Acts 7:44-60, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Trust God

You will never have a problem-free life. Pigs might fly. A kangaroo might swim. Men might surrender the remote control. Women might quit buying purses. It’s not likely, but it’s possible. But a problem-free, no-hassle existence of smooth sailing? Don’t hold your breath. All people have problems, but not all people see problems the same way. Some are left bitter; others are left better. Some face their challenges with fear, others with faith. What about you?

The Psalmist asked, ”Why are you downcast, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” The struggles of life threatened to pull him under. But at just the right time, the writer made this decision: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him!” A deliberate decision to treat his downcast soul with thoughts of God. When troubles come, we can be stressed and upset…or we can trust God!

From Glory Days

Acts 7:44-60

 “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle[a] with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45 Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

46 “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.[b] 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
    asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50     Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’[c]
51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen[d] at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.[e] 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.[f]

59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

Footnotes:

7:44 Greek the tent of witness.
7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob.
7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
7:51 Greek uncircumcised.
7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him.
7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Read: Genesis 29:14-30

 Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!”

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, 15 Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes,[a] but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”

19 “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

21 Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”

22 So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. 23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)

25 But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”

26 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. 27 “But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”

28 So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. 29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.

Footnotes:

29:17 Or Leah had dull eyes, or Leah had soft eyes. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Beyond Disappointment
By Tim Gustafson

Hope in the Lord and keep his way.

Psalm 37:34

Perhaps you’ve seen the video of the little boy who learns he’s getting another sister. In the middle of his meltdown he laments, “It’s always girls, girls, girls, girls!”

The story gives an amusing glimpse into human expectations, but there’s nothing funny about disappointment. It saturates our world. One story from the Bible seems especially steeped in disappointment. Jacob agreed to work 7 years for the right to marry his boss’s daughter Rachel. But after fulfilling his contract, Jacob got a wedding night surprise. In the morning he discovered not Rachel but her sister Leah.

Jesus brings justice & restores hope.
We focus on Jacob’s disappointment, but imagine how Leah must have felt! What hopes and dreams of hers began to die that day as she was forced to marry a man who did not love or want her?

Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Are we to believe that God-fearing people are never disappointed? No, the psalm clearly shows that the writer sees injustice all around him. But he takes the long view: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (v. 7). His conclusion: “The meek will inherit the land” (v. 11).

In the end, it was Leah whom Jacob honored and buried in the family grave plot with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 49:31). And it was through the lineage of Leah—who in life thought she was unloved—that God blessed the world with our Savior. Jesus brings justice, restores hope, and gives us an inheritance beyond our wildest dreams.

Lord, sometimes it’s so hard to wait patiently for good things. Forgive us for comparing ourselves to others and for complaining about what we don’t have. Help us meet You in a new way today.

Jesus is the only friend who never disappoints.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Direction of Focus

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God… —Psalm 123:2

This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.” We have to realize that no effort can be too high.

For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your “rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure.” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.” That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Orders Remain Unchanged - #7532

When you visit Washington, D.C., you're bound to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building. But there's this one side trip to Northern Virginia that's probably the most humbling stop you'll make. It's Arlington National Cemetery where this endless sea of white crosses reminds an American of the high price of freedom. That price is beautifully dramatized every hour at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier-with the Changing of the Guard.

Tomb Guard sentinels are from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, traditionally known as "The Old Guard." These sentinels are considered to be the best of the elite regiment. In this elaborate but reverent ceremony, the Relief Commander and the relieving sentinel meet the retiring sentinel guard. The Relief Commander orders the relieved sentinel to "Pass on your orders." The sentinel who is being relieved says, "Post and orders remain as directed." To which the newly posted sentinel replies, "Orders acknowledged." In other words, orders remain unchanged. Since this duty began decades ago, the orders have not changed. They have always stayed the same. They always will.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Orders Remain Unchanged."

Two thousand years ago, on a hill overlooking Jerusalem, Jesus gave His final orders to eleven men into whose hands He was entrusting the mission that cost Him His life. Our word for today from the Word of God, Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Now Luke tells us that the Lord ordered "You shall be My witnesses," from the city where they were to the ends of the earth.

The orders to Jesus' first soldiers were clear-you are to pour your lives into getting the Good News about Jesus to as many people as possible. And the orders remain unchanged...even if the world we live in is very changed.

Today, those of us who belong to Jesus are surrounded by battles to fight: Pornography, abortion, family disintegration, immorality in the media, crises of character in the lives of our religious leaders, our political leaders, our culture that has forgotten God. And that's just the beginning of the list. Some believers are so self-absorbed they're just sleeping through the whole thing. Other believers just shake their heads in anger and disgust over the mess and lament the problems, "It don't make any difference."

But this is a time for action, especially with the world looking more and more like the world Jesus said He would return to. It feels as if both armies-the armies of the light and the armies of darkness-are fully mobilized for what may be some of the last climactic battles for people's lives. So, which battles shall we fight? And what weapons shall we use? Political action? Attacks on the evils of our culture?

The Master's orders remain unchanged. "Go and preach the Gospel." How did the first century believers do battle against the evils of their day? Little baby girls left in jars on street corners to die, people torn apart by animals for Sunday afternoon entertainment, Christians burned as torches in Nero's gardens. You don't find much of a trace of the original Christians mounting a campaign against the sins of their culture.

What you do find is the original believers presenting Jesus Christ wherever they can. And city after city is rocked by the impact of believers who knew their orders and understood that as the Bible says, "the Gospel of Christ is the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16). The cultures are changed when individuals are changed by Jesus from the inside out!

Now, we need to be salt and light wherever God puts us, and stand against what breaks His heart. But we must never let our primary resources go to that which will, at best, bring about only temporary change-and leave people living better but still headed for a hopeless, Christless eternity.

Our moral outrage needs to be turned into more outreach! Only new creations will change a dying culture! So, as the orders have passed from Jesus to His first eleven soldiers, and now down through the centuries to us, our Master's orders remain unchanged.

Change the world by getting out the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ!

1 Kings 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: An Heir of God’s Estate

Long after Joshua had distributed the land of Canaan, seven of the tribes were still in the military camp. Joshua scolded them in Joshua 18:3, “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?” They marched out of the wilderness and conquered the land; yet when the time came to inherit their unique parcels, they grew lazy.

Don’t make the same mistake. You are an heir with Christ of God’s estate. He has placed his Spirit in your heart as a down payment. What God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:3 he says to you. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” But you must possess it. You must deliberately receive what God so graciously gives! Find your lot in life and live in it!

From Glory Days

1 Kings 7

Solomon Builds His Palace

Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction.

2 One of Solomon’s buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[v] There were four rows of cedar pillars, and great cedar beams rested on the pillars. 3 The hall had a cedar roof. Above the beams on the pillars were forty-five side rooms,[w] arranged in three tiers of fifteen each. 4 On each end of the long hall were three rows of windows facing each other. 5 All the doorways and doorposts[x] had rectangular frames and were arranged in sets of three, facing each other.

6 Solomon also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide.[y] There was a porch in front, along with a canopy supported by pillars.

7 Solomon also built the throne room, known as the Hall of Justice, where he sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.[z] 8 Solomon’s living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall, and they were constructed the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

9 From foundation to eaves, all these buildings were built from huge blocks of high-quality stone, cut with saws and trimmed to exact measure on all sides. 10 Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet[aa] long. 11 The blocks of high-quality stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used. 12 The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple with its entry room.

Furnishings for the Temple
13 King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram[ab] to come from Tyre. 14 He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metal work for King Solomon.

15 Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.[ac] 16 For the tops of the pillars he cast bronze capitals, each 7 1/2 feet[ad] tall. 17 Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains. 18 He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the pillars. 19 The capitals on the columns inside the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were six feet[ae] tall. 20 The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework. 21 Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.[af] 22 The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished.

23 Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 1/2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.[ag] 24 It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot[ah] all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.

25 The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen,[ai] all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them. 26 The walls of the Sea were about three inches[aj] thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons[ak] of water.

27 Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 1/2 feet tall.[al] 28 They were constructed with side panels braced with crossbars. 29 Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations. 30 Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. There were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corners of the carts; these supports were decorated on each side with carvings of wreaths. 31 The top of each cart had a rounded frame for the basin. It projected 1 1/2 feet[am] above the cart’s top like a round pedestal, and its opening was 2 1/4 feet[an] across; it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round. 32 Under the panels were four wheels that were connected to axles that had been cast as one unit with the cart. The wheels were 2 1/4 feet in diameter 33 and were similar to chariot wheels. The axles, spokes, rims, and hubs were all cast from molten bronze.

34 There were handles at each of the four corners of the carts, and these, too, were cast as one unit with the cart. 35 Around the top of each cart was a rim nine inches wide.[ao] The corner supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart. 36 Carvings of cherubim, lions, and palm trees decorated the panels and corner supports wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around. 37 All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold.

38 Huram also made ten smaller bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and could hold 220 gallons[ap] of water. 39 He set five water carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple. 40 He also made the necessary washbasins, shovels, and bowls.

So at last Huram completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of the Lord:

41 the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;
42 the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);
43 the ten water carts holding the ten basins;
44 the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
45 the ash buckets, the shovels, and the bowls.
Huram made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the Lord, just as King Solomon had directed. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all these things because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be measured.

48 Solomon also made all the furnishings of the Temple of the Lord:

the gold altar;
the gold table for the Bread of the Presence;
49 the lampstands of solid gold, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the Most Holy Place;
the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—all of gold;
50 the small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners—all of solid gold;
the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, with their fronts overlaid with gold.
51 So King Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the Lord. Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the various articles—and he stored them in the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple.

Footnotes:

7:2 Hebrew 100 cubits [46 meters] long, 50 cubits [23 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high.
7:3 Or 45 rafters, or 45 beams, or 45 pillars. The architectural details in 7:2-6 can be interpreted in many different ways.
7:5 Greek version reads windows.
7:6 Hebrew 50 cubits [23 meters] long and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] wide.
7:7 As in Syriac version and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads from floor to floor.
7:10 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] . . . 8 cubits [3.7 meters].
7:13 Hebrew Hiram (also in 7:40, 45); compare 2 Chr 2:13. This is not the same person mentioned in 5:1.
7:15 Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference.
7:16 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
7:19 Hebrew 4 cubits [1.8 meters]; also in 7:38.
7:21 Jakin probably means “he establishes”; Boaz probably means “in him is strength.”
7:23 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] across. . . . 5 cubits [2.3 meters] deep and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] in circumference.
7:24 Or 20 gourds per meter; Hebrew reads 10 per cubit.
7:25 Hebrew 12 oxen; compare 2 Kgs 16:17, which specifies bronze oxen.
7:26a Hebrew a handbreadth [8 centimeters].
7:26b Hebrew 2,000 baths [42 kiloliters].
7:27 Hebrew 4 cubits [1.8 meters] long, 4 cubits wide, and 3 cubits [1.4 meters] high.
7:31a Hebrew a cubit [46 centimeters].
7:31b Hebrew 1 1/2 cubits [69 centimeters]; also in 7:32.
7:35 Hebrew half a cubit wide [23 centimeters].
7:38 Hebrew 40 baths [840 liters].

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 23, 2015

Read: Proverbs 10:19-21

Too much talk leads to sin.
    Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
20 The words of the godly are like sterling silver;
    the heart of a fool is worthless.
21 The words of the godly encourage many,
    but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

INSIGHT:
One of the major themes in Proverbs is our speech (Prov. 10:19-21; 15:1-4,23,28; 16:24,27-28; 18:7-8; 21:23). In Proverbs 10 Solomon contrasts the wise and the foolish person, noting it is our speech that reveals which one we really are (vv. 11,18-21). Those who are righteous and wise are restrained and judicious in their words and sometimes choose silence as the best response. If we keep silent, we will never say the wrong thing (v. 19), and we will even be thought to be wise (17:28). Jesus said that our words come from our heart and reveal whether we are good or evil. He warned that one day we shall give an account for the words we have spoken (Matt. 12:35-36).

The Sounds of Silence
By David Roper

The lips of the righteous nourish many.

Proverbs 10:21

A fishing buddy of mine observed, “Shallow streams make the most noise,” a delightful turn on the old adage, “Still waters run deep.” He meant, of course, that people who make the most noise tend to have little of substance to say.

The flip side of that problem is that we don’t listen well either. I’m reminded of the line in the old Simon and Garfunkel song “Sounds of Silence” about folks hearing without listening. Oh, they hear the words, but they fail to silence their own thoughts and truly listen. It would be good if we all learned to be silent and still.

There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). Good silence is a listening silence, a humble silence. It leads to right hearing, right understanding, and right speaking. “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,” the proverb says, “but one who has insight draws them out” (Prov. 20:5). It takes a lot of hard listening to get all the way to the bottom.

And while we listen to others, we should also be listening to God and hearing what He has to say. I think of Jesus, scribbling with His finger in the dust while the Pharisees railed on the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:1-11). What was He doing? May I suggest that He could have been simply listening for His Father’s voice and asking, “What shall we say to this crowd and this dear woman?” His response is still being heard around the world.

Father, today may Your Spirit remind us to seek the quiet so that we may listen first to Your voice and then understand the hearts of others. Teach us when to speak and when to be quiet.

Well-timed silence can be more eloquent than words.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 23, 2015

The Distraction of Contempt

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 23, 2015

Hanging On to What Will Sink You - #7531

A team member who served on our radio team for a number of years loved to go white water rafting. His white water was on the Chattooga River, in South Carolina. He loved to take his youth group on white water kayaking trips and that's where he learned about a river phenomenon called hydraulics.

According to their guide a hydraulic is a place in the rapids where the water goes over a rock, drops down, and then circles back up over the rock, then down again, circles back up and down again, and so on. It's sort of a vertical whirlpool. The guide told my friend and his group that it is very difficult to get out of a hydraulic if you happen to fall out of the boat and get caught in one. In fact, there is basically only one way out. Take off your life jacket. Now, can you think of anything you'd feel less like doing than taking off your life jacket in a moment like that?

You'd never do it otherwise and you don't want to, but it's a problem if you're in a hydraulic because your life jacket makes you keep rising with the water and going back down with it. If you take it off, you've got a chance to go down when the water goes down and then swim out of it. But believe me the last thing you feel like doing is getting rid of what's been holding you up! Right? Except if that's what's trapping you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hanging On to What Will Sink You."

Our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 12:1, God tells us to get rid of some things, to get out of some things; things that may have been supporting us. Listen, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Now, it's not a river here, it is a race, but the principle is the same. If something is keeping you from where you need to be you've got to throw it off, whatever it is, even if it's something you've been depending on to hold you up, even if it's been your life jacket.

It could be that you're stuck in a whirlpool right now because there's something or someone in your life that you feel you've got to have. Like a guy in the river refusing to take off his life jacket. Maybe there is a man you are romantically involved with, or a woman, and you feel you just cannot leave. That person is holding you back from what God wants you to be and what God wants you to do. It might be your friend or a group of friends who are holding you in the whirlpool.

It could be a drug, a drink, or a habit that you feel you just can't do without. It could be an addiction to pornography. Actually, you can never go any farther until you take that risk! It could be that you've been hesitating to move onto a new frontier with God and He's calling you to it. But you're comfortable and safe right now. You don't want to risk leaving your comfort zone. The best way to miss God's will is to be addicted to your comfort zone.

God's people in the Old Testament missed the Promised Land that way. It seems risky. After all, this life jacket that's been supporting you for a long time, right? But, what once supported you is now holding you back; it's got you trapped in a whirlpool. It's sinking you! There are some incredible adventures, some exciting scenery up there, but you're never going to see what's down river if you stay trapped in the place where you are.

It is time, now, to do what the Bible says. And maybe now you know what God's talking about when He says, "Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." In other words, it's time to lose your life jacket so you don't sink any more.

1 Kings 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God is For You

Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31,  "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
The question isn't simply, "Who can be against you?" You could answer that one.  Who is against you? Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, and fears imprison. Were Paul's question, "Who can be against us?" we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them.
But God is for us.  God is for us.  God is for us! Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you; but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!
God is for you.  Not "may be," not "has been," or "was," but God is!  He is for you. Today.  At this hour.  At this minute. As you hear this, He is with you. God is for you!
From  The Lucado Inspirational Reader

1 Kings 6

Solomon Builds the Temple

It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv,[f] during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt.

2 The Temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[g] 3 The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet[h] wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet[i] from the front of the Temple. 4 Solomon also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple.

5 He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. 6 The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 1/2 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 1/2 feet wide.[j] The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.

7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.

8 The entrance to the bottom floor[k] was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors. 9 After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks. 10 As already stated, he built a complex of rooms along the sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7 1/2 feet[l] high.

11 Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: 12 “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. 13 I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior
14 So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15 The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used planks of cypress for the floors. 16 He partitioned off an inner sanctuary—the Most Holy Place—at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 17 The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet[m] long. 18 Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant would be placed. 20 This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with solid gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar.[n] 21 Then Solomon overlaid the rest of the Temple’s interior with solid gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance[o] to the Most Holy Place. 22 So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place.

23 He made two cherubim of wild olive[p] wood, each 15 feet[q] tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary. 24 The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 1/2 feet[r] long. 25 The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; 26 each was 15 feet tall. 27 He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. 28 He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.

29 He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts.[s] 32 These double doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors, including the decorations of cherubim and palm trees, were overlaid with gold.

33 Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. 34 There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. 35 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers—all overlaid evenly with gold.

36 The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone.

37 The foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv,[t] during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. 38 The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn, in the month of Bul,[u] during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.

Footnotes:

6:1 Hebrew It was in the month of Ziv, which is the second month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of April and May.
6:2 Hebrew 60 cubits [27.6 meters] long, 20 cubits [9.2 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high.
6:3a Hebrew 20 cubits [9.2 meters]; also in 6:16, 20.
6:3b Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters].
6:6 Hebrew the bottom floor being 5 cubits [2.3 meters] wide, the second floor 6 cubits [2.8 meters] wide, and the top floor 7 cubits [3.2 meters] wide.
6:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads middle floor.
6:10 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
6:17 Hebrew 40 cubits [18.4 meters].
6:20 Or overlaid the altar with cedar. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
6:21 Or to draw curtains across. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
6:23a Or pine; Hebrew reads oil tree; also in 6:31, 33.
6:23b Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters]; also in 6:24, 26.
6:24 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
6:31 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
6:37 Hebrew was laid in the month of Ziv. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of April and May.
6:38 Hebrew by the month of Bul, which is the eighth month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of October and November.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 22, 2015

Read: Luke 10:38-42

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

NSIGHT:
Mary and Martha appear on three occasions in the Gospel accounts (Luke 10; John 11 and 12). They were friends of Jesus and sisters of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:17-37). It is interesting to note the significant interaction Jesus had with them. In Jesus’ day women were not regarded as reliable witnesses, yet Mary and Martha played a large role in witnessing Jesus’ miracles and message.

The Main Event
By Anne Cetas

One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. —nkjv

Luke 10:42

While watching a fireworks display during a celebration in my city, I became distracted. Off to the right and the left of the main event, smaller fireworks occasionally popped up in the sky. They were good, but watching them caused me to miss parts of the more spectacular display directly above me.

Sometimes good things take us away from something better. That happened in the life of Martha, whose story is recorded in Luke 10:38-42. When Jesus and His disciples arrived in the village of Bethany, Martha welcomed them into her home. Being a good host meant that someone had to prepare the meal for the guests, so we don’t want to be too hard on her.

When Martha complained that her sister Mary wasn’t helping, Jesus defended Mary’s choice to sit at His feet. But the Lord wasn’t saying that Mary was more spiritual than her sister. On occasion Martha seems to have shown more trust in Jesus than Mary did (John 11:19-20). And He wasn’t being critical of Martha’s desire to look after their physical needs. Rather, what the Lord wanted Martha to hear is that in the busyness of our service, listening to Him is the main event.

Dear Lord, help me to remember that my service for You is important, but it can never take the place of intimate fellowship with You.

Jesus longs for our fellowship.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 22, 2015

Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.

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

1 Kings 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We are Ambassadors

This is the promise of prayer! We can change God's mind! God's ultimate will is inflexible, but the implementation of his will is not. He doesn't change in his character and purpose, but he does alter his strategy because of the appeals of his children. After all, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "we are ambassadors" for the king. Ambassadors speak with the authority of the throne. If an ambassador sends a request to the king, will the king listen? If you, God's ambassador in this world, come to your King with a request, will he listen? By all means.
Your sphere of influence is your region. As you grow in faith, your district expands. We plead with God on other people's behalf.  Before amen-comes the power of a simple prayer. "Father, they need help!"
From Before Amen

1 Kings 5

Preparations for Building the Temple
5 [a]King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David. When Hiram learned that David’s son Solomon was the new king of Israel, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him.

2 Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram:

3 “You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord his God because of the many wars waged against him by surrounding nations. He could not build until the Lord gave him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. 5 So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the Lord told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.’

6 “Therefore, please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!”

7 When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he was very pleased and said, “Praise the Lord today for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel.” 8 Then he sent this reply to Solomon:

“I have received your message, and I will supply all the cedar and cypress timber you need. 9 My servants will bring the logs from the Lebanon mountains to the Mediterranean Sea[b] and make them into rafts and float them along the coast to whatever place you choose. Then we will break the rafts apart so you can carry the logs away. You can pay me by supplying me with food for my household.”

10 So Hiram supplied as much cedar and cypress timber as Solomon desired. 11 In return, Solomon sent him an annual payment of 100,000 bushels[c] of wheat for his household and 110,000 gallons[d] of pure olive oil. 12 So the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as he had promised. And Hiram and Solomon made a formal alliance of peace.

13 Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country, 16 and 3,600[e] foremen to supervise the work. 17 At the king’s command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple. 18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple.

Footnotes:

5:1 Verses 5:1-18 are numbered 5:15-32 in Hebrew text.
5:9 Hebrew the sea.
5:11a Hebrew 20,000 cors [4,400 kiloliters].
5:11b As in Greek version, which reads 20,000 baths [420 kiloliters] (see also 2 Chr 2:10); Hebrew reads 20 cors, about 1,000 gallons or 4.4 kiloliters in volume.
5:16 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 2:2, 18); Hebrew reads 3,300.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 21, 2015

Read: Philippians 3:7-14

 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

Pressing toward the Goal
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[b] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Footnotes:

3:9 Or through the faithfulness of Christ.
3:13 Some manuscripts read not yet achieved it.

INSIGHT:
Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi is one of warmth and affection, perhaps rooted in his founding of this congregation—the first church planted in Europe. While presenting the theme of joy, the letter to the Philippians also focuses on Paul’s care for them (1:3-4), the matchless person of Christ (2:5-11), and the need for unity (4:2-3). Today’s Bible reading (3:7-14) draws our attention to the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (v. 8) and the impact that knowledge should have on our living.

Winning the Big One
By David McCasland

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

In every field of endeavor, one award is considered the epitome of recognition and success. An Olympic gold medal, a Grammy, an Academy Award, or a Nobel Prize are among “the big ones.” But there is a greater prize that anyone can obtain.

The apostle Paul was familiar with first-century athletic games in which competitors gave their full effort to win the prize. With that in mind, he wrote to a group of followers of Christ in Philippi: “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Why? Because his heart had embraced a new goal: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings” (v. 10). And so, Paul said, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (v. 12). His trophy for completing the race would be the “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8).

Each of us can aim for that same prize, knowing that we honor the Lord in pursuing it. Every day, in our ordinary duties, we are moving toward “the big one”—“the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Phil. 3:14 nlt).

Dear Lord, when I get discouraged, help me to keep pressing on, looking ahead to when I will be with You forever.

What is done for Christ in this life will be rewarded in the life to come.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 21, 2015
“It is Finished!”

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.

Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You

Acts 7:22-43, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Run Your Own Race

A little boy named Adam wanted to be like his friend Bobby.  Adam loved the way Bobby walked and talked. Bobby wanted to be like Charlie. Something about Charlie's stride intrigued him. Charlie on the other hand, was impressed with Danny. Charlie wanted to look and sound like Danny. Danny, of all things, had a hero as well. He wanted to be just like Adam. So Adam was imitating Bobby, who was imitating Charlie, who was imitating Danny, who was imitating Adam. Turns out, all Adam had to do was be himself.
Stay in your own lane. Run your own race. Nothing good happens when you compare and compete. God's yardstick for measuring faithfulness is how faithful you are with your own gifts. You are not responsible for the nature of your gift. But you are responsible for how you use it!
From Glory Days

Acts 7:22-43

 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.

26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’

27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’[a]

35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

37 “Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’[b] 38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.[c]

39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
    during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods—
    the shrine of Molech,
    the star of your god Rephan,
    and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
    as far away as Babylon.’[d]
Footnotes:

7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
7:37 Deut 18:15.
7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 20, 2015

Read: Galatians 1:6-10

There Is Only One Good News

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.[a] You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Footnotes:

1:6 Some manuscripts read through loving mercy.

INSIGHT:
Because the risen Christ called Paul to be an apostle on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:1-18; 22:1-15; 26:9-18), Paul acknowledges that his apostleship was different from the original 12 apostles (Gal. 1:11-17), but it was clearly accepted by them (1:18; 2:7-10). Because Christianity was birthed in Judaism, adhering to the Mosaic law became an issue as more Gentiles became believers. The Judaizers taught that Christians must follow Jewish laws and practices in order to be saved. Paul wrote this letter to counter and condemn this false teaching (vv. 8-9), affirming that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by observing the law (Gal. 2:16,20-21; 3:11,24).

Our Main Concern
By Jaime Fernández Garrido

If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

Peer pressure is part of everyday life. Sometimes we base our decisions on what other people will think or say rather than on our convictions and on what will please God. We’re worried that we’ll be judged or made fun of.

The apostle Paul experienced his fair share of peer pressure. Some Jewish Christians believed that Gentiles should be circumcised to be truly saved (Gal. 1:7; see 6:12-15). However, Paul stood his ground. He continued to preach that salvation is by grace through faith alone; no further works are required. And for that he was accused of being a self-appointed apostle. They further asserted that his version of the gospel had never received the apostles’ approval (2:1-10).

Despite the pressure, Paul was very clear about whom he served—Christ. God’s approval mattered most, not man’s. He made it his goal not to win the approval of people, but of God (1:10).

Similarly, we are Christ’s servants. We serve God whether people honor or despise us, whether they slander or praise us. One day “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Rom. 14:12). That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consider what people think or say, but ultimately, we make pleasing God our main concern. We want to hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:23).

Dear Lord, no matter what others may say or do, give me the courage to be faithful to You today.

Keep following Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 20, 2015
The Forgiveness of God

In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins… —Ephesians 1:7

Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.

Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.  Conformed to His Image, 357 R


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 20, 2015

Stars You Can't Count and Things You Can't Fix - #7530

I really hate it when a five-year-old makes me feel dumb; especially when it's my grandson. I mean, he didn't mean to make me feel dumb. He didn't know he was making me feel dumb. But he is really smart, and he knows a lot about a lot! Like the solar system. He's got the planets down cold along with all kinds of facts about the universe. Things I either have forgotten or never knew. Another thing our grandson is really mastering is numbers. Man, can he count! He's working on thousands, millions, billions, and his favorite quantity, a google! When it comes to our universe, he's never going to be able to count that high!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stars You Can't Count and Things You Can't Fix."

With the discoveries of new high-tech explorers like NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, and the Hubble Telescope, we are learning some absolutely staggering new things about the universe we live in. There are over 200 billion galaxies that we know about so far. When we look up in the sky at night, it's estimated that we can see maybe 9,000 stars. But it's estimated that the average number of stars in a single galaxy is actually 200 billion stars! Let's see: 200 billion stars times 200 billion galaxies... oh for heaven's sake, that's a mental meltdown.

If you think that the vastness of the universe is amazing, fasten your seatbelt for something much more amazing. It's in Psalm 147:4, our word for today from the Word of God. It says of God, "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name." What? I can't even remember the names of all the people I've met! But God calls each of the 200 billion stars in 200 billion galaxies by name!

Isaiah 40:26 adds this: "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." Not only does He number all the stars and name all the stars, but He knows when any star goes out!

In the verse just before the one that says God numbers and names the stars, the Bible shows something else amazing about Him. It says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Wow! This God who gives personal attention to countless billions of stars cares about your broken heart! He stands ready to heal what's broken in your life with the power that rules this mighty universe. Wow!

You may have felt very unnoticed and very insignificant in your life, but not to the most powerful person in the universe. He knows you, He cares about your wounds, He deeply, deeply loves you. For this awesome God left the throne room of heaven to come here to this little dirtball called earth on a rescue mission for you, to actually die on a cross for the sin you've done against Him, the sin that has cut you off from Him all these years. The sin no religion can remove. The Bible says of Him, He is "the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

And this very day, this awesome God may be knocking on the door of your heart. He's offering to come into your life with His infinite love, His infinite power-the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Why would you wait one more day to open up your heart to a Savior like this? Tell Him, "Jesus, it makes no sense for me to try to run my life any longer. I'm sorry for running a life you were supposed to run. I believe my only hope is your death for my sin on the cross. I turn from my sin today. I am yours, Lord Jesus!"

If you want to make this day your "Jesus day", will you experience the greatness of His love in your heart, the greatness of His power in your life, would you just reach out to Him today? We'd love to help you do that. That's why we're here. Go to our website ANewStory.com. That's actually what could begin today is your new story. Or if you want to talk with someone about what it means to follow Christ, then text us at 442-244-WORD.

He's who you were made by. He's who you were made for, and this very day you can belong to Him!

Song of Songs 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Definition of Promotion

For twenty years I was the senior minister of our church. Budgets, personnel, buildings, hiring and firing… was happy to fill the role. But I was happiest preaching and writing. My mind was always gravitating toward the next series. Even during committee meetings (well, especially during committee meetings) I was doodling on the next message. More staff and more people to manage meant spending more time doing what I didn’t feel called to do.

I was blessed to have options. And equally blessed to have a church that provided flexibility as I transitioned from senior minister to teaching minister. A few people were puzzled. “Don’t you miss being the senior minister?”  Translation: Weren’t you demoted? Earlier in my life I would have thought so. But God’s definition of promotion isn’t a move up the ladder, it is a move toward your call. Don’t let someone “promote” you out of your call!

From Glory Days

Song of Songs 6

Young Women of Jerusalem

Where has your lover gone,
    O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
    so we can help you find him?
Young Woman

2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
    to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
    and gather the lilies.
3 I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
    He browses among the lilies.
Young Man

4 You are beautiful, my darling,
    like the lovely city of Tirzah.
Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,
    as majestic as an army with billowing banners.
5 Turn your eyes away,
    for they overpower me.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are as white as sheep
    that are freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.[a]
7 Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
8 Even among sixty queens
    and eighty concubines
    and countless young women,
9 I would still choose my dove, my perfect one—
    the favorite of her mother,
    dearly loved by the one who bore her.
The young women see her and praise her;
    even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:
10 “Who is this, arising like the dawn,
    as fair as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
    as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”
Young Woman

11 I went down to the grove of walnut trees
    and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,
to see whether the grapevines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it,
    my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.[b]
Young Women of Jerusalem

13 [c]Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.
    Come back, come back, that we may see you again.

Footnotes:

6:6 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.
6:12 Or to the royal chariots of my people, or to the chariots of Amminadab. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
6:13a Verse 6:13 is numbered 7:1 in Hebrew text.
6:13b Or as you would at the movements of two armies? or as you would at the dance of Mahanaim? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 19, 2015

Read: Ezra 3:1-6

The Altar Is Rebuilt
3 In early autumn,[a] when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak[b] joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began,[c] the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.

Footnotes:

3:1 Hebrew In the seventh month. The year is not specified, so it may have been during Cyrus’s first year (538 B.c.) or second year (537 B.c.). The seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of September/October 538 B.c. and October/November 537 B.c.
3:2 Hebrew Jozadak, a variant spelling of Jehozadak; also in 3:8.
3:6 Hebrew On the first day of the seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.

INSIGHT:
Twice in today’s passage Ezra records that the people returning from exile did things “in accordance with what is written” (vv. 2,4). However, what makes these statements impressive is what is found in the middle of the paragraph. They did all these things “despite their fear of the peoples around them”—the residents of Judah who were not part of the returning exiles (v. 3).

As It Is Written
By Dave Branon

[They] built the altar . . . to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written. —nkjv

Ezra 3:2

When it comes to putting things together—electronics, furniture, and the like—my son and I have differing approaches. Steve is more mechanically inclined, so he tends to toss the instructions aside and just start in. Meanwhile, I’m poring over the “Read This Before Starting” warning while he has already put the thing halfway together.

Sometimes we can get by without the instructions. But when it comes to putting together a life that reflects the goodness and wisdom of God, we can’t afford to ignore the directions He’s given to us in the Bible.

Jesus shows us the way to live.
The Israelites who had returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity are a good example of this. As they began to reestablish worship in their homeland, they prepared to do so “in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 3:2). By building a proper altar and in celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles as prescribed by God in Leviticus 23:33-43, they did exactly what God’s directions told them to do.

Christ gave His followers some directions too. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37,39). When we believe in Him and come to Him, He shows us the way to live. The One who made us knows far better than we do how life is supposed to work.

Remind us, Lord, as we start each day that You have already shown us by Your example how to live. Help us to read Your Word and follow the directions You so graciously provide for us.


Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends. facebook.com/ourdailybread

If we want God to lead us, we must be willing to follow Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 19, 2015

“When He Has Come”

When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.  The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 19, 2015

Go-bedience - #7529

Our sons' room was upstairs, off the beaten path of where my wife and I tended to travel in our house. But usually when we did venture into Boys World, we were in for a shock. Let's just say the boys had this unlimited capacity to make a mess and this uncanny ability to live in one without even noticing the mess. So, often the stern command would reverberate in the halls of our home: "Clean your room!" The boys seldom disagreed. Usually they would respond with a compliant, "We will." And, I think they really intended to...maybe. They knew it was fundamental to the privileges they wanted, so they went along with our cleaning orders. But did that mean the disaster area got un-disastered? Usually, no. The boys didn't disagree with what they were supposed to do; they just somehow didn't get around to doing it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about (here's a new word) "Go-bedience."

Now, obedience isn't obedience just because you agree with what you're supposed to do. There's no obedience until you go and do it. It's go-bedience!

I wonder if there's something your Heavenly Father's been telling you to do through His Word or through the inner tug of the Holy Spirit and you've been saying, "I will, Father. I agree." You know He's right. You intend to obey, but you're still sitting where you were. As surely as our sons were still disobeying until they did what we said, you're still disobeying God however politely. It's still disobedience because there's no such thing as passive obedience. If you're not moving on it, you're not obeying.

Which leads us to a powerful example of what obeying really means. It's from the life of Abraham as highlighted in our word for today from the Word of God from Hebrews 11:8. It says, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

God had summoned Abraham to leave his family, his comfort-his comfort zone actually-to obey Him and go to a future about which God supplied almost no details. Now Abraham could have said, "Okay, Lord. I'll go." But it wasn't agreement that launched him into God's amazing adventure. It was going! It was doing it without knowing what was coming, which is what God asked of so many of His children all through the Bible.

Which is what God may be asking you to do right now, to go without knowing how it's all going to work. Maybe your Lord is asking you to start something, or to leave something or someone, or maybe to stop doing something, or to confront something, or give something, or tell someone about the Savior who died for them.

But you're delaying your obedience. You're waiting until there's more facts, or until more of the risks are eliminated. You want to analyze the situation a little more, to get more signs. But you're not obeying! It's not obedience until it's go-bedience! And faith obedience steps out, not because you know where or how, but because you know Who. You know Who you are following. You're following an all-powerful Lord who will never do you wrong! Would anyone who loved you enough to die for you do you wrong?

It's one thing to agree with what your Father wants you to do. It's a whole other thing to start doing it. Until you do, you're just disobeying your Father. The old song is right. "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

Acts 7:1-21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Lot in Life

Do you know what makes you, you? Have you identified the features that distinguish you from every other human who has inhaled oxygen? You have an acreage to develop, a lot in life. Paul said in Galatians 6:4 to make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you've been given, and then sink yourself into that.
No one else is like you! What do you do well? What do people ask you to do again? What task comes easily? Your skill set is your road map. It leads you to your territory. Take note of your strengths. They are bread crumbs that will lead you out of the wilderness. God loves you too much to give you a job and not the skills. Identify yours! 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies."
From Glory Days

Acts 7:1-21

Stephen Addresses the Council

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”

2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.[a] 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’[b] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’[c]

8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,[d] and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

17 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.

Footnotes:

7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria.
7:3 Gen 12:1.
7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Read: Matthew 5:14-16

 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

INSIGHT:
The concept of light shining in the darkness is one of the primary themes of John’s writings, but it also has a strategic place in Matthew’s gospel. After Jesus returned from being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Matthew records the launching of Jesus’ public ministry by quoting the words of Isaiah the prophet: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16; Isa. 9:2). These words provide the context for Jesus’ instruction in today’s reading about being a light to others.

Reflecting the Son

By Lawrence Darmani

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5

Due to its location among sheer mountains and its northern latitude, Rjukan, Norway, does not see natural sunlight from October to March. To lighten up the town, the citizens installed large mirrors on the mountainside to reflect the sunrays and beam sunlight into the town square. The continuous glow is made possible because the giant mirrors rotate with the rising and setting sun.

I like to think of the Christian life as a similar scenario. Jesus said His followers are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). John the disciple wrote that Christ the true light “shines in the darkness” (John 1:5). So too, Jesus invites us to reflect our light into the darkness around us: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). That is a call for us to show love in the face of hatred, patience in response to trouble, and peace in moments of conflict. As the apostle Paul reminds us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Our light is a reflection of Jesus the Son. Just as without the sun the large mirrors of Rjukan would have no light to reflect, so too we can do nothing without Jesus.

Teach us, Lord, what it is to reflect Your light, especially when life’s demands can tempt us to live selfishly. Help us today to live in Your love.

Reflect the Son and shine for Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Winning into Freedom

If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. —John 8:36

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments…and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.

“If the Son makes you free….” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “…you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Supermen Are Breakable - #7528

Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's (yeah, you said it) it's Superman! Man, when I heard these words on my T.V. as a kid, I was in a T.V. trance for the next half hour. I loved to watch the exploits of the man of steel.

Over the years there have been various actors who portrayed the man of steel. A couple of them had tragic lives. George Reeves, who played Superman from 1951 to 1958 committed suicide after his career had effectively stalled. He was forever typecast as Superman. Then another actor, Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in five films, became paralyzed in 1995 from the equestrian accident where he was thrown from his horse. These actors played the part of a man who was invincible, but "behind the role" was the awful reality.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Supermen Are Breakable!"

Actually, many men have discovered that fact in their own lives. Our half of the human race has been raised to believe that we've got to be super men. The world thinks we've got it together; we feel no pain, we've got it under control. But as a man, you know there's a "real you" behind the part – a wounded warrior; maybe bleeding a lot on the inside; maybe a scared little boy underneath a mask of macho confidence; and you don't have it all under control. Superman, in reality, is breakable or broken.

Our word for today from the Word Of God introduces us to a "Superman" of another time and the dark secret that was beyond all his "Superness." Second Kings 5:1, "Now Naaman was commander of the army of the King of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier...". Okay, this guy was a "Superman" of his time, but he had a secret, a dark secret: he was dying of leprosy.

In verse 3, one of his servants said, "If only my master would see the prophet who's in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman goes for that cure, but it required humility. He didn't like the cure prescribed: he had to wash in the dirty Jordan River. He says, "Couldn't I wash in one of the streams back home and be cleansed?" It says he went off in a rage!

He was proud, and he was dying from it. Finally, he chose to be well rather than be in charge. In chapter 5, verse 14, it says, "He dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy."

I wonder if God brought us together today because He knows you're a modern day Naaman. He knows the dark spot behind the mask and He wants to cure it. But you first have to accept His diagnosis and His cure. The diagnosis is that you've got terminal spiritual cancer. It's called sin! No matter how religious, no matter how respected you may be, you've broken God's laws and you've run the life that your Creator was suppose to run and your "my way" of living has left you fatally separated from God.

The cure requires humility – the admission that you cannot save yourself – and then a trip, not to a dirty river, but to a dying Savior's cross. There you say, "Jesus, it's my sin You're dying for, isn't it? I need to be forgiven. I need a Savior. I can't be my own savior, I want to be Yours. I belong to You." The result – the same as it was for Naaman: you're restored, you're clean, you're new! Haven't you run from Jesus or put off Jesus long enough? Let this be the day you run to Him! Discover in the man Jesus, who walked 33 years as a man. He gets us guys.

When you discover in Him all the love and all the power that has eluded you, all the peace, all the fulfillment, all the worth and the ability to change what you could never change about you, you discover that when you get to Jesus and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

Have you ever had that day with the man God sent – Jesus, His Son – to die for you? If you never have, let it be today. Let's get this done. Go to our website. I'll be there in a way to meet you there with information that will help you get started. It's ANewStory.com. Or just text us at 442-244-WORD.

Superman really is breakable or broken. Don't make that eternally fatal mistake of being so proud you die from it. Your Savior is waiting!

Song of Solomon 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Everybody Gets a Gift

Joshua said: "Tribe of Judah, take the high country. Manasseh, occupy the valleys. People of God, inhabit the land east of the Jordan."
Jesus says:  Joe, take your place in the domain of medicine. Mary, your territory is accounting. Susan, I give you the gift of compassion. Now occupy your territory.
Everybody gets a gift and these gifts come in different doses and combinations.  1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "Each person is given something to do that shows who God is." Our inheritance is grace-based and equal. But our assignments are tailor made. No two snowflakes the same and no two fingerprints the same. Why would two skill sets be the same? No wonder Paul said in Ephesians 5:17 to make sure you understand what the Master wants!  Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.
From Glory Days

Song of Solomon 5

Young Man

I have entered my garden, my treasure,[d] my bride!
    I gather myrrh with my spices
and eat honeycomb with my honey.
    I drink wine with my milk.
Young Women of Jerusalem

Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink!
    Yes, drink deeply of your love!
Young Woman

2 I slept, but my heart was awake,
    when I heard my lover knocking and calling:
“Open to me, my treasure, my darling,
    my dove, my perfect one.
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 But I responded,
“I have taken off my robe.
    Should I get dressed again?
I have washed my feet.
    Should I get them soiled?”
4 My lover tried to unlatch the door,
    and my heart thrilled within me.
5 I jumped up to open the door for my love,
    and my hands dripped with perfume.
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh
    as I pulled back the bolt.
6 I opened to my lover,
    but he was gone!
    My heart sank.
I searched for him
    but could not find him anywhere.
I called to him,
    but there was no reply.
7 The night watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds.
They beat and bruised me
    and stripped off my veil,
    those watchmen on the walls.
8 Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—
    If you find my lover,
    tell him I am weak with love.
Young Women of Jerusalem

9 Why is your lover better than all others,
    O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
    that we must promise this?
Young Woman

10 My lover is dark and dazzling,
    better than ten thousand others!
11 His head is finest gold,
    his wavy hair is black as a raven.
12 His eyes sparkle like doves
    beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
    washed in milk.
13 His cheeks are like gardens of spices
    giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
    perfumed with myrrh.
14 His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
    set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
    glowing with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are like marble pillars
    set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
    like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself;
    he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
    is my lover, my friend.
Footnotes:

5:1 Hebrew my sister; also in 5:2.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Read: Isaiah 66:5-13

Hear this message from the Lord,
    all you who tremble at his words:
“Your own people hate you
    and throw you out for being loyal to my name.
‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff.
    ‘Be joyful in him!’
    But they will be put to shame.
6 What is all the commotion in the city?
    What is that terrible noise from the Temple?
It is the voice of the Lord
    taking vengeance against his enemies.
7 “Before the birth pains even begin,
    Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
8 Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
    Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
    Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s[a] birth pains begin,
    her children will be born.
9 Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
    and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
    says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem!
    Be glad with her, all you who love her
    and all you who mourn for her.
11 Drink deeply of her glory
    even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity.
    The wealth of the nations will flow to her.
Her children will be nursed at her breasts,
    carried in her arms, and held on her lap.
13 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
    as a mother comforts her child.”
Footnotes:

66:8 Hebrew Zion’s.

INSIGHT:
Having warned of exile in Babylon (Isa. 39:6-7), Isaiah now comforts the Israelites with the promise that God will bring them back to Judea and bless them (chs. 40–66). This restoration is so certain and swift that it is likened to a woman giving birth to a child before she even experiences labor pains (39:7-8). What God promises, He fulfills (v. 9). God will love His people like a mother loves her child (v. 13).

Safe in His Arms

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.

Isaiah 66:13

I sat next to my daughter’s bed in a recovery room after she had undergone surgery. When her eyes fluttered open, she realized she was uncomfortable and started to cry. I tried to reassure her by stroking her arm, but she only became more upset. With help from a nurse, I moved her from the bed and onto my lap. I brushed tears from her cheeks and reminded her that she would eventually feel better.

Through Isaiah, God told the Israelites, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isa. 66:13). God promised to give His children peace and to carry them the way a mother totes a child around on her side. This tender message was for the people who had a reverence for God—those who “tremble at his word” (v. 5).

We can depend on God's love to support us when we suffer.
God’s ability and desire to comfort His people appears again in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believers. Paul said the Lord is the one “who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). God is gentle and sympathetic with us when we are in trouble.

One day all suffering will end. Our tears will dry up permanently, and we will be safe in God’s arms forever (Rev. 21:4). Until then, we can depend on God’s love to support us when we suffer.

Dear God, help me to remember that nothing can separate me from Your love. Please assure me of Your care through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God comforts His people.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Eternal Goal

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself…
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.

’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Important Times, and Urgent Action - #7527

Our oldest son and his wife, our wonderful daughter now, were living on an Indian reservation and had ministered there for several years. And now they were expecting their first baby. It was wonderful this baby girl was going to come. They lived pretty far from the hospital, so of course, you needed to "get in gear" when it was time. And those were the words our daughter-in-law spoke that fateful night, "I think it's time!" Well, they had gone to the classes. They knew what to do. Oh, but my son? Well, he simply started walking around in circles in his living room going, "Okay! Okay! Okay!" Meanwhile his wife's gently going, "It's time." "Okay! Okay! Okay!" Well, listen, when you know what time it is, you need to know what action to take.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Important Times, and Urgent Action."

By the way, they got there in time. I thought you'd want to know.

Now you and I have been chosen by God to live in very important times, and it's important for us to know what time it is and what to do with that. I mean, people are exploring all kinds of spiritual answers. There are big questions about all the uncertainties of the world economy, and we're so dependent on technology.

Then there's worry about who's the latest to get nuclear weapons, and terrorism that can pop up anywhere, anytime, and a world that looks more like the kind of world Jesus said he'd come back to than maybe it's ever looked. These are extraordinary times. It's time to do some extraordinary living. It's time for some urgent action, because maybe God is going, "It's time. It's time." We're at a defining moment, and we've got to realize what time it is and respond accordingly.

Like some people did at another defining moment some 3,000 years ago. Israel was emerging as a nation, as they have again today. Their first king, Saul, had turned out to be a disaster. He died as a suicide in battle, and people are deciding where their allegiance is going to be. God has His man for king: David. He's about to take his rightful throne as his descendant, Jesus Christ, will do one day when He returns to earth to rule from what the Bible calls "the throne of David."

1 Chronicles 12 records that there were many fighting men who "came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel." We also read that "the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said: 'We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse!'" And then in our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Chronicles 12:32, we read about one group of people who show us how to be in a defining moment like they lived in, like we live in. The Bible describes "the men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do."

Now if you understand the times you're living in, you will know what you should do. And those who are committed to enthroning the rightful king – and we know Christ is that king – they showed us the defining choice in defining times back then; making the King your king and living to enlarge His kingdom. They were "fully determined to make David king over all." That's where your choices lie. To make sure the king, King Jesus, is your king. This is a moment like never before, to say, "I am Yours, O Jesus! I am with You, O Son of God!" He's moving toward wrapping up all history. You'd better make sure He's the center of your personal history.

Secondly, if you really know what time it is, you're going to be living to enlarge the kingdom of King Jesus before He returns. That means getting as many people to belong to Him as you can. Throwing your influence and your money, your possessions, and your future into the greatest cause on the planet; the cause for which your King gave His life – rescuing spiritually dying people.

It's time to look through everything we own, everything we've planned, everything we've dreamed in light of the times God has chosen us to live in. When it's the fourth quarter, you don't play as if it's the first quarter. Be sure you understand the time and you know what to do.

It has never mattered more to live for what really matters and what will matter forever. Perhaps you hear Jesus saying, "It's time!"