Max Lucado Daily: God is For You!
God IS for you! In fact, the Bible says, “God will rejoice over you!” Turn to the sidelines and hear God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Are you too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Are you too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you!
In Isaiah 49:15 God asks, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” Can you imagine a mother feeding her infant and later asking, “What was that baby’s name?” No. Can a mother forget? No way! And neither can God!
From Grace for the Moment
Ecclesiastes 2
The Futility of Pleasure
I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” 3 After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.
4 I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. 7 I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. 8 I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!
9 So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. 11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
The Wise and the Foolish
12 So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?[b]). 13 I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. 14 For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. 15 Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!” 16 For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.
17 So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
The Futility of Work
18 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! 20 So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.
21 Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. 22 So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? 23 Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
24 So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?[c] 26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Footnotes:
2:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:25 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads apart from me?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Paul’s Final Greetings
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
INSIGHT:
Paul wrote the letter of 1 Thessalonians to assure the believers that Jesus is indeed coming back, even though we don’t know when. Everyone who believes in Him—both the living and the dead—will meet Him in the air and be with Him forever. After assuring us of this wonderful truth (see ch. 4), Paul reminds us in today’s reading that while we eagerly wait for Christ’s return, God is working in us to prepare us to be in His presence.
Glass Beach
By David Roper
“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession.”
Malachi 3:17
Early 20th-century residents of Fort Bragg, California, disposed of their trash by throwing it over a cliff and onto a nearby beach. Cans, bottles, tableware, and household garbage accumulated in huge, disgusting piles. Even when residents stopped depositing trash on the beach, it remained an embarrassment—a dump seemingly beyond reclamation.
Over the years, however, wave action broke up the glass and pottery and washed the rubbish out to sea. The pounding surf rolled and tumbled the glass fragments in the sand on the ocean floor, frosting and smoothing the surface and creating gemlike “sea glass,” which it then deposited back onto the beach. The surf created a kaleidoscopic beauty at which visitors to Glass Beach now stare in wonder.
Relax in God's #love today.
Perhaps you feel as though your life has become a dump—a mess beyond hope. If so, you need to know that there is someone who loves you and waits to redeem and reclaim you. Give Jesus your heart and ask Him to make you pure and clean. He may tumble you a bit, and it may take time to smooth away the rough edges. But He will never give up on you. He will make you into one of His jewels!
Lord, when we have nothing left but You, we are right where You want us. You can use any situation for Your glory and our good. You never give up on us. Help us to relax in Your love.
God loves us too much to let us remain as we are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
A Rockefeller Center Christmas - Ringside Seats at the Tree! - #7538
I always look forward to it as one of the season's great Christmas moments – the lighting of that towering Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. And it's happening tonight.
I remember last year. It was just a tad more exciting, for me anyway, because I had sort of a second-hand personal connection. The tree came from the farm owned by our good friends' daughter and son-in-law. (Did you get that?) They were chauffeured to ringside (actually rink-side) seats for the big show. So, not only did I get to watch the tree and the performers. Hey, I had like friends on the front row!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Rockefeller Center Christmas – Ringside Seats at the Tree."
Apparently, the NBC "tree scouts" look for evergreen candidates year-round. And one of them spotted this one, driving down Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. It was readily visible from the highway and he liked what he saw.
In the months leading up to the tree being cut down, the "treeologists" (I don't know if that's a word. But it is now). Treeologists would come with a large tractor trailer full of nutrients for Mr. Spruce. They wanted to be sure he was in good health for his moment of glory!
Rachel, our friends' daughter, describes herself as a "big Christmas elf." She said the giant tree was the only thing at her home she didn't decorate for Christmas. (She even decorated her husband I think.) And now it was going to be decorated big time for all the world to see! You could say she was slightly excited.
I suppose our friends have viewed the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree as we always have; a nice Christmas event. But not last year. No, it went from being just an event to an unforgettable personal experience!
And thinking about that just rang a bell suddenly in my heart, because the whole Christmas thing can be much the same; a warm, cuddly event, inspired by the familiar story of that baby born in the Bethlehem manger. But it's a lot more than that for me. The event became a life-changing personal experience. When I realized the ultimate meaning of the events that night in Bethlehem, I saw that it was all about the tree.
In a sense, the shadow of that tree looms over the starlight in the manger. This child is here on a mission – a rescue mission. And that mission will take Him, 33 years later, to the tree. A Roman cross on a skull-shaped hill.
In our Word for today from the Word of God we learn in 1 Peter 2:24, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree." Christmas was for a cross; the place where the baby of Bethlehem would become the Savior of the world by taking on Himself the death penalty for human sin. "He bore...on the tree" every hurting thing, every dirty thing, every selfish thing, every angry thing, every wrong thing of every person who ever lived.
For a time, the horrific death of Jesus Christ on a cross was just an event to me. Remembered on Good Friday. A belief to be believed. A religious symbol. But one day it became so much more. It went from an event to the most profound personal experience of my life. When it hit me, "What's happening on that cross is...well, for me. For the sinning I've done. For the punishment I deserve."
And that's the day I was given a ringside seat at the tree, when my heart melted at the love this Jesus has for me – enough to die for me. I enthroned Him that day, not as just the Savior, but as my Savior. And that changed everything. As it has, and as it will, for anyone who makes what happened on that tree "for me."
I wonder if you've ever done that? Have you ever taken this man who loved you enough to die for you, who is your only hope of heaven. He's the only one who can forgive the sin that will keep anybody out of heaven. Have you ever said, "Jesus, I want to make what You did on that cross personal for me, and take the event and make it my personal experience"? Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
We can give you more information about this if you'd just go to our website ANewStory.com. Or if you want to talk with someone, text us at 442-244-WORD.
Christmas begins at a stable. Life begins at the tree.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Ecclesiastes 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Winner's Circle
For all we don't know about the next life-this much is certain. The day Christ comes will be a day of reward. A day in the winner's circle! Those who went unknown on earth will be known in heaven. Those who never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers of angels. Those who missed the blessing of a father will hear the blessing of their heavenly Father. The small will be great. The forgotten will be remembered. The unnoticed will be crowned and the faithful will be honored!
Ephesians 6:8 says, "The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he or she does, whether slave or free." The winner's circle is not reserved for a handful of the elite, but for a heaven full of God's children who "will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him!" (James 1:12).
From Grace for the Moment
Ecclesiastes 1
These are the words of the Teacher,[a] King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
Everything Is Meaningless
2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
The Teacher Speaks: The Futility of Wisdom
12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.
To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
Footnotes:
1:1 Hebrew Qoheleth; this term is rendered “the Teacher” throughout this book.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Read: Matthew 1:18-25
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Footnotes:
1:19 Greek to divorce her.
1:21 Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).
INSIGHT:
Joseph is a popular biblical name. The first Joseph in the Bible is Jacob’s son who, after being sold into slavery by his brothers, rose to great influence in Egypt (Gen. 37–50). Two other Josephs are mentioned in the Old Testament period: a musician (1 Chron. 25:2, 9) and one in the lineage of Christ (see Luke 3:24, 30). In the New Testament we begin with the earthly father of Jesus (Luke 2; Matt. 1). Next is Joseph of Arimathea, who assisted in Jesus’ burial (Matt. 27:57). Finally, we read of Joseph Barsabbas (Acts 1:23), who was considered to fill Judas’ vacated apostolic office; and Joseph the encourager, better known as Barnabas (Acts 4:36).
The Meaning of a Name
By David McCasland
You are to give him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:21
According to a New York Times article, children in many African countries are often named after a famous visitor, special event, or circumstance that was meaningful to the parents. When doctors told the parents of one child that they could not cure the infant’s illness and only God knew if he would live, the parents named their child Godknows. Another man said he was named Enough, because his mother had 13 children and he was the last one! There’s a reason for everyone’s name, and in some cases it also conveys a special meaning.
Before Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord told Joseph, “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means “the Lord saves.” In that day and culture, many children would have been named Jesus, but only one came into this world to die so that all who receive Him might live eternally, forgiven and freed from the power of sin.
In Jesus we see God's loving purpose & boundless #grace.
Charles Wesley wrote these words we often sing as Christmas nears: “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in Thee.”
Jesus came to turn our darkness into light, to transform our despair into hope, and to save us from our sins.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus we see Your loving purpose and boundless grace. We humbly acknowledge Your Son as the One who came to save us from our sins.
Jesus’ name and mission are the same—He came to save us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
The Power of a Lasered Life - #7537
I've seen several Presidents come and go in my lifetime. But during that time there's been only one Queen of England – Queen Elizabeth II – and she recently celebrated a milestone. She became Britain's longest reigning monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Over 63 years as Queen.
Compare what the world was like say in 1952 when her father's sudden death made her queen overnight and what the world is like now. Elizabeth has been as one leader said, "a constant in a changing world."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of a Lasered Life."
Now Elizabeth is not my queen, but she is an example who inspires me and a lot of other people. Really, anyone who wants to know the secret of a life that's well-lived, well-respected and stable through the storms. Well, there's an example here.
Her subjects celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 in what was called "splendid fashion". There were celebrations, speeches, parades, and special events where you could see the Queen. Even news shows in America – the "colonies" – seemed pretty taken with the celebration, the pageantry, and the extraordinary woman being honored.
It's not like she's had an easy go of it: economic disasters in her country, political upheaval, wars, terrorism, family heartbreaks, the death of Diana, brutal attacks by the press. But through it all, Queen Elizabeth has always been Queen Elizabeth – dignity, duty, leadership.
During all the TV coverage of the Jubilee, I saw an old black-and-white video of the pledge that she broadcast to the Commonwealth in 1947, on her 21st birthday. That's five years before she would be thrust into being queen. Her words have turned out to be her biography. "I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong." While, in our day, her position carries no significant authority, her person has commanded enormous respect and affection.
In the words of a USA Today story, "The queen can say she made good on her promise." In the words of her grandson – and the future king, Prince William – "she's done everything she can for the country...she has not let anyone down."
That's the power of living for only one thing. Which, by the way, is how we're all wired to live. You make promises you can keep and you keep them. You remain focused no matter what. You know what you need to do when everything's going crazy around you and you are the calm in everyone's chaos.
That's why David would pray in the Bible, "O Lord, give me an undivided heart" (Psalm 86:11). God has promised "I will give them an undivided heart" (Ezekiel 11:19). The Bible contrasts an "undivided heart" with the lives of fragmented focus that most of us live: "A double-minded man (is) unstable in all he does" (James 1:8).
There's something magnetic about a person who's learned and who lives the secret of a powerful life. Finding that one thing that will govern everything you do; the sun around which all the "planets" of your life will revolve; the North Star that guides every choice, every response, every priority.
The Bible tells us clearly the cause for which we were created. It says, "Live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:35). Not Jesus as a compartment in your life, with you doing pretty much what you want with the rest of the compartments. No, Jesus like Paul talked about Him in our word for today from the Word of God, in Philippians 1:21 where he simply says, "For, to me, to live is Christ". He says, "Christ, who is our life" in Colossians 3:8. Not just your belief, not just part of your life. Your life. Period. Everything: my love, my spending, my vocation, my recreation, my commitments must revolve around Him.
A fragmented life is a powerless life. A focused life is a powerful life. A wide river is lazy and often stagnant. But a river in narrow banks rises forceful and swift. Diffused light cannot begin to do what the concentrated light of a laser beam can do. A life that's diffused over too many commitments and fragmented by trying to do everything is frantic, not peaceful; frustrating more than fulfilling and always up for grabs rather than "steady as she goes."
Why don't you focus on laser living? That's what makes a difference. That's what makes life make sense and will make you "a constant in a changing world."
For all we don't know about the next life-this much is certain. The day Christ comes will be a day of reward. A day in the winner's circle! Those who went unknown on earth will be known in heaven. Those who never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers of angels. Those who missed the blessing of a father will hear the blessing of their heavenly Father. The small will be great. The forgotten will be remembered. The unnoticed will be crowned and the faithful will be honored!
Ephesians 6:8 says, "The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he or she does, whether slave or free." The winner's circle is not reserved for a handful of the elite, but for a heaven full of God's children who "will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him!" (James 1:12).
From Grace for the Moment
Ecclesiastes 1
These are the words of the Teacher,[a] King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
Everything Is Meaningless
2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
The Teacher Speaks: The Futility of Wisdom
12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.
To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
Footnotes:
1:1 Hebrew Qoheleth; this term is rendered “the Teacher” throughout this book.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Read: Matthew 1:18-25
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Footnotes:
1:19 Greek to divorce her.
1:21 Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).
INSIGHT:
Joseph is a popular biblical name. The first Joseph in the Bible is Jacob’s son who, after being sold into slavery by his brothers, rose to great influence in Egypt (Gen. 37–50). Two other Josephs are mentioned in the Old Testament period: a musician (1 Chron. 25:2, 9) and one in the lineage of Christ (see Luke 3:24, 30). In the New Testament we begin with the earthly father of Jesus (Luke 2; Matt. 1). Next is Joseph of Arimathea, who assisted in Jesus’ burial (Matt. 27:57). Finally, we read of Joseph Barsabbas (Acts 1:23), who was considered to fill Judas’ vacated apostolic office; and Joseph the encourager, better known as Barnabas (Acts 4:36).
The Meaning of a Name
By David McCasland
You are to give him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:21
According to a New York Times article, children in many African countries are often named after a famous visitor, special event, or circumstance that was meaningful to the parents. When doctors told the parents of one child that they could not cure the infant’s illness and only God knew if he would live, the parents named their child Godknows. Another man said he was named Enough, because his mother had 13 children and he was the last one! There’s a reason for everyone’s name, and in some cases it also conveys a special meaning.
Before Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord told Joseph, “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means “the Lord saves.” In that day and culture, many children would have been named Jesus, but only one came into this world to die so that all who receive Him might live eternally, forgiven and freed from the power of sin.
In Jesus we see God's loving purpose & boundless #grace.
Charles Wesley wrote these words we often sing as Christmas nears: “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in Thee.”
Jesus came to turn our darkness into light, to transform our despair into hope, and to save us from our sins.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus we see Your loving purpose and boundless grace. We humbly acknowledge Your Son as the One who came to save us from our sins.
Jesus’ name and mission are the same—He came to save us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
The Power of a Lasered Life - #7537
I've seen several Presidents come and go in my lifetime. But during that time there's been only one Queen of England – Queen Elizabeth II – and she recently celebrated a milestone. She became Britain's longest reigning monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Over 63 years as Queen.
Compare what the world was like say in 1952 when her father's sudden death made her queen overnight and what the world is like now. Elizabeth has been as one leader said, "a constant in a changing world."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of a Lasered Life."
Now Elizabeth is not my queen, but she is an example who inspires me and a lot of other people. Really, anyone who wants to know the secret of a life that's well-lived, well-respected and stable through the storms. Well, there's an example here.
Her subjects celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 in what was called "splendid fashion". There were celebrations, speeches, parades, and special events where you could see the Queen. Even news shows in America – the "colonies" – seemed pretty taken with the celebration, the pageantry, and the extraordinary woman being honored.
It's not like she's had an easy go of it: economic disasters in her country, political upheaval, wars, terrorism, family heartbreaks, the death of Diana, brutal attacks by the press. But through it all, Queen Elizabeth has always been Queen Elizabeth – dignity, duty, leadership.
During all the TV coverage of the Jubilee, I saw an old black-and-white video of the pledge that she broadcast to the Commonwealth in 1947, on her 21st birthday. That's five years before she would be thrust into being queen. Her words have turned out to be her biography. "I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong." While, in our day, her position carries no significant authority, her person has commanded enormous respect and affection.
In the words of a USA Today story, "The queen can say she made good on her promise." In the words of her grandson – and the future king, Prince William – "she's done everything she can for the country...she has not let anyone down."
That's the power of living for only one thing. Which, by the way, is how we're all wired to live. You make promises you can keep and you keep them. You remain focused no matter what. You know what you need to do when everything's going crazy around you and you are the calm in everyone's chaos.
That's why David would pray in the Bible, "O Lord, give me an undivided heart" (Psalm 86:11). God has promised "I will give them an undivided heart" (Ezekiel 11:19). The Bible contrasts an "undivided heart" with the lives of fragmented focus that most of us live: "A double-minded man (is) unstable in all he does" (James 1:8).
There's something magnetic about a person who's learned and who lives the secret of a powerful life. Finding that one thing that will govern everything you do; the sun around which all the "planets" of your life will revolve; the North Star that guides every choice, every response, every priority.
The Bible tells us clearly the cause for which we were created. It says, "Live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:35). Not Jesus as a compartment in your life, with you doing pretty much what you want with the rest of the compartments. No, Jesus like Paul talked about Him in our word for today from the Word of God, in Philippians 1:21 where he simply says, "For, to me, to live is Christ". He says, "Christ, who is our life" in Colossians 3:8. Not just your belief, not just part of your life. Your life. Period. Everything: my love, my spending, my vocation, my recreation, my commitments must revolve around Him.
A fragmented life is a powerless life. A focused life is a powerful life. A wide river is lazy and often stagnant. But a river in narrow banks rises forceful and swift. Diffused light cannot begin to do what the concentrated light of a laser beam can do. A life that's diffused over too many commitments and fragmented by trying to do everything is frantic, not peaceful; frustrating more than fulfilling and always up for grabs rather than "steady as she goes."
Why don't you focus on laser living? That's what makes a difference. That's what makes life make sense and will make you "a constant in a changing world."
Monday, November 30, 2015
Acts 8:26-40, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Press Into God’s Promises
Our God is a promise-keeping God. Others may make a promise and forget it. But if God makes a promise, he keeps it. Does God’s integrity make a difference? When your daughter is on life support, it does. When you are pacing the ER floor, it does. When you are wondering what to do and you have to choose between faith or fear; God’s purpose or random history; a God who knows and cares or a God who isn’t there? We all choose.
Promised Land people choose to trust God’s promises. They choose to believe that God is up to something good even though all we see looks bad. Press into God’s promises. When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said … And when doubts arise, but God said… And when guilt overwhelms you, but God said... Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises you find.
From Glory Days
Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south[a] down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”[c] 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Footnotes:
8:26 Or Go at noon.
8:32-33 Isa 53:7-8 (Greek version).
8:36 Some manuscripts add verse 37, “You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 30, 2015
Read: Luke 10:17-24
When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving
21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
INSIGHT: Two important concepts appear in today’s passage: Jesus is the one who gives us the authority to carry on His work on earth, and God is the one who writes our names “in heaven” (v. 20). Notice that in both cases it is not our doing but God’s. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace; our part is to accept this gift.
Our Daily Bread -- The Heavenly Manifest
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
At the Kenya Airways check-in counter, I presented my passport for verification. When the agents searched for my name on their manifest—the document that lists names of passengers—my name was missing. The problem? Overbooking and lack of confirmation. My hope of reaching home that day was shattered.
The episode reminded me of another kind of manifest—the Book of Life. In Luke 10, Jesus sent His disciples on an evangelistic mission. On their return, they happily reported their success. But Jesus told them: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v. 20). The focus of our joy is not merely that we are successful but that our names are inscribed in God’s book.
But how can we be sure of that? God’s Word tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
In Revelation 21, John makes a breathtaking description of the Holy City that awaits those who trust Christ. Then he writes, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (v. 27).
The Book of Life is God’s heavenly manifest. Is your name written in it? —Lawrence Darmani
Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who promised to prepare a place for us. Thank You too, that You are preparing us for that place.
God opens the gates of heaven to those who open their hearts to Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 30, 2015
“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 30, 2015
The Classroom of Everyday Stuff - #7536
If you know teenagers or even pre-teens, you'll hear that word "like" a lot! It's not new. Even when one of my sons was going through those interesting teenage years, he had a case of "like-itis", we'll call it. Typical sentence, "Well, there was like this movie I wanted to like watch, and so I like looked for what time it was supposed to be like – you know." Well, you know what though? There might be some power in that word like.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Classroom of Everyday Stuff."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in Proverbs 24:32. Solomon says, "I applied my heart to what I observed and I learned a lesson from what I saw." Here was Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament, and he tells us how he learned about life. He says he didn't just look at the things that he saw, or heard, or experienced. He applied them and he tried to see, "Is there a lesson in this somewhere?" Maybe it's like something that I've see or heard or experienced. It's the power of an illustration or an analogy to understand something that otherwise would just kind of just be floating out there.
Well, Jesus did this. Right? How did He teach? By example. I think He probably would have liked the word like. How many times did He look in the eyes of disciples and give them an abstract concept like, "the kingdom of heaven." I'm just... I can see their eyes glazing over. "What's the kingdom of heaven?" He goes, "The kingdom of heaven is... it's like that field over there. It's like this grape vine. It's like this little boy."
Solomon learned, he said, from his own experiences, and God uses them like this program today. You know, a lot of times people will go, "Ron, where do these programs come from? Where do you get all these analogies?" You know what? We all see them every day. It's from everyday life. You have an everyday life, and it's a great way to learn. To say, you know, that is like this. This is something God teaches and it's a lot like that.
There's a great hymn This Is My Father's World. Haven't heard it for a while; it's still a great hymn. Now, if this is my Father's world, doesn't that mean that we're surrounded by things that you could use to help understand what His Word says to us? The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and all of its fullness." So start with the premise, "I am surrounded by things that could show me what God is like. I'm going to have something happen to me today or happen around me today that's going to give me a chance to understand what God is like."
Then like Solomon, "I applied my heart to what I observe." Maybe the only difference from me and some other people is I guess I just focus and I look for messages about God in everyday life. You can do that. So as you use God's Word, do that too.
I try even when I'm keeping my Spiritual Journal for my Jesus time, I try to write down what might be an analogy; what this might be like that would help me understand it better. Look at life as a teaching experience. It's the classroom of everyday stuff! You look for connections between spiritual truths and everyday experiences. And let me tell you, if you look for them you'll find them. You'll be able to understand them better and you'll be able to communicate them better to others.
It's the process of taking an important but abstract truth and applying it to something; maybe a child's comment, or just an example. Think about the phrase, "Be filled with the Spirit of God." Be filled with the Spirit. I thought about, "What do we fill up?" We fill up glasses. If I want a glass of water but that glass is currently filled with tea, what do I have to do before I fill it up? I have to empty out what's in it now in order to fill it with what I really want. You've got to empty it to fill it. All of a sudden, being filled with the Spirit makes more sense to me. It's like filling a glass with what you really want. But first you have to empty what it's already filled with.
So the abstract becomes concrete when you begin to look for something that it is like. So, read God's Word, follow it, and then apply it to your life. Look at your Father's world. Each day is exciting when you get up and say, "You know what? I'm going to look for some God-sightings today, because my Father's will is illustrated by my Father's world.
Our God is a promise-keeping God. Others may make a promise and forget it. But if God makes a promise, he keeps it. Does God’s integrity make a difference? When your daughter is on life support, it does. When you are pacing the ER floor, it does. When you are wondering what to do and you have to choose between faith or fear; God’s purpose or random history; a God who knows and cares or a God who isn’t there? We all choose.
Promised Land people choose to trust God’s promises. They choose to believe that God is up to something good even though all we see looks bad. Press into God’s promises. When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said … And when doubts arise, but God said… And when guilt overwhelms you, but God said... Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises you find.
From Glory Days
Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south[a] down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”[c] 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Footnotes:
8:26 Or Go at noon.
8:32-33 Isa 53:7-8 (Greek version).
8:36 Some manuscripts add verse 37, “You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 30, 2015
Read: Luke 10:17-24
When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving
21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
INSIGHT: Two important concepts appear in today’s passage: Jesus is the one who gives us the authority to carry on His work on earth, and God is the one who writes our names “in heaven” (v. 20). Notice that in both cases it is not our doing but God’s. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace; our part is to accept this gift.
Our Daily Bread -- The Heavenly Manifest
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
At the Kenya Airways check-in counter, I presented my passport for verification. When the agents searched for my name on their manifest—the document that lists names of passengers—my name was missing. The problem? Overbooking and lack of confirmation. My hope of reaching home that day was shattered.
The episode reminded me of another kind of manifest—the Book of Life. In Luke 10, Jesus sent His disciples on an evangelistic mission. On their return, they happily reported their success. But Jesus told them: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v. 20). The focus of our joy is not merely that we are successful but that our names are inscribed in God’s book.
But how can we be sure of that? God’s Word tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
In Revelation 21, John makes a breathtaking description of the Holy City that awaits those who trust Christ. Then he writes, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (v. 27).
The Book of Life is God’s heavenly manifest. Is your name written in it? —Lawrence Darmani
Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who promised to prepare a place for us. Thank You too, that You are preparing us for that place.
God opens the gates of heaven to those who open their hearts to Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 30, 2015
“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 30, 2015
The Classroom of Everyday Stuff - #7536
If you know teenagers or even pre-teens, you'll hear that word "like" a lot! It's not new. Even when one of my sons was going through those interesting teenage years, he had a case of "like-itis", we'll call it. Typical sentence, "Well, there was like this movie I wanted to like watch, and so I like looked for what time it was supposed to be like – you know." Well, you know what though? There might be some power in that word like.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Classroom of Everyday Stuff."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in Proverbs 24:32. Solomon says, "I applied my heart to what I observed and I learned a lesson from what I saw." Here was Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament, and he tells us how he learned about life. He says he didn't just look at the things that he saw, or heard, or experienced. He applied them and he tried to see, "Is there a lesson in this somewhere?" Maybe it's like something that I've see or heard or experienced. It's the power of an illustration or an analogy to understand something that otherwise would just kind of just be floating out there.
Well, Jesus did this. Right? How did He teach? By example. I think He probably would have liked the word like. How many times did He look in the eyes of disciples and give them an abstract concept like, "the kingdom of heaven." I'm just... I can see their eyes glazing over. "What's the kingdom of heaven?" He goes, "The kingdom of heaven is... it's like that field over there. It's like this grape vine. It's like this little boy."
Solomon learned, he said, from his own experiences, and God uses them like this program today. You know, a lot of times people will go, "Ron, where do these programs come from? Where do you get all these analogies?" You know what? We all see them every day. It's from everyday life. You have an everyday life, and it's a great way to learn. To say, you know, that is like this. This is something God teaches and it's a lot like that.
There's a great hymn This Is My Father's World. Haven't heard it for a while; it's still a great hymn. Now, if this is my Father's world, doesn't that mean that we're surrounded by things that you could use to help understand what His Word says to us? The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and all of its fullness." So start with the premise, "I am surrounded by things that could show me what God is like. I'm going to have something happen to me today or happen around me today that's going to give me a chance to understand what God is like."
Then like Solomon, "I applied my heart to what I observe." Maybe the only difference from me and some other people is I guess I just focus and I look for messages about God in everyday life. You can do that. So as you use God's Word, do that too.
I try even when I'm keeping my Spiritual Journal for my Jesus time, I try to write down what might be an analogy; what this might be like that would help me understand it better. Look at life as a teaching experience. It's the classroom of everyday stuff! You look for connections between spiritual truths and everyday experiences. And let me tell you, if you look for them you'll find them. You'll be able to understand them better and you'll be able to communicate them better to others.
It's the process of taking an important but abstract truth and applying it to something; maybe a child's comment, or just an example. Think about the phrase, "Be filled with the Spirit of God." Be filled with the Spirit. I thought about, "What do we fill up?" We fill up glasses. If I want a glass of water but that glass is currently filled with tea, what do I have to do before I fill it up? I have to empty out what's in it now in order to fill it with what I really want. You've got to empty it to fill it. All of a sudden, being filled with the Spirit makes more sense to me. It's like filling a glass with what you really want. But first you have to empty what it's already filled with.
So the abstract becomes concrete when you begin to look for something that it is like. So, read God's Word, follow it, and then apply it to your life. Look at your Father's world. Each day is exciting when you get up and say, "You know what? I'm going to look for some God-sightings today, because my Father's will is illustrated by my Father's world.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
1 Kings 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Declare His Glory · November 29
Look around. People thrash about in seas of guilt, anger, despair. Life isn’t working. We’re drowning fast. But God can rescue us. And only one message matters. His! We need to see God’s glory.
Make no mistake. God has no ego problem. He doesn’t reveal His glory for His good. We need to witness it for ours. We need a strong hand to pull us into a safe boat. And once aboard, what becomes our priority?
Simple. Promote God. We declare, “Hey, strong boat over here! Able pilot! He can pull you out!”
1 Chronicles 16:24 says, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” If we boast at all, we boast in the Lord!
Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”
Declare His glory!
1 Kings 11
Solomon’s Many Wives
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,[p] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.
7 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,[q] he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.
9 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. 11 So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”
Solomon’s Adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary. 15 Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom. 16 Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killing them.
17 But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.) 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land. 19 Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 She bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him[r] in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own sons.
21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my own country.”
22 “Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What do you lack here that makes you want to go home?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.”
23 God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king. 25 Rezon was Israel’s bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.
Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon
26 Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.
27 This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces[s] and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David. 28 Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.
29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you! 32 But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 For Solomon has[t] abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.
34 “‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you. 36 His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name. 37 And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. 38 If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’”
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
Summary of Solomon’s Reign
41 The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.
Footnotes:
11:5 Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33.
11:7 Hebrew On the mountain east of Jerusalem.
11:20 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads weaned him.
11:27 Hebrew the millo. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
11:33 As in Greek, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads For they have.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Read: Psalm 40
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.
4 Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,
who have no confidence in the proud
or in those who worship idols.
5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand[a]—
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
8 I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”
9 I have told all your people about your justice.
I have not been afraid to speak out,
as you, O Lord, well know.
10 I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly
of your unfailing love and faithfulness.
11 Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.
Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles surround me—
too many to count!
My sins pile up so high
I can’t see my way out.
They outnumber the hairs on my head.
I have lost all courage.
13 Please, Lord, rescue me!
Come quickly, Lord, and help me.
14 May those who try to destroy me
be humiliated and put to shame.
May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
15 Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”
16 But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”
17 As for me, since I am poor and needy,
let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.
You are my helper and my savior.
O my God, do not delay.
Footnotes:
40:6 Greek version reads You have given me a body. Compare Heb 10:5.
The Low Point
By David McCasland
You are my help and my deliverer.
Psalm 40:17
C. S. Lewis and his older brother, Warren (Warnie), endured several terms at Wynyard, an English boarding school for boys. The headmaster was a cruel man who made life unbearable for everyone there. Decades later, Warnie wrote in his understated dry wit, “I am now sixty-four and a bit, and have never yet been in a situation in which I have not had the consolation of reflecting that at any rate I was better off than I was at Wynyard.” Most of us can recall a similar dark and difficult time in our lives and be grateful that we’re better off now than we were then.
Psalm 40:1-5 records a low point of David’s life when he cried out to the Lord who rescued him. God brought him up from “the slimy pit” and “the mud and mire” and set his feet on a rock (v. 2). “He put a new song in my mouth,” David says, “a hymn of praise to our God” (v. 3).
God's mercy, loving-kindness, and truth delivers us from sin.
But deliverance from depression and despair are seldom one-time events. Psalm 40 continues with David’s renewed plea for God’s mercy, lovingkindness, and truth to deliver him from his own sin and the threats of his enemies (vv. 11-14).
Along with David, we can say at every low point, “I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer” (v. 17).
How does recalling a low point in your life encourage you to trust God for His help today?
Share with us in the comments section below or on our Facebook page, facebook.com/ourdailybread
The One who holds the universe will never let you down.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 29, 2015
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
He will glorify Me… —John 16:14
The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,…He will glorify Me…” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
Look around. People thrash about in seas of guilt, anger, despair. Life isn’t working. We’re drowning fast. But God can rescue us. And only one message matters. His! We need to see God’s glory.
Make no mistake. God has no ego problem. He doesn’t reveal His glory for His good. We need to witness it for ours. We need a strong hand to pull us into a safe boat. And once aboard, what becomes our priority?
Simple. Promote God. We declare, “Hey, strong boat over here! Able pilot! He can pull you out!”
1 Chronicles 16:24 says, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” If we boast at all, we boast in the Lord!
Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”
Declare His glory!
1 Kings 11
Solomon’s Many Wives
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,[p] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.
7 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,[q] he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.
9 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. 11 So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”
Solomon’s Adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary. 15 Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom. 16 Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killing them.
17 But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.) 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land. 19 Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 She bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him[r] in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own sons.
21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my own country.”
22 “Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What do you lack here that makes you want to go home?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.”
23 God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king. 25 Rezon was Israel’s bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.
Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon
26 Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.
27 This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces[s] and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David. 28 Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.
29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you! 32 But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 For Solomon has[t] abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.
34 “‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you. 36 His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name. 37 And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. 38 If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’”
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
Summary of Solomon’s Reign
41 The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.
Footnotes:
11:5 Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33.
11:7 Hebrew On the mountain east of Jerusalem.
11:20 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads weaned him.
11:27 Hebrew the millo. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
11:33 As in Greek, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads For they have.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Read: Psalm 40
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.
4 Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,
who have no confidence in the proud
or in those who worship idols.
5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand[a]—
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
8 I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”
9 I have told all your people about your justice.
I have not been afraid to speak out,
as you, O Lord, well know.
10 I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly
of your unfailing love and faithfulness.
11 Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.
Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles surround me—
too many to count!
My sins pile up so high
I can’t see my way out.
They outnumber the hairs on my head.
I have lost all courage.
13 Please, Lord, rescue me!
Come quickly, Lord, and help me.
14 May those who try to destroy me
be humiliated and put to shame.
May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
15 Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”
16 But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”
17 As for me, since I am poor and needy,
let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.
You are my helper and my savior.
O my God, do not delay.
Footnotes:
40:6 Greek version reads You have given me a body. Compare Heb 10:5.
The Low Point
By David McCasland
You are my help and my deliverer.
Psalm 40:17
C. S. Lewis and his older brother, Warren (Warnie), endured several terms at Wynyard, an English boarding school for boys. The headmaster was a cruel man who made life unbearable for everyone there. Decades later, Warnie wrote in his understated dry wit, “I am now sixty-four and a bit, and have never yet been in a situation in which I have not had the consolation of reflecting that at any rate I was better off than I was at Wynyard.” Most of us can recall a similar dark and difficult time in our lives and be grateful that we’re better off now than we were then.
Psalm 40:1-5 records a low point of David’s life when he cried out to the Lord who rescued him. God brought him up from “the slimy pit” and “the mud and mire” and set his feet on a rock (v. 2). “He put a new song in my mouth,” David says, “a hymn of praise to our God” (v. 3).
God's mercy, loving-kindness, and truth delivers us from sin.
But deliverance from depression and despair are seldom one-time events. Psalm 40 continues with David’s renewed plea for God’s mercy, lovingkindness, and truth to deliver him from his own sin and the threats of his enemies (vv. 11-14).
Along with David, we can say at every low point, “I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer” (v. 17).
How does recalling a low point in your life encourage you to trust God for His help today?
Share with us in the comments section below or on our Facebook page, facebook.com/ourdailybread
The One who holds the universe will never let you down.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 29, 2015
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
He will glorify Me… —John 16:14
The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,…He will glorify Me…” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
Saturday, November 28, 2015
1 Kings 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Declaration of Truth
As our high priest, Jesus offers our prayers to God. His prayers are always heard. John 16:23 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you." The phrase, "In Jesus' name" is not an empty motto or talisman. It is a declaration of truth! The cancer is not in charge, Jesus is. The grumpy neighbor doesn't rule the world; Jesus, you do! Just speak the word, Jesus.
Since God works, prayer works. Since you matter to God, your prayers matter in heaven. And on the occasions you can't find the words to say, pull out this "pocket prayer." "Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen!"
From Before Amen
1 Kings 10
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord,[a] she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. 3 Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, 5 she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers, and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord.
6 She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievements[b] and wisdom is true! 7 I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told. 8 How happy your people[c] must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! 9 Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds[d] of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 (In addition, Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought rich cargoes of red sandalwood[e] and precious jewels. 12 The king used the sandalwood to make railings for the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before or since has there been such a supply of sandalwood.)
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for, besides all the customary gifts he had so generously given. Then she and all her attendants returned to their own land.
Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor
14 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons[f] of gold. 15 This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than fifteen pounds.[g] 17 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing nearly four pounds.[h] The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps and a rounded back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 20 There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!
22 The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish that sailed with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[i]
23 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 24 People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25 Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
26 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[j] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[k] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[l] and from Cilicia[m]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 29 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[n] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[o] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
10:1 Or which was due to the name of the Lord. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
10:6 Hebrew your words.
10:8 Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate read your wives.
10:10 Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
10:11 Hebrew almug wood; also in 10:12.
10:14 Hebrew 666 talents [23 metric tons].
10:16 Hebrew 600 [shekels] of gold [6.8 kilograms].
10:17 Hebrew 3 minas [1.8 kilograms].
10:22 Or and baboons.
10:26 Or charioteers; also in 10:26b.
10:27 Hebrew the Shephelah.
10:28a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 10:29.
10:28b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
10:29a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
10:29b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[a] Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[b] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,[c] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So, my dear brothers and sisters,[d] when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. 34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
Footnotes:
11:24 Greek which is for you; other manuscripts read which is broken for you.
11:27 Or is responsible for.
11:29 Greek the body; other manuscripts read the Lord’s body.
11:33 Greek brothers.
INSIGHT:
Jesus ate the Jewish Passover meal—a celebration to remember God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt—with His disciples the night before He went to the cross. Christ used the elements of this meal to institute the memorial celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion (1 Cor. 11:20), to help us remember how He has rescued us from our sins.
Seeing Ourselves
By Julie Ackerman Link
Everyone ought to examine themselves.
1 Corinthians 11:28
Long ago, before the invention of mirrors or polished surfaces, people rarely saw themselves. Puddles of water, streams, and rivers were one of the few ways they could see their own reflection. But mirrors changed that. And the invention of cameras took fascination with our looks to a whole new level. We now have lasting images of ourselves from any given time throughout our entire life. This is good for making scrapbooks and keeping family histories, but it can be detrimental to our spiritual well-being. The fun of seeing ourselves on camera can keep us focused on outward appearance and leave us with little interest in examining our inner selves.
Self-examination is crucial for a healthy spiritual life. God wants us to see ourselves so that we can be spared the consequences of sinful choices. This is so important that Scripture says we are not to participate in the Lord’s Supper without first examining ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28). The point of this self-examination is not only to make things right with God but also to make sure we are right with one another. The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of Christ’s body, and we can’t celebrate it properly if we’re not living in harmony with other believers.
Confessing our sin promotes unity with others & a healthy relationship with God.
Seeing and confessing our sin promotes unity with others and a healthy relationship with God.
Dear Lord, help me to be more concerned with the reflection of my heart than with my physical reflection. Change me through the power of Your Spirit.
When we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we see ourselves more clearly.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 28, 2015
The Riches of the Destitute
…being justified freely by His grace… —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
As our high priest, Jesus offers our prayers to God. His prayers are always heard. John 16:23 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you." The phrase, "In Jesus' name" is not an empty motto or talisman. It is a declaration of truth! The cancer is not in charge, Jesus is. The grumpy neighbor doesn't rule the world; Jesus, you do! Just speak the word, Jesus.
Since God works, prayer works. Since you matter to God, your prayers matter in heaven. And on the occasions you can't find the words to say, pull out this "pocket prayer." "Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen!"
From Before Amen
1 Kings 10
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord,[a] she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. 3 Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, 5 she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers, and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord.
6 She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievements[b] and wisdom is true! 7 I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told. 8 How happy your people[c] must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! 9 Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds[d] of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 (In addition, Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought rich cargoes of red sandalwood[e] and precious jewels. 12 The king used the sandalwood to make railings for the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before or since has there been such a supply of sandalwood.)
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for, besides all the customary gifts he had so generously given. Then she and all her attendants returned to their own land.
Solomon’s Wealth and Splendor
14 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons[f] of gold. 15 This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than fifteen pounds.[g] 17 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing nearly four pounds.[h] The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps and a rounded back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 20 There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!
22 The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish that sailed with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[i]
23 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 24 People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25 Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
26 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[j] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.[k] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[l] and from Cilicia[m]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 29 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[n] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[o] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
10:1 Or which was due to the name of the Lord. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
10:6 Hebrew your words.
10:8 Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate read your wives.
10:10 Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
10:11 Hebrew almug wood; also in 10:12.
10:14 Hebrew 666 talents [23 metric tons].
10:16 Hebrew 600 [shekels] of gold [6.8 kilograms].
10:17 Hebrew 3 minas [1.8 kilograms].
10:22 Or and baboons.
10:26 Or charioteers; also in 10:26b.
10:27 Hebrew the Shephelah.
10:28a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 10:29.
10:28b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
10:29a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
10:29b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[a] Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[b] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,[c] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So, my dear brothers and sisters,[d] when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. 34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
Footnotes:
11:24 Greek which is for you; other manuscripts read which is broken for you.
11:27 Or is responsible for.
11:29 Greek the body; other manuscripts read the Lord’s body.
11:33 Greek brothers.
INSIGHT:
Jesus ate the Jewish Passover meal—a celebration to remember God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt—with His disciples the night before He went to the cross. Christ used the elements of this meal to institute the memorial celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion (1 Cor. 11:20), to help us remember how He has rescued us from our sins.
Seeing Ourselves
By Julie Ackerman Link
Everyone ought to examine themselves.
1 Corinthians 11:28
Long ago, before the invention of mirrors or polished surfaces, people rarely saw themselves. Puddles of water, streams, and rivers were one of the few ways they could see their own reflection. But mirrors changed that. And the invention of cameras took fascination with our looks to a whole new level. We now have lasting images of ourselves from any given time throughout our entire life. This is good for making scrapbooks and keeping family histories, but it can be detrimental to our spiritual well-being. The fun of seeing ourselves on camera can keep us focused on outward appearance and leave us with little interest in examining our inner selves.
Self-examination is crucial for a healthy spiritual life. God wants us to see ourselves so that we can be spared the consequences of sinful choices. This is so important that Scripture says we are not to participate in the Lord’s Supper without first examining ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28). The point of this self-examination is not only to make things right with God but also to make sure we are right with one another. The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of Christ’s body, and we can’t celebrate it properly if we’re not living in harmony with other believers.
Confessing our sin promotes unity with others & a healthy relationship with God.
Seeing and confessing our sin promotes unity with others and a healthy relationship with God.
Dear Lord, help me to be more concerned with the reflection of my heart than with my physical reflection. Change me through the power of Your Spirit.
When we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we see ourselves more clearly.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 28, 2015
The Riches of the Destitute
…being justified freely by His grace… —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
Friday, November 27, 2015
Acts 8:1-25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Does What He Says He Will Do
Faith is a choice. It is! And Promised Land people risk the choice. When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, they choose belief. They place one determined step after the other on the pathway of faith. Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp. They make a conscious decision to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven. They press into the promises of God.
Joshua 21:43-45 urges us to do likewise. In fact, one might argue that the central message of the book is this headline: God keeps his promises. Trust him. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”
Don’t miss this! Attention everyone. God keeps his word! God does what he says he will do!
From Glory Days
Acts 8:1-25
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
Persecution Scatters the Believers
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil[a] spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
Footnotes:
8:7 Greek unclean.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 27, 2015
Read: Jeremiah 17:7-13
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”
Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,
so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.
At midlife they will lose their riches;
in the end, they will become poor old fools.
12 But we worship at your throne—
eternal, high, and glorious!
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who turn away from you will be disgraced.
They will be buried in the dust of the earth,
for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.
INSIGHT:
The Bible describes the heart as the very basis of our character—the center of who we are and the source of our thoughts, feelings, and actions (see Prov. 4:23; 23:7). “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9) is the consistent verdict of Scripture. This deceitfulness has made humanity incapable of knowing how sinful we really are, for only God knows the true condition of our heart (2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-4; Jer. 17:10). We will not admit we are sinners apart from divine intervention, revelation, and conviction (John 6:65; Rom. 8:7-11; 2 Cor. 4:4). But God will redeem and give a new heart to all who humbly come to Him and accept His grace and mercy (Ps. 51:10; 2 Cor. 5:17).
Help from the Outside
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 3:20
On a business trip, my husband had just settled into his hotel room when he heard an unusual noise. He stepped into the hall to investigate and heard someone yelling from a nearby room. With the help of a hotel worker, he discovered that a man had become trapped in the bathroom. The lock on the bathroom door had malfunctioned and the man trapped inside started to panic. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and began yelling for help.
Sometimes in life we feel trapped. We are banging on the door, pulling on the handle, but we can’t get free. We need help from the outside, just like the man in the hotel.
To get that outside assistance, we have to admit that we are helpless on our own. Sometimes we look inward for the answers to our problems, yet the Bible says “the heart is deceitful” (Jer. 17:9). In truth, we are often the source of our problems in life.
Thankfully, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20). Because of this, He knows exactly how to help us. Lasting heart-level change and real progress with our problems originate with God. Trusting Him and living to please Him means we can flourish and be truly free.
Heavenly Father, I humble myself before You. I can’t solve my problems on my own. Please help me to seek Your help and perspective.
God helps those who know they are helpless.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 27, 2015
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. Notes on Isaiah, 1376 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 27, 2015
Black Friday Bargain Fever - #7535
Get up crazy early. Stand in a long line. Spend hours in bone-chilling cold. Try to avoid being trampled by a stampeding crowd. That sounds like a lot of fun doesn't it?
What a way to spend the day after Thanksgiving! Or any day for that matter. Guess what? More people than we can count-that's what they're doing today. The news will be filled with countless stories of Americans doing just that. By the time you hear this program, many will have already hit the stores, and they're trying to scoop up the "door-busting" bargains offered in the wee hours of this "Black Friday." For some people it will be more like a black and blue Friday probably.
Now, Black Friday veterans have told me it's not just a crunch, it's a rush. It's all about recognizing these short-lived opportunities and aggressively going after them before they're gone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black Friday Bargain Fever."
You know that rush! Where we recognize short-lived opportunities, and go after them before they're gone. Why, that should be what it's like to tell people the Good News about Jesus. He can erase your sins, He'll love you without strings, and He can guarantee you are going to heaven. It's all about recognizing the opportunities we all have regularly to bring up Jesus, and realizing that those windows of opportunity won't last long. Yeah, and going after those opportunities aggressively.
That's part of the Bible's description of how to live smart. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 5 beginning in verse 15. Here's what it says, "Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise..." That's living smart. Here's living wise: "...making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Another translation talks about "buying up the time." Just like those Black Friday shoppers, going after it with this passionate sense of urgency. It's not going to be there long. Grab it while you can.
When the bargains are gone, you lose a little money. When the Jesus-sharing opportunities are gone, it can cost the eternity of someone you care about. Because in the words of the Bible, "He that has the Son (That's Jesus, the Son of God.) has life; he that does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). If you've got Jesus, you've got life forever in heaven. It's up to you to share that life with those around you who don't have Him and don't have that life.
Okay, so what creates a natural opportunity to talk about your relationship with Jesus? It might be something that's happening in your life, something happening in their life, or something going on in the world. Anything that legitimately provides a natural opportunity for you to reference some difference that having Jesus has made for you.
More than anything, I think what opens natural opportunities to talk about Jesus is praying for them. You can't be around me too long without learning about the 3-open prayer based on Colossians 4:3-4. Here's what Paul says, "Pray for us, that God will open a door for our message." And then he says, "Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should."
So, you say, "Lord, open a door." That's a natural opportunity to bring up Jesus. And then, "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, get them ready. And if you're going to get me ready to talk to them, get them ready to hear about Jesus. And then, "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the words, give me the courage, give me the approach to use.
Listen, if you start to pray that 3-open prayer, God's going to answer it. You don't have to say, "Lord, if it is Your will." It is. He wants to open a door, open their heart, open your mouth. So, start praying that. Learn it right now: "Lord, open a door." "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, open my mouth." When you ask God for open doors, then you open your eyes to look for them. They'll be there, all over the place, because God really wants you to tell the people you know about what His Son did for them.
It's exciting to live the adventure of discovering life-giving, life-saving opportunities. And it's costly to miss those opportunities – really costly.
Faith is a choice. It is! And Promised Land people risk the choice. When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, they choose belief. They place one determined step after the other on the pathway of faith. Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp. They make a conscious decision to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven. They press into the promises of God.
Joshua 21:43-45 urges us to do likewise. In fact, one might argue that the central message of the book is this headline: God keeps his promises. Trust him. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”
Don’t miss this! Attention everyone. God keeps his word! God does what he says he will do!
From Glory Days
Acts 8:1-25
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
Persecution Scatters the Believers
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil[a] spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
Footnotes:
8:7 Greek unclean.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 27, 2015
Read: Jeremiah 17:7-13
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”
Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,
so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.
At midlife they will lose their riches;
in the end, they will become poor old fools.
12 But we worship at your throne—
eternal, high, and glorious!
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who turn away from you will be disgraced.
They will be buried in the dust of the earth,
for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.
INSIGHT:
The Bible describes the heart as the very basis of our character—the center of who we are and the source of our thoughts, feelings, and actions (see Prov. 4:23; 23:7). “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9) is the consistent verdict of Scripture. This deceitfulness has made humanity incapable of knowing how sinful we really are, for only God knows the true condition of our heart (2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-4; Jer. 17:10). We will not admit we are sinners apart from divine intervention, revelation, and conviction (John 6:65; Rom. 8:7-11; 2 Cor. 4:4). But God will redeem and give a new heart to all who humbly come to Him and accept His grace and mercy (Ps. 51:10; 2 Cor. 5:17).
Help from the Outside
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 3:20
On a business trip, my husband had just settled into his hotel room when he heard an unusual noise. He stepped into the hall to investigate and heard someone yelling from a nearby room. With the help of a hotel worker, he discovered that a man had become trapped in the bathroom. The lock on the bathroom door had malfunctioned and the man trapped inside started to panic. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and began yelling for help.
Sometimes in life we feel trapped. We are banging on the door, pulling on the handle, but we can’t get free. We need help from the outside, just like the man in the hotel.
To get that outside assistance, we have to admit that we are helpless on our own. Sometimes we look inward for the answers to our problems, yet the Bible says “the heart is deceitful” (Jer. 17:9). In truth, we are often the source of our problems in life.
Thankfully, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20). Because of this, He knows exactly how to help us. Lasting heart-level change and real progress with our problems originate with God. Trusting Him and living to please Him means we can flourish and be truly free.
Heavenly Father, I humble myself before You. I can’t solve my problems on my own. Please help me to seek Your help and perspective.
God helps those who know they are helpless.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 27, 2015
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. Notes on Isaiah, 1376 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 27, 2015
Black Friday Bargain Fever - #7535
Get up crazy early. Stand in a long line. Spend hours in bone-chilling cold. Try to avoid being trampled by a stampeding crowd. That sounds like a lot of fun doesn't it?
What a way to spend the day after Thanksgiving! Or any day for that matter. Guess what? More people than we can count-that's what they're doing today. The news will be filled with countless stories of Americans doing just that. By the time you hear this program, many will have already hit the stores, and they're trying to scoop up the "door-busting" bargains offered in the wee hours of this "Black Friday." For some people it will be more like a black and blue Friday probably.
Now, Black Friday veterans have told me it's not just a crunch, it's a rush. It's all about recognizing these short-lived opportunities and aggressively going after them before they're gone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black Friday Bargain Fever."
You know that rush! Where we recognize short-lived opportunities, and go after them before they're gone. Why, that should be what it's like to tell people the Good News about Jesus. He can erase your sins, He'll love you without strings, and He can guarantee you are going to heaven. It's all about recognizing the opportunities we all have regularly to bring up Jesus, and realizing that those windows of opportunity won't last long. Yeah, and going after those opportunities aggressively.
That's part of the Bible's description of how to live smart. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 5 beginning in verse 15. Here's what it says, "Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise..." That's living smart. Here's living wise: "...making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Another translation talks about "buying up the time." Just like those Black Friday shoppers, going after it with this passionate sense of urgency. It's not going to be there long. Grab it while you can.
When the bargains are gone, you lose a little money. When the Jesus-sharing opportunities are gone, it can cost the eternity of someone you care about. Because in the words of the Bible, "He that has the Son (That's Jesus, the Son of God.) has life; he that does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). If you've got Jesus, you've got life forever in heaven. It's up to you to share that life with those around you who don't have Him and don't have that life.
Okay, so what creates a natural opportunity to talk about your relationship with Jesus? It might be something that's happening in your life, something happening in their life, or something going on in the world. Anything that legitimately provides a natural opportunity for you to reference some difference that having Jesus has made for you.
More than anything, I think what opens natural opportunities to talk about Jesus is praying for them. You can't be around me too long without learning about the 3-open prayer based on Colossians 4:3-4. Here's what Paul says, "Pray for us, that God will open a door for our message." And then he says, "Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should."
So, you say, "Lord, open a door." That's a natural opportunity to bring up Jesus. And then, "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, get them ready. And if you're going to get me ready to talk to them, get them ready to hear about Jesus. And then, "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the words, give me the courage, give me the approach to use.
Listen, if you start to pray that 3-open prayer, God's going to answer it. You don't have to say, "Lord, if it is Your will." It is. He wants to open a door, open their heart, open your mouth. So, start praying that. Learn it right now: "Lord, open a door." "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, open my mouth." When you ask God for open doors, then you open your eyes to look for them. They'll be there, all over the place, because God really wants you to tell the people you know about what His Son did for them.
It's exciting to live the adventure of discovering life-giving, life-saving opportunities. And it's costly to miss those opportunities – really costly.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
1 Kings 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Holy Cause
Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.
It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!
From Glory Days
1 Kings 9
The Lord’s Response to Solomon
So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,
“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’”
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid[h] Solomon 9,000 pounds[i] of gold.
Solomon’s Many Achievements
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,[j] the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar[k] in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[l] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.[m] So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath[n] in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.[o] 27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons[p] of gold.
Footnotes:
9:14a Or For Hiram had paid.
9:14b Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor.
9:19 Or and charioteers.
9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds.
9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons].
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Read: Psalm 118:1-14
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
INSIGHT:
Today’s psalm celebrates the beautiful deliverance of the Lord. These verses provide a wonderful example of how to thank the Lord for His work in our lives. Verses 1-4 show us that praise is not only personal and private but can be expressed by a whole community. Verses 5-14 encourage us to reflect on our times of need and to celebrate how God has worked in us and through us.
No Peas!
By Joe Stowell
In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
When our kids were young, one of them bluntly said “no” when we passed him some peas for dinner. To which we replied, “No what?” We hoped he would say, “No, thank you.” Instead he said, “No peas!” That led to a discussion about the importance of good manners. In fact, we had similar discussions on numerous occasions.
Beyond good manners—which are external—our Lord reminds us that we are to have a heart of gratitude. Scripture contains dozens of reminders that expressing gratitude is of primary importance in our relationship with God. Psalm 118 begins and ends with the exhortation to “give thanks to the Lord” (vv. 1, 29). We are to give thanks when we come into His presence (100:4). And the requests we bring to Him are to be wrapped in a spirit of thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). Such an attitude of gratitude will help us remember our abundant blessings. Even in the midst of trouble and despair, God’s presence and love are our constant companions.
Giving thanks to God helps us to appreciate our blessings.
It’s no wonder, then, that the psalmist reminds us to “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Ps. 118:1).
Lord, Your goodness is enough to make me thankful every day. Teach me to live with a thankful heart and remind me to regularly thank You for Your goodness and steadfast love.
It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 26, 2015
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving Goodbyes - #7534
Millions of Americans are on the move right now. It's part of the annual Thanksgiving migration. They'll get to experience turkey on the table today and turkeys in those traffic jams! Speaking of turkeys, the President will pardon two today. Last year's were named Mac and Cheese.
My friend Bev said that she's baked ten pumpkin pies. Tons of folks will watch Macy's big balloons – and then later feel like one of those balloons after pigging out. And tomorrow, stores will be stormed with people that camped out in parking lots just so they could get that coveted Black Friday bargain.
I'm thinking about the people who aren't here this Thanksgiving. Some friends who have slipped into eternity recently. Their passing has reminded me of my own mortality – and, in some cases, how quickly it can all be over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanksgiving Goodbyes."
Doing Thanksgiving against that backdrop has made one word loom very big – cherish. My big dictionary says "cherish" means to "hold dear; treat with tenderness and affection; to keep or guard carefully; to make much of."
So this Thanksgiving weekend, remembering how fragile life is and how close eternity is, I'm cherishing my dear ones. Oh, I always love them, but I'm thinking more about what it means to "hold them dear," to "treat them with tenderness and affection," to "make much of them."
I have so many blessings and so many kindnesses to thank them for, so many strong points that they have to affirm in them. Yeah, and some things to apologize for. To cherish someone is, as God says, to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us" (Ephesians 5:2). Cherishing – giving me up for them.
And I'm cherishing my days a little more, too, this mortality-shaped Thanksgiving. Like the Bible says to do in our Word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 90:10 and 12. "Our days...quickly pass, and we fly away...Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Weeks and months, and even years, just seem to fly off the calendar. Right? I'm pretty sure there are only about a hundred days now between Christmases. There are just zero days to waste. Each new day is a treasure from God to be invested, not just spent. I need to sit with Him before I hear any other voices and find out His desires for this day, "the day (the Bible says) the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24).
One other "cherish" for me this Thanksgiving – my destination. Heaven seems a little closer with each friend or loved one who goes there. It's the place Jesus said He was going Home to prepare for those who belong to Him. All the earth-stuff that we cling to so tightly is just so trivial. Because the Bible says "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20) and we're really (it says) "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11). This isn't home. It's Hotel Earth.
When I've been away, I love to come home. But after all is said and done, home isn't so much the place; it's the person I love who's waiting for me there. Knowing each day I'm one day closer to eternity, I am cherishing the eternal destination Jesus made possible. But it cost Him His life! He made it possible by His awful death but His awesome resurrection. Not so much because it's such an amazing place. But because the One who loves me – like nobody loves me – is waiting for me there.
I can't put into words the peace there is in knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that I am going to heaven when I die. Not because of anything I've done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross. Wouldn't you like that peace, that assurance, that security?
I'd love to point your way home. That's why we have our website, and that's why I invite you to meet me there at ANewStory.com. Or maybe you want to talk with someone about what it means to begin this awesome relationship with Jesus. Well then, text us at 442-244-WORD.
Home for this Thanksgiving? Home is a relationship you were made for and the love you were made to experience. His name is Jesus. So, this Thanksgiving, come on home.
Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.
It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!
From Glory Days
1 Kings 9
The Lord’s Response to Solomon
So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,
“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’”
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid[h] Solomon 9,000 pounds[i] of gold.
Solomon’s Many Achievements
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,[j] the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar[k] in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[l] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.[m] So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath[n] in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.[o] 27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons[p] of gold.
Footnotes:
9:14a Or For Hiram had paid.
9:14b Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor.
9:19 Or and charioteers.
9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds.
9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons].
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Read: Psalm 118:1-14
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
INSIGHT:
Today’s psalm celebrates the beautiful deliverance of the Lord. These verses provide a wonderful example of how to thank the Lord for His work in our lives. Verses 1-4 show us that praise is not only personal and private but can be expressed by a whole community. Verses 5-14 encourage us to reflect on our times of need and to celebrate how God has worked in us and through us.
No Peas!
By Joe Stowell
In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
When our kids were young, one of them bluntly said “no” when we passed him some peas for dinner. To which we replied, “No what?” We hoped he would say, “No, thank you.” Instead he said, “No peas!” That led to a discussion about the importance of good manners. In fact, we had similar discussions on numerous occasions.
Beyond good manners—which are external—our Lord reminds us that we are to have a heart of gratitude. Scripture contains dozens of reminders that expressing gratitude is of primary importance in our relationship with God. Psalm 118 begins and ends with the exhortation to “give thanks to the Lord” (vv. 1, 29). We are to give thanks when we come into His presence (100:4). And the requests we bring to Him are to be wrapped in a spirit of thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). Such an attitude of gratitude will help us remember our abundant blessings. Even in the midst of trouble and despair, God’s presence and love are our constant companions.
Giving thanks to God helps us to appreciate our blessings.
It’s no wonder, then, that the psalmist reminds us to “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Ps. 118:1).
Lord, Your goodness is enough to make me thankful every day. Teach me to live with a thankful heart and remind me to regularly thank You for Your goodness and steadfast love.
It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 26, 2015
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving Goodbyes - #7534
Millions of Americans are on the move right now. It's part of the annual Thanksgiving migration. They'll get to experience turkey on the table today and turkeys in those traffic jams! Speaking of turkeys, the President will pardon two today. Last year's were named Mac and Cheese.
My friend Bev said that she's baked ten pumpkin pies. Tons of folks will watch Macy's big balloons – and then later feel like one of those balloons after pigging out. And tomorrow, stores will be stormed with people that camped out in parking lots just so they could get that coveted Black Friday bargain.
I'm thinking about the people who aren't here this Thanksgiving. Some friends who have slipped into eternity recently. Their passing has reminded me of my own mortality – and, in some cases, how quickly it can all be over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanksgiving Goodbyes."
Doing Thanksgiving against that backdrop has made one word loom very big – cherish. My big dictionary says "cherish" means to "hold dear; treat with tenderness and affection; to keep or guard carefully; to make much of."
So this Thanksgiving weekend, remembering how fragile life is and how close eternity is, I'm cherishing my dear ones. Oh, I always love them, but I'm thinking more about what it means to "hold them dear," to "treat them with tenderness and affection," to "make much of them."
I have so many blessings and so many kindnesses to thank them for, so many strong points that they have to affirm in them. Yeah, and some things to apologize for. To cherish someone is, as God says, to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us" (Ephesians 5:2). Cherishing – giving me up for them.
And I'm cherishing my days a little more, too, this mortality-shaped Thanksgiving. Like the Bible says to do in our Word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 90:10 and 12. "Our days...quickly pass, and we fly away...Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Weeks and months, and even years, just seem to fly off the calendar. Right? I'm pretty sure there are only about a hundred days now between Christmases. There are just zero days to waste. Each new day is a treasure from God to be invested, not just spent. I need to sit with Him before I hear any other voices and find out His desires for this day, "the day (the Bible says) the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24).
One other "cherish" for me this Thanksgiving – my destination. Heaven seems a little closer with each friend or loved one who goes there. It's the place Jesus said He was going Home to prepare for those who belong to Him. All the earth-stuff that we cling to so tightly is just so trivial. Because the Bible says "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20) and we're really (it says) "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11). This isn't home. It's Hotel Earth.
When I've been away, I love to come home. But after all is said and done, home isn't so much the place; it's the person I love who's waiting for me there. Knowing each day I'm one day closer to eternity, I am cherishing the eternal destination Jesus made possible. But it cost Him His life! He made it possible by His awful death but His awesome resurrection. Not so much because it's such an amazing place. But because the One who loves me – like nobody loves me – is waiting for me there.
I can't put into words the peace there is in knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that I am going to heaven when I die. Not because of anything I've done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross. Wouldn't you like that peace, that assurance, that security?
I'd love to point your way home. That's why we have our website, and that's why I invite you to meet me there at ANewStory.com. Or maybe you want to talk with someone about what it means to begin this awesome relationship with Jesus. Well then, text us at 442-244-WORD.
Home for this Thanksgiving? Home is a relationship you were made for and the love you were made to experience. His name is Jesus. So, this Thanksgiving, come on home.
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