength was sapped." He wasn't feeling good. There's a lot of unnecessary frustration and pain when you put God off.
That might be what's happening to you right now. Because maybe like those airline reservations, the longer you wait the more it costs. It will never be easier to deal with what the Holy Spirit is convicting you of than it is right now. It's only going to get tougher from here, because your heart is getting harder as you quench the Spirit.
God's warning and God's consequences are going to get harder and tougher as you ignore what He's trying to move you to do and to face. As you escalate your resistance, God will have to escalate His working in your life. And God loves you too much to let you go on in your sin. Because sin will ultimately destroy everything you care about. He's not going to let you go further on this detour, because peace and happiness and fulfillment and the meaning of your life depends on you being in the center of His will, not pursuing your own. He makes it expensive to run from Him. The cost is going up every minute.
Doesn't it make sense to get out of the fire and say, "That's it, God, I'm done with this thing. I confess. I acknowledge my sin. Let's deal with this garbage." Maybe God in His love for you has had you running into one wall after another so you would finally stop and turn to Him and go to the cross where His Son paid for every sin, every wrong and dirty and proud and hurtful thing you've ever done. And He wants you to experience that forgiveness where as David said, "You forgave the guilt of my sin."
This could be the day you're forgiven. This could be the day you're clean. This could be the day that the war turns to peace and you say, "Jesus, I'm finally stopping. I'm finally coming to Your cross to deal with my sin and find my Savior." You ready for that? Our website's all about it. Go there. ANewStory.com. Or text us at 442-244-WORD.
It's not going to get any easier. So if the Holy Spirit is talking to your heart even right now about making this decision, then why don't you act before the price goes up?
Sunday, September 20, 2015
John 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Behind Bars
In 1965 Howard Rutledge parachuted into North Vietnam and spent the next several years in a prison in Hanoi, locked in a filthy cell breathing stale, rotten air trying to keep his sanity. Few of us will ever face the conditions of a POW camp.
Yet, to one degree or another, we all spend time behind bars. After half-a-century of marriage, my friend's wife began to lose her memory. A young mother called, just diagnosed with Lupus. Why would God permit such imprisonment? To what purpose? Jeremiah 30:24 promises, "The Lord will not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the intents of His mind."
This season in which you find yourself may puzzle you, but it doesn't bewilder God. He will use it for His purpose. Please be reminded…You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
John 17
After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
6“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.
9“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.
13“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
20“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
22“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
25“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Read: Psalm 31:9-18
Have mercy on me, lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away.
10I am dying from grief;
my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength;
I am wasting away from within.
11I am scorned by all my enemies
and despised by my neighbors—
even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street,
they run the other way.
12I am ignored as if I were dead,
as if I were a broken pot.
13I have heard the many rumors about me,
and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me,
plotting to take my life.
14But I am trusting you, O lord,
saying, “You are my God!”
15My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
16Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.
17Don’t let me be disgraced, O lord,
for I call out to you for help.
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them lie silent in the grave.
18Silence their lying lips—
those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.
INSIGHT:
David was in great distress (v. 9) and in grave danger (v. 13) when he wrote Psalm 31. Because he was persecuted and threatened by powerful enemies, his close friends abandoned him (v. 11), considered him a lost cause, and left him alone to fend for himself (v. 12). Twice David affirmed his unwavering faith in God. He says in verse 6, “As for me, I trust in the Lord” and in verse 14, “But I trust in you, Lord.” Acknowledging that God has been faithful to him, David confidently committed his spirit to God and trusted Him to deliver him (v. 5). While on the cross, Jesus prayed the same prayer of trust to His Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Sim Kay Tee
Tissue Boxes
By Tim Gustafson
I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands. Psalm 31:14-15
As I sat in the surgical waiting room, I had time to think. I had been here recently, when we received the jarring news that my only brother, much too young, was “brain dead.”
And so on this day, waiting for news about my wife who was undergoing a serious surgical procedure, I penned a lengthy note to her. Then, surrounded by nervous chatter and oblivious children, I listened for the quiet voice of God.
No matter what happens, our good & bad times still remain in God’s capable hands.
Suddenly, news! The surgeon wanted to see me. I went to a secluded room to wait. There, on the table, sat two tissue boxes, conspicuously available. They weren’t for the sniffles. They were for cold, hard phrases like I heard when my brother died—“brain dead” and “nothing we can do.”
In such times of grief or uncertainty, the honesty of the psalms makes them a natural place to turn. Psalm 31 was the heart-cry of David, who endured so much that he wrote, “My life is consumed by anguish” (v. 10). Compounding that grief was the pain of abandonment by his friends and neighbors (v. 11).
But David had the bedrock of faith in the one true God. “I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands” (vv. 14-15). His lament concludes with resounding encouragement and hope. “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (v. 24).
This time in the waiting room, the surgeon gave us good news: My wife could expect a full and complete recovery. Of course we’re relieved and grateful! But even if she hadn’t been “okay,” our times still remain in God’s capable hands.
Lord, we give You our deepest grief and pain as well as our joy. Thank You for Your constant love and presence no matter what today holds for us. You alone are faithful!
When we put our problems in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The Divine Commandment of Life
…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. “…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
In 1965 Howard Rutledge parachuted into North Vietnam and spent the next several years in a prison in Hanoi, locked in a filthy cell breathing stale, rotten air trying to keep his sanity. Few of us will ever face the conditions of a POW camp.
Yet, to one degree or another, we all spend time behind bars. After half-a-century of marriage, my friend's wife began to lose her memory. A young mother called, just diagnosed with Lupus. Why would God permit such imprisonment? To what purpose? Jeremiah 30:24 promises, "The Lord will not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the intents of His mind."
This season in which you find yourself may puzzle you, but it doesn't bewilder God. He will use it for His purpose. Please be reminded…You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
John 17
After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
6“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.
9“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.
13“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
20“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
22“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
25“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Read: Psalm 31:9-18
Have mercy on me, lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away.
10I am dying from grief;
my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength;
I am wasting away from within.
11I am scorned by all my enemies
and despised by my neighbors—
even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street,
they run the other way.
12I am ignored as if I were dead,
as if I were a broken pot.
13I have heard the many rumors about me,
and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me,
plotting to take my life.
14But I am trusting you, O lord,
saying, “You are my God!”
15My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
16Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.
17Don’t let me be disgraced, O lord,
for I call out to you for help.
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them lie silent in the grave.
18Silence their lying lips—
those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.
INSIGHT:
David was in great distress (v. 9) and in grave danger (v. 13) when he wrote Psalm 31. Because he was persecuted and threatened by powerful enemies, his close friends abandoned him (v. 11), considered him a lost cause, and left him alone to fend for himself (v. 12). Twice David affirmed his unwavering faith in God. He says in verse 6, “As for me, I trust in the Lord” and in verse 14, “But I trust in you, Lord.” Acknowledging that God has been faithful to him, David confidently committed his spirit to God and trusted Him to deliver him (v. 5). While on the cross, Jesus prayed the same prayer of trust to His Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Sim Kay Tee
Tissue Boxes
By Tim Gustafson
I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands. Psalm 31:14-15
As I sat in the surgical waiting room, I had time to think. I had been here recently, when we received the jarring news that my only brother, much too young, was “brain dead.”
And so on this day, waiting for news about my wife who was undergoing a serious surgical procedure, I penned a lengthy note to her. Then, surrounded by nervous chatter and oblivious children, I listened for the quiet voice of God.
No matter what happens, our good & bad times still remain in God’s capable hands.
Suddenly, news! The surgeon wanted to see me. I went to a secluded room to wait. There, on the table, sat two tissue boxes, conspicuously available. They weren’t for the sniffles. They were for cold, hard phrases like I heard when my brother died—“brain dead” and “nothing we can do.”
In such times of grief or uncertainty, the honesty of the psalms makes them a natural place to turn. Psalm 31 was the heart-cry of David, who endured so much that he wrote, “My life is consumed by anguish” (v. 10). Compounding that grief was the pain of abandonment by his friends and neighbors (v. 11).
But David had the bedrock of faith in the one true God. “I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands” (vv. 14-15). His lament concludes with resounding encouragement and hope. “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (v. 24).
This time in the waiting room, the surgeon gave us good news: My wife could expect a full and complete recovery. Of course we’re relieved and grateful! But even if she hadn’t been “okay,” our times still remain in God’s capable hands.
Lord, we give You our deepest grief and pain as well as our joy. Thank You for Your constant love and presence no matter what today holds for us. You alone are faithful!
When we put our problems in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The Divine Commandment of Life
…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. “…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Psalm 141, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Peace with God
As a monk and his apprentice walked back to the abbey, the younger man was unusually quiet. But when asked if anything was wrong the student responded, "What business is it of yours?" When the abbey came in sight, the monk asked, "Tell me my son. What troubles your soul?" "I've sinned greatly," he sobbed. I'm not worthy to enter the abbey at your side." The teacher putting his arm around the student said, "We'll enter the abbey together. And together we'll confess your sin. No one but God will know which of the two of us fell."
Doesn't that describe what God has done for us? When we kept our silence, we withdrew from him. But our confession of faults alters our perception. Romans 5:1 says, "Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God." God is no longer a foe, but a friend!
From In the Grip of Grace
Psalm 141
A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,
and guard my lips.
4 Don’t let me drift toward evil
or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies
of those who do wrong.
5 Let the godly strike me!
It will be a kindness!
If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.
Don’t let me refuse it.
But I pray constantly
against the wicked and their deeds.
6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,
the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.
7 Like rocks brought up by a plow,
the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.[c]
8 I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.
You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.
9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do wrong.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
but let me escape.
Footnotes:
141:7 Hebrew our bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:21-30
I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that!
But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.[a] 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.
Footnotes:
11:26 Greek from false brothers.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage lists the trials that Paul suffered in service for the gospel. Most of us have not experienced the persecution that Paul faced. But for him, suffering was a small price to pay. In fact, it was an honor for him to suffer because of the gospel (v. 30). Because Christ suffered for us, suffering for Him is a privilege. J.R. Hudberg
Lessons in Suffering
By Lawrence Darmani
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 2 Corinthians 11:30
The close-up image on the giant screen was big and sharp, so we could see the deep cuts on the man’s body. A soldier beat him while an angry crowd laughed at the man whose face was now covered with blood. The scenes appeared so real that, in the silence of the open-air theater, I cringed and grimaced as if I could feel the pain myself. But this was only a film reenactment of Jesus’ suffering for us.
Reminding us of Jesus’ suffering, Peter wrote, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). While suffering comes in different forms and intensity, it is to be expected. Ours may not be as intense as that experienced by Paul, who for the sake of Christ was beaten with rods, stoned, and shipwrecked. He was attacked by bandits, and he endured hunger and thirst (2 Cor. 11:24-27). Likewise, we may not suffer like those who endure severe persecution in cultures where Christianity is not welcomed.
In some form or another, however, suffering will come our way as we deny ourselves, endure harassment, bear insults, or refuse to engage in activities that do not honor the Lord. Even exercising patience, avoiding revenge, and forgiving others in order to foster good relationships are forms of following in His steps.
Whenever we encounter suffering, may we remember what Jesus endured for us.
What have you learned about God through your trials?
The school of suffering teaches us lessons that we could learn in no other classroom.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials. —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
As a monk and his apprentice walked back to the abbey, the younger man was unusually quiet. But when asked if anything was wrong the student responded, "What business is it of yours?" When the abbey came in sight, the monk asked, "Tell me my son. What troubles your soul?" "I've sinned greatly," he sobbed. I'm not worthy to enter the abbey at your side." The teacher putting his arm around the student said, "We'll enter the abbey together. And together we'll confess your sin. No one but God will know which of the two of us fell."
Doesn't that describe what God has done for us? When we kept our silence, we withdrew from him. But our confession of faults alters our perception. Romans 5:1 says, "Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God." God is no longer a foe, but a friend!
From In the Grip of Grace
Psalm 141
A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,
and guard my lips.
4 Don’t let me drift toward evil
or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies
of those who do wrong.
5 Let the godly strike me!
It will be a kindness!
If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.
Don’t let me refuse it.
But I pray constantly
against the wicked and their deeds.
6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,
the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.
7 Like rocks brought up by a plow,
the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.[c]
8 I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.
You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.
9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do wrong.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
but let me escape.
Footnotes:
141:7 Hebrew our bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Read: 2 Corinthians 11:21-30
I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that!
But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.[a] 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.
Footnotes:
11:26 Greek from false brothers.
INSIGHT:
Today’s passage lists the trials that Paul suffered in service for the gospel. Most of us have not experienced the persecution that Paul faced. But for him, suffering was a small price to pay. In fact, it was an honor for him to suffer because of the gospel (v. 30). Because Christ suffered for us, suffering for Him is a privilege. J.R. Hudberg
Lessons in Suffering
By Lawrence Darmani
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 2 Corinthians 11:30
The close-up image on the giant screen was big and sharp, so we could see the deep cuts on the man’s body. A soldier beat him while an angry crowd laughed at the man whose face was now covered with blood. The scenes appeared so real that, in the silence of the open-air theater, I cringed and grimaced as if I could feel the pain myself. But this was only a film reenactment of Jesus’ suffering for us.
Reminding us of Jesus’ suffering, Peter wrote, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). While suffering comes in different forms and intensity, it is to be expected. Ours may not be as intense as that experienced by Paul, who for the sake of Christ was beaten with rods, stoned, and shipwrecked. He was attacked by bandits, and he endured hunger and thirst (2 Cor. 11:24-27). Likewise, we may not suffer like those who endure severe persecution in cultures where Christianity is not welcomed.
In some form or another, however, suffering will come our way as we deny ourselves, endure harassment, bear insults, or refuse to engage in activities that do not honor the Lord. Even exercising patience, avoiding revenge, and forgiving others in order to foster good relationships are forms of following in His steps.
Whenever we encounter suffering, may we remember what Jesus endured for us.
What have you learned about God through your trials?
The school of suffering teaches us lessons that we could learn in no other classroom.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials. —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
Friday, September 18, 2015
Psalm 140, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Deposit of Power
This may be the best-kept secret in Christendom. Conversion is more than a removal of sin. It's a deposit of power! When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God's royal family. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." You have access to all the family blessings.
Surprised? You ain't heard nothin' yet! Paul described the value of your portfolio. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
Whatever He has-we have! We were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you from Egypt so that He could bless you in the Promised Land. The gift has been given. Will you trust it? Don't measure your life by your ability; measure it by God's!
Visit GloryDaysToday.com to learn more.
Psalm 140
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Protect me from those who are violent,
2 those who plot evil in their hearts
and stir up trouble all day long.
3 Their tongues sting like a snake;
the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude
4 O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.
Protect me from those who are violent,
for they are plotting against me.
5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;
they have stretched out a net;
they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God!”
Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!
7 O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,
you protected me on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not let evil people have their way.
Do not let their evil schemes succeed,
or they will become proud. Interlude
9 Let my enemies be destroyed
by the very evil they have planned for me.
10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads.
Let them be thrown into the fire
or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.
11 Don’t let liars prosper here in our land.
Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.
12 But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;
he will give justice to the poor.
13 Surely righteous people are praising your name;
the godly will live in your presence.
Footnotes:
141:7 Hebrew our bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 18, 2015
Read: Colossians 4:2-15
An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Paul’s Final Instructions and Greetings
7 Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.
10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!
12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters[b] at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.
Footnotes:
4:6 Greek and seasoned with salt.
4:15 Greek brothers
INSIGHT:
Paul wrote the book of Colossians to the church at Colossae, which apparently was a sister church to the church at Laodicea about 10 miles away (Col. 2:1). The Colossian church appears to have been founded by Paul’s colleague Epaphras (1:7) and was also the home church of Philemon and his redeemed slave, Onesimus (4:9; see Philem. 1:2). Bill Crowder
2 A.M. Friends
By David McCasland
He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Colossians 4:12
A friend told me about a group of people who share a strong bond of faith in Christ. One of them, a 93-year-old woman, said, “I feel like I can call any of you at 2 a.m., and I don’t even have to apologize if I feel the need for any type of assistance.” Whether the need is prayer, practical help, or someone to be there during a time of need, these friends are unconditionally committed to each other.
The same sense of commitment shines through Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae. Writing from prison in Rome, Paul says he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus to encourage them (Col. 4:7-9). Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus send their greetings (vv.10-11). And Epaphras is “always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (v. 12). These are bold assurances of practical help and deep-seated love.
Are you part of a “2 a.m. group”? If so, give thanks for the faithfulness of friends. If not, ask the Lord to connect you with another person with whom you can share a commitment to pray and care. I suspect it will soon grow to include others. Share the love of Christ with one another.
Anything. Anytime. Anywhere. All in Jesus’ name!
Jesus, thank You for friends who demonstrate Your love to me. Help me to do the same for them and those around me. Most of all, thank You for being the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 18, 2015
His Temptation and Ours
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation “without sin,” and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 18, 2015
Letting Your Bible Read You - #7485
I think my mother imprinted this on my brain when I was very young, "Don't go out with a fever." That was sort of a definition of sick at our house, as in so sick you can't go to school. The decision was actually made by the thermometer. Now, just to show you how bright I was as a child (I hate to tell you this), there was one day I really wanted to stay home from school, so I sat on a hot radiator in our apartment to raise my temperature. You probably don't even want to listen any more. If any kids are listening, do not try this at home (if you could find a radiator). It will not give you a fever, but it will shall we say keep you from sitting down all day at school!
To this day I do use a thermometer to determine how sick I really am, except now I'm trying to get to my responsibilities, not stay home from them. These days, the thermometer scans your forehead. And in just seconds it tells you what's going on inside of you. So, are you reading the thermometer, or is the thermometer reading you?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Letting Your Bible Read You."
Our word for today from the Word of God begins with James 1:22. "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says." Knowing the Bible doesn't show whether you're spiritually healthy or not. Doing the Bible does. People who just have a Bible in their hand and not in their life are only kidding themselves. "Deceiving themselves" the Bible says about their spiritual well-being.
James 1:23-25 - "Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do it, is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But, the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom (that's God's Word) and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does." What God is saying here is, you're supposed to see yourself in the Bible like you do in a mirror and then take some appropriate action based on what you just saw. It's like a thermometer. You read it, so it can read you.
A lot of people read the Bible compared to a few people who let the Bible read them. But God says that's what the reading is all about. Maybe you've been suffering from Bible boredom. You're getting all the information, knowing the verses, maybe even learned some impressive theological words for what you're reading, but the fire has gone out. Something is wrong! You're not letting the Bible read you, show you your true attitudes, your true motives, point out your weaknesses, your darkness, your treatment of others, your fears.
The Bible goes to your head these days, but is it making it to your heart? You read for information but not application. The kind that asks, "What is something in this day, Lord, that You want to change or affect based on what I'm reading right now?" And then moving from application to transformation that day.
It's that immediate real life integration into your life that brings the Bible to life in your heart again. In a phrase, I'd call it truth with a project. Every time you read God's Word, you should come away not only with a spiritual truth, but with a specific obedience project for that day.
When you put your real life in God's Word and God's Word in your real life, the Bible is that life-changing book it was meant to be. My thermometer gives me an honest reading what's really going on inside me, and not even sitting on a radiator can fool it. Now, God in His deep love for us gave us a book that reveals what only He can tell us.
You'll get healthier every day that you let the Bible read you.
This may be the best-kept secret in Christendom. Conversion is more than a removal of sin. It's a deposit of power! When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God's royal family. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." You have access to all the family blessings.
Surprised? You ain't heard nothin' yet! Paul described the value of your portfolio. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
Whatever He has-we have! We were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you from Egypt so that He could bless you in the Promised Land. The gift has been given. Will you trust it? Don't measure your life by your ability; measure it by God's!
Visit GloryDaysToday.com to learn more.
Psalm 140
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Protect me from those who are violent,
2 those who plot evil in their hearts
and stir up trouble all day long.
3 Their tongues sting like a snake;
the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude
4 O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.
Protect me from those who are violent,
for they are plotting against me.
5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;
they have stretched out a net;
they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God!”
Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!
7 O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,
you protected me on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not let evil people have their way.
Do not let their evil schemes succeed,
or they will become proud. Interlude
9 Let my enemies be destroyed
by the very evil they have planned for me.
10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads.
Let them be thrown into the fire
or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.
11 Don’t let liars prosper here in our land.
Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.
12 But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;
he will give justice to the poor.
13 Surely righteous people are praising your name;
the godly will live in your presence.
Footnotes:
141:7 Hebrew our bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 18, 2015
Read: Colossians 4:2-15
An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Paul’s Final Instructions and Greetings
7 Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.
10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!
12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters[b] at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.
Footnotes:
4:6 Greek and seasoned with salt.
4:15 Greek brothers
INSIGHT:
Paul wrote the book of Colossians to the church at Colossae, which apparently was a sister church to the church at Laodicea about 10 miles away (Col. 2:1). The Colossian church appears to have been founded by Paul’s colleague Epaphras (1:7) and was also the home church of Philemon and his redeemed slave, Onesimus (4:9; see Philem. 1:2). Bill Crowder
2 A.M. Friends
By David McCasland
He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Colossians 4:12
A friend told me about a group of people who share a strong bond of faith in Christ. One of them, a 93-year-old woman, said, “I feel like I can call any of you at 2 a.m., and I don’t even have to apologize if I feel the need for any type of assistance.” Whether the need is prayer, practical help, or someone to be there during a time of need, these friends are unconditionally committed to each other.
The same sense of commitment shines through Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae. Writing from prison in Rome, Paul says he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus to encourage them (Col. 4:7-9). Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus send their greetings (vv.10-11). And Epaphras is “always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (v. 12). These are bold assurances of practical help and deep-seated love.
Are you part of a “2 a.m. group”? If so, give thanks for the faithfulness of friends. If not, ask the Lord to connect you with another person with whom you can share a commitment to pray and care. I suspect it will soon grow to include others. Share the love of Christ with one another.
Anything. Anytime. Anywhere. All in Jesus’ name!
Jesus, thank You for friends who demonstrate Your love to me. Help me to do the same for them and those around me. Most of all, thank You for being the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 18, 2015
His Temptation and Ours
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation “without sin,” and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 18, 2015
Letting Your Bible Read You - #7485
I think my mother imprinted this on my brain when I was very young, "Don't go out with a fever." That was sort of a definition of sick at our house, as in so sick you can't go to school. The decision was actually made by the thermometer. Now, just to show you how bright I was as a child (I hate to tell you this), there was one day I really wanted to stay home from school, so I sat on a hot radiator in our apartment to raise my temperature. You probably don't even want to listen any more. If any kids are listening, do not try this at home (if you could find a radiator). It will not give you a fever, but it will shall we say keep you from sitting down all day at school!
To this day I do use a thermometer to determine how sick I really am, except now I'm trying to get to my responsibilities, not stay home from them. These days, the thermometer scans your forehead. And in just seconds it tells you what's going on inside of you. So, are you reading the thermometer, or is the thermometer reading you?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Letting Your Bible Read You."
Our word for today from the Word of God begins with James 1:22. "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says." Knowing the Bible doesn't show whether you're spiritually healthy or not. Doing the Bible does. People who just have a Bible in their hand and not in their life are only kidding themselves. "Deceiving themselves" the Bible says about their spiritual well-being.
James 1:23-25 - "Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do it, is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But, the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom (that's God's Word) and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does." What God is saying here is, you're supposed to see yourself in the Bible like you do in a mirror and then take some appropriate action based on what you just saw. It's like a thermometer. You read it, so it can read you.
A lot of people read the Bible compared to a few people who let the Bible read them. But God says that's what the reading is all about. Maybe you've been suffering from Bible boredom. You're getting all the information, knowing the verses, maybe even learned some impressive theological words for what you're reading, but the fire has gone out. Something is wrong! You're not letting the Bible read you, show you your true attitudes, your true motives, point out your weaknesses, your darkness, your treatment of others, your fears.
The Bible goes to your head these days, but is it making it to your heart? You read for information but not application. The kind that asks, "What is something in this day, Lord, that You want to change or affect based on what I'm reading right now?" And then moving from application to transformation that day.
It's that immediate real life integration into your life that brings the Bible to life in your heart again. In a phrase, I'd call it truth with a project. Every time you read God's Word, you should come away not only with a spiritual truth, but with a specific obedience project for that day.
When you put your real life in God's Word and God's Word in your real life, the Bible is that life-changing book it was meant to be. My thermometer gives me an honest reading what's really going on inside me, and not even sitting on a radiator can fool it. Now, God in His deep love for us gave us a book that reveals what only He can tell us.
You'll get healthier every day that you let the Bible read you.
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