Max Lucado Daily: EVERYTHING YOU NEED
The psalmist says, “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me” (Psalm 16:8).
Need more energy? You have it. More kindness? It’s yours. Could you use more self-control? Or self-confidence? Just press the gas pedal. Scripture reminds us, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). And that life begins with a paradigm shift.
Like Joshua and the Israelites marching into Canaan, you do not fight FOR victory. You fight FROM victory. In the wilderness you strive, but in Canaan you trust. In the wilderness you seek God’s attention, but in the promised land, you already have God’s favor. In the wilderness you doubt your salvation, but in Canaan you know you are saved. You move from wanting to have—to believing you already do!
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 4
Temple Furnishings
4 He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high.
2-5 He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons.
6 He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea.
7 He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left.
8 He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze.
10 He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner.
11-16 He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls.
And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon:
two pillars;
two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars;
two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
ten washstands with their basins;
one Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls.
16-18 All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
19-22 Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God:
the gold Altar;
the tables that held the Bread of the Presence;
the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted
before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold);
the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers;
the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Read: 1 Timothy 4:6–11
1 Timothy 4:6-14The Message (MSG)
6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.
INSIGHT:
The Greek word translated godliness in verse 8 is eusebeia. It is a noun that means both right action and right belief. In today’s passage Paul is telling Timothy that both believing and doing right (godliness) have value for all aspects of our lives.
Strengthening the Heart
By David Roper
It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace. Hebrews 13:9
The neighborhood fitness center where I have worked out for years closed down last month, and I had to join a new gym. The former place was a warm, friendly facility, patronized by those who liked to socialize while they worked out. We hardly ever broke a sweat. The new gym is a hard-core facility filled with serious men and women, earnestly invested in building better bodies. I watch these people strain and toil. Their bodies look strong, but I wonder if their hearts are being strengthened with grace.
The heart is a muscle—the muscle that keeps the other muscles going. It’s good to build and tone our other muscles, but the essential thing is doing whatever keeps the heart strong.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
So it is with our spiritual heart. We strengthen and tone the heart through the Word of truth by receiving its message of God’s goodness and grace. Keeping our spiritual heart strong and fit must be our first priority, the one thing we do above all others.
Paul would agree: "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7–8 esv).
May I feed on Your goodness every day, Lord, so my heart will grow stronger through the Spirit.
God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
Visions Becoming Reality
The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7
We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.
Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.
God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.
The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 06, 2016
The Cost of Not Changing - #7693
Once you've tasted Vermont maple syrup, all the store brands taste like goo! So my ears perked up one night when NBC Nightly News started talking about the troubles that Vermont maple farmers were having that year. They focused on one farmer who lived on a farm where they've been mapling for eight generations! This farmer had known that the maple trees were ready to be tapped for their valuable sap during the first week of March. But recent weather changes had suddenly thrown that predictable harvest schedule into total confusion.
The previous year, he and his son nearly lost a third of their normal maple sap because it was either too soon or too late to capture it. For all those eight generations, this family had used one time-honored method of tapping their maple trees; a spout on the tree and a bucket underneath. But there's this new technology, I guess, that enables a farmer to know when the sap is ready and to capture it in that brief window. But tubes and vacuums seemed pretty foreign to a man who'd known one way that worked all his life and for generations. But after all they lost last year, his son finally convinced him. His son's comment was, "It takes some coercion to get him to go along with new ideas, for sure." But the veteran farmer did it. The NBC News reporter identified why. He would do anything to keep the farm for his son. In the reporter's words, "Even if it means doing what he hates the most—changing his old ways."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Not Changing."
When the method you know, and the method you're comfortable with is costing you the harvest, you change or you lose the harvest. How can that lesson be lost on those of us who have joined Jesus in what He came to earth to do—seeking and saving the lost? Jesus actually called the work of bringing people to Him harvest. And honestly, there's a harvest many Christians and many ministries may be losing because we hate to change.
While North American Christians have built this massive Christian subculture, we've been losing our culture. And the lost people around us have changed dramatically. They don't know God's rules; they don't know God's Book; they don't know the religious words we use; they don't ever plan to go to any of our religious meetings. But in many cases, we're deciding what we'll do to reach them based on what we're comfortable doing; what we're used to. But since when does a rescuer decide what he's going to do based on what's comfortable for him? He does whatever he has to do to save that dying person, and it's seldom comfortable!
Listen to God's greatest harvester, the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:22, our word for today from the Word of God. "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Just before this, he's told us that when he's with the Jews, he comes in a Jewish package; when he's with the Gentiles, he's as Gentile as God will allow him to be; when he's with those who need an uncomplicated presentation of Christ, he becomes what they need. All the time making sure he is never "ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (Romans 1:16) as he said.
And Paul followed a Savior who constantly changed the package and the presentation to break through to changing audiences. But they never changed the product! They never compromised the message! Like that Vermont farmer, we're harvesting the same product, but we've got to be willing to change the way we get it as much as the harvest requires.
So are you willing to change so we can bring in the harvest of lost lives? Will you, for example, learn to tell them about Jesus in their words like a missionary does in a foreign culture, and not just speak our Christianese? Are you willing to use the kind of program, the kind of music, the kind of package that speaks the language of the person you're trying to reach? Are you willing to reach them in locations where they're comfortable and maybe you're not? Are you willing to introduce the Gospel by starting with needs they care about?
We might be talking change here; it's what we hate to do the most. But the cost of not changing is much higher than the cost of changing-souls lost forever maybe because we wouldn't change.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
2 Chronicles 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: CHANGING HEARTS
Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure. My heartbeat had the regularity of a telegraph operator sending Morse code. The cardiologist inserted two cables in my heart, one was a camera, the other was an ablation tool. To “ablate” is to burn. Yes, burn, cauterize, singe, brand. And to use my doctor’s coinage, it would destroy the “misbehaving” parts of my heart. I tried to be witty. “As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, and guilt?” He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade.”
Indeed it was, but it’s not out of God’s. He is in the business of changing hearts. We’d be wrong to think it happens overnight. But we’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared,” the apostle Paul wrote. (Titus 2:11). And it has appeared to change our lives.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 3
1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high.
4-7 The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
8-9 He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.
10-13 He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.
14 He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.
15-17 He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Read: Exodus 17:8–16
Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”
10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
14 God said to Moses, “Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth.”
15-16 Moses built an altar and named it “God My Banner.” He said,
Salute God’s rule!
God at war with Amalek
Always and forever!
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading starts with what may seem to be two insignificant details: “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.” The Amalekites were distant cousins—the descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau (Gen. 25:23; 36:12, 16). And Rephidim was the place where the Israelites grumbled against Moses and regretted their decision to leave Egypt (Ex. 17:1–7). This circumstance—between slavery and inheritance—forced the Israelites to face their doubts and questions. Is God with us? Can God deliver us? As the battle raged, it became apparent that they were victorious when Moses held high the staff of God—the object representing God’s power and presence. God had not abandoned them and He was able to give them victory.
Coming Alongside
By Anne Cetas
Aaron and Hur held [Moses’s] hands up—one on one side, one on the other. Exodus 17:12
Her thirty classmates and their parents watched as Mi’Asya nervously walked to the podium to speak at her fifth grade graduation ceremony. When the principal adjusted the microphone to Mi’Asya’s height, she turned her back to the microphone and the audience. The crowd whispered words of encouragement: “Come on, honey, you can do it.” But she didn’t budge. Then a classmate walked to the front and stood by her side. With the principal on one side of Mi’Asya and her friend on the other, the three read her speech together. What a beautiful example of support!
Moses needed help and support in the middle of a battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10–16). “As long as Moses held up his hands [with the staff of God in his hands], the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning” (v. 11). When Aaron and Hur saw what was happening, they stood beside Moses, “one on one side, one on the other,” and supported his arms when he grew tired. With their support, victory came by sunset.
We all need the support of one another on our shared journey of faith.
We all need the support of one another. As brothers and sisters in the family of God, we have so many opportunities to encourage one another on our shared journey of faith. And God is right here in our midst giving us His grace to do that.
Who could you help today? Or do you need support yourself? Who could you ask?
Share with us at odb.org
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Don’t Plan Without God
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love…thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Ending Well - #7692
Kobe Bryant decided to set off some fireworks for his final game in the NBA. Sixty points carried his team to an unlikely and dramatic victory! That's a pretty good way to wrap up 20 seasons and five championship rings! Kobe Bryant finished well, and he went out in a blaze of glory.
But so is my friend Kenny. Not on a basketball court. It was in his hospice room. The doctors said he didn't have much more time; walking as Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God says, "through the valley of the shadow of death." It actually begins that Psalm by saying, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Yes, though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me."
His wife, Mary Ann, spoke to me about his painful journey with a strength that could only be described as supernatural. She told me, "Ron, for a long time, one of my greatest fears has been living life without Kenny." I mean, anybody who knows them knows they have had a very true and very obvious lifetime love.
But her report was amazing. She said, "Ron, we're doing so well. God has moved in amazing ways. Kenny is calm and comfortable. I feel so much peace and calm. He's ready to go with Jesus and I'm ready to let him go." Then she summed it all up in one word – miracles. As the thing she had feared so long was now looming as a reality, a peace that was not of this earth flooded into her soul. And suddenly, she had grace to say, "He's Yours, Lord. I release him to You." Miracle!
But what she told me about Kenny was what really wiped me out. She described the scene in his room: grandchildren, children singing and talking and laughing. And the hospice staff said they had seldom, if ever, seen anyone facing death with this kind of peace, confidence and even joy. Then describing what his grandchildren were experiencing, she made this very moving observation: "He's teaching them how to die." That's legacy.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ending Well."
I had a friend who said, "Ron, if people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference He makes, let them come to our funerals." Yes, or our hospice room. Kenny and Mary Ann would tell you in a word why death had lost its dread – Jesus. Years ago, they heard how the Son of God bled out His life so we could live forever, because there was no other way we could. The Bible sure makes that clear. It says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have cut you off from God." Sinless God. Perfect heaven. Sinful us.
Kenny and Mary Ann told me that they had been religious folks. And they thought that would get them to heaven like most folks do. Until they realized that no amount of goodness could pay the death penalty that sin requires. Somebody had to die. Somebody did. In the Bible's words, "Christ died for us sinners; taking our hell so we could go to His heaven." (Romans 5:6).
So when Jesus walked out of His grave that Easter morning, He guaranteed eternal life to everybody who belongs to Him. And my friend, Kenny? Yep, someone who belongs to Jesus forever. And he did in the face of death what he did with his whole life – radiating a living Christ.
Today if you'd like to have that assurance that when you die you are ready for eternity whenever it comes, however it comes, your sins are forgiven, they've been erased from God's Book, nothing would keep you out of heaven, you need today to say, "Jesus, you are the Savior of the world. But beginning today, you are my Savior from my sin. I'm putting all my trust in You."
I would love to help you get there and make sure you got it done. That's what our website is for. I invite you to go there and meet me there – ANewStory.com.
My friend was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But as it says in the Psalm, he "feared no evil" because, "You are with me" (Psalm 23:4). Doing life with Jesus. Doing eternity with Jesus. That's what I call going out in a blaze of glory.
Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure. My heartbeat had the regularity of a telegraph operator sending Morse code. The cardiologist inserted two cables in my heart, one was a camera, the other was an ablation tool. To “ablate” is to burn. Yes, burn, cauterize, singe, brand. And to use my doctor’s coinage, it would destroy the “misbehaving” parts of my heart. I tried to be witty. “As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, and guilt?” He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade.”
Indeed it was, but it’s not out of God’s. He is in the business of changing hearts. We’d be wrong to think it happens overnight. But we’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared,” the apostle Paul wrote. (Titus 2:11). And it has appeared to change our lives.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 3
1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high.
4-7 The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
8-9 He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.
10-13 He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.
14 He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.
15-17 He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Read: Exodus 17:8–16
Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”
10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
14 God said to Moses, “Write this up as a reminder to Joshua, to keep it before him, because I will most certainly wipe the very memory of Amalek off the face of the Earth.”
15-16 Moses built an altar and named it “God My Banner.” He said,
Salute God’s rule!
God at war with Amalek
Always and forever!
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading starts with what may seem to be two insignificant details: “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.” The Amalekites were distant cousins—the descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau (Gen. 25:23; 36:12, 16). And Rephidim was the place where the Israelites grumbled against Moses and regretted their decision to leave Egypt (Ex. 17:1–7). This circumstance—between slavery and inheritance—forced the Israelites to face their doubts and questions. Is God with us? Can God deliver us? As the battle raged, it became apparent that they were victorious when Moses held high the staff of God—the object representing God’s power and presence. God had not abandoned them and He was able to give them victory.
Coming Alongside
By Anne Cetas
Aaron and Hur held [Moses’s] hands up—one on one side, one on the other. Exodus 17:12
Her thirty classmates and their parents watched as Mi’Asya nervously walked to the podium to speak at her fifth grade graduation ceremony. When the principal adjusted the microphone to Mi’Asya’s height, she turned her back to the microphone and the audience. The crowd whispered words of encouragement: “Come on, honey, you can do it.” But she didn’t budge. Then a classmate walked to the front and stood by her side. With the principal on one side of Mi’Asya and her friend on the other, the three read her speech together. What a beautiful example of support!
Moses needed help and support in the middle of a battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10–16). “As long as Moses held up his hands [with the staff of God in his hands], the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning” (v. 11). When Aaron and Hur saw what was happening, they stood beside Moses, “one on one side, one on the other,” and supported his arms when he grew tired. With their support, victory came by sunset.
We all need the support of one another on our shared journey of faith.
We all need the support of one another. As brothers and sisters in the family of God, we have so many opportunities to encourage one another on our shared journey of faith. And God is right here in our midst giving us His grace to do that.
Who could you help today? Or do you need support yourself? Who could you ask?
Share with us at odb.org
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Don’t Plan Without God
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.
In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love…thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.
Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Ending Well - #7692
Kobe Bryant decided to set off some fireworks for his final game in the NBA. Sixty points carried his team to an unlikely and dramatic victory! That's a pretty good way to wrap up 20 seasons and five championship rings! Kobe Bryant finished well, and he went out in a blaze of glory.
But so is my friend Kenny. Not on a basketball court. It was in his hospice room. The doctors said he didn't have much more time; walking as Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God says, "through the valley of the shadow of death." It actually begins that Psalm by saying, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Yes, though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me."
His wife, Mary Ann, spoke to me about his painful journey with a strength that could only be described as supernatural. She told me, "Ron, for a long time, one of my greatest fears has been living life without Kenny." I mean, anybody who knows them knows they have had a very true and very obvious lifetime love.
But her report was amazing. She said, "Ron, we're doing so well. God has moved in amazing ways. Kenny is calm and comfortable. I feel so much peace and calm. He's ready to go with Jesus and I'm ready to let him go." Then she summed it all up in one word – miracles. As the thing she had feared so long was now looming as a reality, a peace that was not of this earth flooded into her soul. And suddenly, she had grace to say, "He's Yours, Lord. I release him to You." Miracle!
But what she told me about Kenny was what really wiped me out. She described the scene in his room: grandchildren, children singing and talking and laughing. And the hospice staff said they had seldom, if ever, seen anyone facing death with this kind of peace, confidence and even joy. Then describing what his grandchildren were experiencing, she made this very moving observation: "He's teaching them how to die." That's legacy.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ending Well."
I had a friend who said, "Ron, if people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference He makes, let them come to our funerals." Yes, or our hospice room. Kenny and Mary Ann would tell you in a word why death had lost its dread – Jesus. Years ago, they heard how the Son of God bled out His life so we could live forever, because there was no other way we could. The Bible sure makes that clear. It says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have cut you off from God." Sinless God. Perfect heaven. Sinful us.
Kenny and Mary Ann told me that they had been religious folks. And they thought that would get them to heaven like most folks do. Until they realized that no amount of goodness could pay the death penalty that sin requires. Somebody had to die. Somebody did. In the Bible's words, "Christ died for us sinners; taking our hell so we could go to His heaven." (Romans 5:6).
So when Jesus walked out of His grave that Easter morning, He guaranteed eternal life to everybody who belongs to Him. And my friend, Kenny? Yep, someone who belongs to Jesus forever. And he did in the face of death what he did with his whole life – radiating a living Christ.
Today if you'd like to have that assurance that when you die you are ready for eternity whenever it comes, however it comes, your sins are forgiven, they've been erased from God's Book, nothing would keep you out of heaven, you need today to say, "Jesus, you are the Savior of the world. But beginning today, you are my Savior from my sin. I'm putting all my trust in You."
I would love to help you get there and make sure you got it done. That's what our website is for. I invite you to go there and meet me there – ANewStory.com.
My friend was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But as it says in the Psalm, he "feared no evil" because, "You are with me" (Psalm 23:4). Doing life with Jesus. Doing eternity with Jesus. That's what I call going out in a blaze of glory.
Monday, July 4, 2016
2 Chronicles 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: TAKING TIME TO SEE
There is something fundamentally good about taking time to see a person. Simon the Pharisee once disdained Jesus’ kindness toward a woman of questionable character. So Jesus tested him: “Do you see this woman?” he asked (Luke 7:44). Simon didn’t see a woman– he saw a streetwalker, a scamp.
What do we see when we see. . . the figures beneath the overpass, encircling the fire? Or the news clips of children in refugee camps? What about reports of grueling poverty at home and abroad?
Scripture says when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. Compassion—a movement from deep within—a kick in the gut! Perhaps that’s why we turn away. Why look suffering in the face if we can’t make a difference? Yet what if by seeing, we were moved to compassion? Moved not just to see, but to do.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 2
Preparations for Building the Temple
Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram[f] king of Tyre:
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum[g] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors[h] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors[i] of barley, twenty thousand baths[j] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.”
12 And Hiram added:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 04, 2016
Read: Psalm 122:6–9 |
Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
7 O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
“May you have peace.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
Jewish pilgrims sang Psalms 120–134, known collectively as the Pilgrim Psalms, as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual festivals of Unleavened Bread (including Passover), Harvest (Weeks or Pentecost), and Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) (Ex. 23:14–16). Since Jerusalem sits on a mountainous area (Mount Zion is used synonymously with Jerusalem in the Bible), pilgrims are said to “ascend” to Jerusalem. Therefore, scholars designate each of these fifteen songs as “A song of ascents.” In Psalm 122, David celebrates Jerusalem as the “house of the Lord” (vv. 1, 9). He is elated (v. 1) that he is in the place of safety, security, and peace (vv. 6–9).
Join the Cry
By Lawrence Darmani
I urge . . . that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1
A women’s prayer group in my country holds regular monthly prayer sessions for Ghana and other African countries. When asked why they pray so incessantly for the nations, their leader, Gifty Dadzie, remarked, “Look around, listen to and watch the news. Our nations are hurting: war, disaster, diseases, and violence threaten to overshadow God’s love for humanity and His blessing upon us. We believe God intervenes in the affairs of nations, so we praise Him for His blessings and cry for His intervention.”
The Bible reveals that God indeed intervenes in the affairs of nations (2 Chron. 7:14). And when God intervenes, He uses ordinary people. We may not be assigned huge tasks, but we can play our part to help bring about peace and the righteousness that exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34). We can do that through prayer. The apostle Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:1–2).
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations.
As the psalmist exhorted the ancient Israelites to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6), so may we pray for the peace and healing of our nations. When we pray in humility, turn from wickedness, and seek God, He hears us.
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations. We ask for Your intervention as we turn to You in confession and repentance. We praise You for Your blessing and Your provision.
Prayer for those in authority is both a privilege and a duty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 04, 2016
One of God’s Great “Don’ts”
Do not fret— it only causes harm. —Psalm 37:8
Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.
Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.
Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 04, 2016
Learning The Hardest Word In the World - #7691
Oh, grandkids! They just keep lighting up your life, right? When our oldest was just past the one-year mark, it was exciting to see him investigating all the things around him and learning the words of what things are called – Daddy, car, moon, dog, ball. And he even learned one of the hardest words of all. It's not hard to pronounce – just to accept. You know that simple little word – "no". Now, I didn't say he liked the word. I said he was learning the word. In fact, I'm not sure any of us really loves the word.
I remember he would just repeat it after one of us, and then we would say "no" to something he was reaching for; usually something we thought would hurt him, and he would shake his head, pull back his hand, and go, "Na, na, na!" Well, that's close to what he said anyway. Well, then there was a new development. He would imitate the word "no". That's what that was all about. He was reaching for something that was on the forbidden list. He would suddenly stop and he himself would start shaking his head and saying to himself, ''Na, na, na."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Learning The Hardest Word In The World."
"No" is not just a hard word for children to learn. It's hard for us grown-up children! And learning to say no to the things God hates is basic to being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Listen to Jesus' own words in our word for today from the Word of God from Luke 9:23. -"If anyone would come after Me (and I'm just going to assume you want to do that; you want to follow Jesus), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Okay, what's that first step? Deny yourself? Deny – well that means "say no". Jesus says you can't really follow Him unless you learn to deny yourself; to say no to yourself, because you're reaching for something you'd like to do or say and Jesus knows it's going to hurt you or someone else, something that He has maybe called "out of bounds" for you because He knows that it is sin and it will hurt your relationship with God, with other people. It is wrong. He says, "No". Now, the question is, will you stop yourself, in spite of your desires, shake your head, and say, "No, I can't do this. I'm trying to be like Jesus. I can't do this."
Obedience is stopping where God says to stop no matter how tempting it looks, no matter how desirable, no matter how much advantage it may look to us to have. And like a parent's no to a toddler, God's no is based on keeping you from getting hurt, from injury, from scars. So, Jesus' question to you today might be this, "What have you been saying "yes" to lately that you know I have said "no" to?"
Is it that poison on the Internet, in those magazines, on TV, or those videos you rent? Is it that trash talk that keeps wounding somebody you love? Maybe you've been saying yes to compromising the truth, compromises in your integrity, or the purity of your body, which is not really yours. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Or is it those lustful looks you just continue to let pollute your heart, those angry outbursts maybe, or just your selfish insistence that you've got to have your way?
Until you make up your mind that you're going to stop it, until you say a firm "no" at your first opportunity to do the wrong thing, you're going to be crippled in your relationship with Jesus. You'll miss so much of His power, so much of the spiritual freedom that goes with saying "no" to the things that He says are out-of-bounds.
It's the hardest word to say, but it is fundamental to following Jesus and enjoying the ride. What He says "no" to, I say "no" to.
There is something fundamentally good about taking time to see a person. Simon the Pharisee once disdained Jesus’ kindness toward a woman of questionable character. So Jesus tested him: “Do you see this woman?” he asked (Luke 7:44). Simon didn’t see a woman– he saw a streetwalker, a scamp.
What do we see when we see. . . the figures beneath the overpass, encircling the fire? Or the news clips of children in refugee camps? What about reports of grueling poverty at home and abroad?
Scripture says when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. Compassion—a movement from deep within—a kick in the gut! Perhaps that’s why we turn away. Why look suffering in the face if we can’t make a difference? Yet what if by seeing, we were moved to compassion? Moved not just to see, but to do.
From God is With You Every Day
2 Chronicles 2
Preparations for Building the Temple
Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram[f] king of Tyre:
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum[g] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors[h] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors[i] of barley, twenty thousand baths[j] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.”
12 And Hiram added:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 04, 2016
Read: Psalm 122:6–9 |
Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
7 O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
8 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
“May you have peace.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
Jewish pilgrims sang Psalms 120–134, known collectively as the Pilgrim Psalms, as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual festivals of Unleavened Bread (including Passover), Harvest (Weeks or Pentecost), and Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) (Ex. 23:14–16). Since Jerusalem sits on a mountainous area (Mount Zion is used synonymously with Jerusalem in the Bible), pilgrims are said to “ascend” to Jerusalem. Therefore, scholars designate each of these fifteen songs as “A song of ascents.” In Psalm 122, David celebrates Jerusalem as the “house of the Lord” (vv. 1, 9). He is elated (v. 1) that he is in the place of safety, security, and peace (vv. 6–9).
Join the Cry
By Lawrence Darmani
I urge . . . that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1
A women’s prayer group in my country holds regular monthly prayer sessions for Ghana and other African countries. When asked why they pray so incessantly for the nations, their leader, Gifty Dadzie, remarked, “Look around, listen to and watch the news. Our nations are hurting: war, disaster, diseases, and violence threaten to overshadow God’s love for humanity and His blessing upon us. We believe God intervenes in the affairs of nations, so we praise Him for His blessings and cry for His intervention.”
The Bible reveals that God indeed intervenes in the affairs of nations (2 Chron. 7:14). And when God intervenes, He uses ordinary people. We may not be assigned huge tasks, but we can play our part to help bring about peace and the righteousness that exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34). We can do that through prayer. The apostle Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:1–2).
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations.
As the psalmist exhorted the ancient Israelites to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6), so may we pray for the peace and healing of our nations. When we pray in humility, turn from wickedness, and seek God, He hears us.
Lord, we pray today for the peace of our nations. We ask for Your intervention as we turn to You in confession and repentance. We praise You for Your blessing and Your provision.
Prayer for those in authority is both a privilege and a duty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 04, 2016
One of God’s Great “Don’ts”
Do not fret— it only causes harm. —Psalm 37:8
Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.
Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.
Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 04, 2016
Learning The Hardest Word In the World - #7691
Oh, grandkids! They just keep lighting up your life, right? When our oldest was just past the one-year mark, it was exciting to see him investigating all the things around him and learning the words of what things are called – Daddy, car, moon, dog, ball. And he even learned one of the hardest words of all. It's not hard to pronounce – just to accept. You know that simple little word – "no". Now, I didn't say he liked the word. I said he was learning the word. In fact, I'm not sure any of us really loves the word.
I remember he would just repeat it after one of us, and then we would say "no" to something he was reaching for; usually something we thought would hurt him, and he would shake his head, pull back his hand, and go, "Na, na, na!" Well, that's close to what he said anyway. Well, then there was a new development. He would imitate the word "no". That's what that was all about. He was reaching for something that was on the forbidden list. He would suddenly stop and he himself would start shaking his head and saying to himself, ''Na, na, na."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Learning The Hardest Word In The World."
"No" is not just a hard word for children to learn. It's hard for us grown-up children! And learning to say no to the things God hates is basic to being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Listen to Jesus' own words in our word for today from the Word of God from Luke 9:23. -"If anyone would come after Me (and I'm just going to assume you want to do that; you want to follow Jesus), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Okay, what's that first step? Deny yourself? Deny – well that means "say no". Jesus says you can't really follow Him unless you learn to deny yourself; to say no to yourself, because you're reaching for something you'd like to do or say and Jesus knows it's going to hurt you or someone else, something that He has maybe called "out of bounds" for you because He knows that it is sin and it will hurt your relationship with God, with other people. It is wrong. He says, "No". Now, the question is, will you stop yourself, in spite of your desires, shake your head, and say, "No, I can't do this. I'm trying to be like Jesus. I can't do this."
Obedience is stopping where God says to stop no matter how tempting it looks, no matter how desirable, no matter how much advantage it may look to us to have. And like a parent's no to a toddler, God's no is based on keeping you from getting hurt, from injury, from scars. So, Jesus' question to you today might be this, "What have you been saying "yes" to lately that you know I have said "no" to?"
Is it that poison on the Internet, in those magazines, on TV, or those videos you rent? Is it that trash talk that keeps wounding somebody you love? Maybe you've been saying yes to compromising the truth, compromises in your integrity, or the purity of your body, which is not really yours. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Or is it those lustful looks you just continue to let pollute your heart, those angry outbursts maybe, or just your selfish insistence that you've got to have your way?
Until you make up your mind that you're going to stop it, until you say a firm "no" at your first opportunity to do the wrong thing, you're going to be crippled in your relationship with Jesus. You'll miss so much of His power, so much of the spiritual freedom that goes with saying "no" to the things that He says are out-of-bounds.
It's the hardest word to say, but it is fundamental to following Jesus and enjoying the ride. What He says "no" to, I say "no" to.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
2 Chronicles 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Spite House ·
In 1882 in New York City, Joseph Richardson owned a narrow strip of land 5 feet wide and 104 feet long. Next door was a normal-sized lot owned by a man who wanted to erect an apartment building. He offered Richardson $1,000 for his plot. Deeply offended, Richardson demanded $5,000 which the builder refused to pay. The builder built the apartment building, assuming the slender lot would remain vacant and the view exposed. But Richardson built a house instead—blocking the view! Dubbed the “Spite House”, Richardson spent the last fourteen years of his life in the narrow residence that seemed to fit his narrow state of mind.
Revenge builds a lonely, narrow house. Space enough for one person. No wonder God insists we “keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent!” (Heb. 12:14-17).
From You’ll Get Through This
2 Chronicles 1
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon son of David took firm control of his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him very powerful.
2 Solomon called together all the leaders of Israel—the generals and captains of the army,[a] the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. 3 Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle[b] was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
4 David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there[c] at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the Lord.[d] 6 There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! 10 Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly,[e] for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— 12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
13 Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the place of worship in Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
14 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[f] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold 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.[g] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[h] and from Cilicia[i]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 17 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[j] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[k] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
1:2 Hebrew the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
1:3 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 1:6, 13.
1:5a As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text reads he placed.
1:5b Hebrew to consult him.
1:10 Hebrew to go out and come in before this people.
1:14 Or charioteers; also in 1:14b.
1:15 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:16a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 1:17.
1:16b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
1:17a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
1:17b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 03, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 3:8–15
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—
Footnotes:
3:10 Other manuscripts read will be burned up; one early manuscript reads will be found destroyed.
INSIGHT:
The New Testament manuscripts, which were written in Greek, use two different words for patience. One word describes patience regarding circumstances; the other relates to patience with people. When the Greek text speaks of God’s patience, the word used is almost always the one that refers to people. God’s patience with us is not because He can’t compel us to do what He wants, but because He loves us, respects our will, and has given each of us the ability to make our own choices. Adapted from What Does the Bible Say About Patience? Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0722
Waiting on God
By Randy Kilgore
[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
I was sitting with a group of passengers on an airport shuttle heading to our connecting flight when the bus driver was told to “hold in place.” It looked like we would miss our flight, and this was more than one passenger could handle. He exploded at the driver, insisting he ignore his orders or “risk the wrath of a lawsuit.” Just then an airline employee came dashing up carrying a briefcase. Looking at the angry man, the airline employee triumphantly held up the briefcase. When he had caught his breath, he said, “You left your briefcase. I heard you mention how important your meeting was, and I figured you would need this.”
Sometimes I find myself impatient with God, especially about His return. I wonder, What can He be waiting on? The tragedies around us, the suffering of people we love, and even the stresses of daily life all seem bigger than the fixes on the horizon.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
Then someone tells their story of having just met Jesus, or I discover God is still at work in the messes. It reminds me of what I learned that day on the shuttle. There are stories and details God knows that I don’t. It reminds me to trust Him and to remember that the story isn’t about me. It’s about God’s plan to give time to others who don’t yet know His Son (2 Peter 3:9).
I’m thankful You are patiently waiting for more people to trust in You before You return. Help me to be patient too.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 03, 2016
The Concentration of Personal Sin
Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… —Isaiah 6:5
When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.
This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
In 1882 in New York City, Joseph Richardson owned a narrow strip of land 5 feet wide and 104 feet long. Next door was a normal-sized lot owned by a man who wanted to erect an apartment building. He offered Richardson $1,000 for his plot. Deeply offended, Richardson demanded $5,000 which the builder refused to pay. The builder built the apartment building, assuming the slender lot would remain vacant and the view exposed. But Richardson built a house instead—blocking the view! Dubbed the “Spite House”, Richardson spent the last fourteen years of his life in the narrow residence that seemed to fit his narrow state of mind.
Revenge builds a lonely, narrow house. Space enough for one person. No wonder God insists we “keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent!” (Heb. 12:14-17).
From You’ll Get Through This
2 Chronicles 1
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon son of David took firm control of his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him very powerful.
2 Solomon called together all the leaders of Israel—the generals and captains of the army,[a] the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. 3 Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle[b] was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
4 David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there[c] at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the Lord.[d] 6 There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! 10 Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly,[e] for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— 12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
13 Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the place of worship in Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
14 Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses.[f] He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold 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.[g] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt[h] and from Cilicia[i]; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price. 17 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,[j] and horses for 150 pieces of silver.[k] They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.
Footnotes:
1:2 Hebrew the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
1:3 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 1:6, 13.
1:5a As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text reads he placed.
1:5b Hebrew to consult him.
1:10 Hebrew to go out and come in before this people.
1:14 Or charioteers; also in 1:14b.
1:15 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:16a Possibly Muzur, a district near Cilicia; also in 1:17.
1:16b Hebrew Kue, probably another name for Cilicia.
1:17a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
1:17b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 03, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 3:8–15
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—
Footnotes:
3:10 Other manuscripts read will be burned up; one early manuscript reads will be found destroyed.
INSIGHT:
The New Testament manuscripts, which were written in Greek, use two different words for patience. One word describes patience regarding circumstances; the other relates to patience with people. When the Greek text speaks of God’s patience, the word used is almost always the one that refers to people. God’s patience with us is not because He can’t compel us to do what He wants, but because He loves us, respects our will, and has given each of us the ability to make our own choices. Adapted from What Does the Bible Say About Patience? Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0722
Waiting on God
By Randy Kilgore
[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
I was sitting with a group of passengers on an airport shuttle heading to our connecting flight when the bus driver was told to “hold in place.” It looked like we would miss our flight, and this was more than one passenger could handle. He exploded at the driver, insisting he ignore his orders or “risk the wrath of a lawsuit.” Just then an airline employee came dashing up carrying a briefcase. Looking at the angry man, the airline employee triumphantly held up the briefcase. When he had caught his breath, he said, “You left your briefcase. I heard you mention how important your meeting was, and I figured you would need this.”
Sometimes I find myself impatient with God, especially about His return. I wonder, What can He be waiting on? The tragedies around us, the suffering of people we love, and even the stresses of daily life all seem bigger than the fixes on the horizon.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
Then someone tells their story of having just met Jesus, or I discover God is still at work in the messes. It reminds me of what I learned that day on the shuttle. There are stories and details God knows that I don’t. It reminds me to trust Him and to remember that the story isn’t about me. It’s about God’s plan to give time to others who don’t yet know His Son (2 Peter 3:9).
I’m thankful You are patiently waiting for more people to trust in You before You return. Help me to be patient too.
Wait and witness till Jesus returns.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 03, 2016
The Concentration of Personal Sin
Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… —Isaiah 6:5
When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.
This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
Saturday, July 2, 2016
1 Corinthians 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God's Transforming Power
Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn't know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother-they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. All this time you've been operating on faulty data. "You're stupid. . .slow. . .dumb, like your daddy.
Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don't have to! Romans 12:2 says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." And 1st Corinthians 13:11 adds, "Let Him replace childish thinking with mature truth!" You are not who they said you were. You are God's child!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Corinthians 16
The Collection for Jerusalem
16 Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. 3 When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.
Paul’s Final Instructions
5 I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia,[a] for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. 7 This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 8 In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. 9 There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.
10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.[b]
12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[c] Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.
15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece,[d] and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[e] 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.
Paul’s Final Greetings
19 The churches here in the province of Asia[f] send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla[g] and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.
21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come![h]
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.[i]
Footnotes:
16:5 Macedonia was in the northern region of Greece.
16:11 Greek with the brothers; also in 16:12.
16:13 Greek Be men.
16:15a Greek in Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
16:15b Greek brothers; also in 16:20.
16:19a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
16:19b Greek Prisca.
16:22 From Aramaic, Marana tha. Some manuscripts read Maran atha, “Our Lord has come.”
16:24 Some manuscripts add Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 02, 2016
Read: Luke 19:1–9
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
INSIGHT:
For generations, the government of ancient Rome commissioned generals to conquer and colonize people of various cultures and locations. In governing these conquered people, Rome enlisted the service of the publicani, who are called publicans or tax collectors in Scripture. These publicans were often considered both traitors to their own people and collaborators with the occupying forces, and they would often tax more revenue than required in order to line their own pockets. Today’s reading bears significant meaning because it shows how even a hated publican like Zacchaeus received forgiveness and redemption through Christ. As a result of his repentance, Zacchaeus reimbursed those he had cheated four times the amount he had taken. Dennis Fisher
Come Sit a Spell
By Dave Branon
Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Luke 19:5
When I was a kid, our family made a monthly excursion from Ohio to West Virginia to visit my maternal grandparents. Every time we arrived at the door of their farmhouse, Grandma Lester would greet us with the words, “Come on in and sit a spell.” It was her way of telling us to make ourselves comfortable, stay a while, and share in some “catching-up” conversation.
Life can get pretty busy. In our action-oriented world, it’s hard to get to know people. It’s tough to find time to ask someone to “sit a spell” with us. We can get more done if we text each other and get right to the point.
Get to know someone to make a difference in their life.
But look at what Jesus did when He wanted to make a difference in the life of a tax collector. He went to Zacchaeus’s house to “sit a spell.” His words, “I must stay at your house” indicate that this was no quick stopover (Luke 19:5). Jesus spent time with him, and Zacchaeus’s life was turned around because of this time with Jesus.
On the front porch of my grandmother’s house were several chairs—a warm invitation to all visitors to relax and talk. If we’re going to get to know someone and to make a difference in their life—as Jesus did for Zacchaeus—we need to invite them to “come sit a spell.”
Dear Lord, as I look around at those who share this life with me, help me to make time to spend with them—for encouragement, challenge, and perhaps just plain conversation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 02, 2016
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn't know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother-they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them. All this time you've been operating on faulty data. "You're stupid. . .slow. . .dumb, like your daddy.
Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don't have to! Romans 12:2 says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." And 1st Corinthians 13:11 adds, "Let Him replace childish thinking with mature truth!" You are not who they said you were. You are God's child!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Corinthians 16
The Collection for Jerusalem
16 Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. 3 When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. 4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.
Paul’s Final Instructions
5 I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia,[a] for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. 7 This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 8 In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. 9 There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.
10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.[b]
12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.[c] Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.
15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece,[d] and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,[e] 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.
Paul’s Final Greetings
19 The churches here in the province of Asia[f] send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla[g] and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.
21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come![h]
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.[i]
Footnotes:
16:5 Macedonia was in the northern region of Greece.
16:11 Greek with the brothers; also in 16:12.
16:13 Greek Be men.
16:15a Greek in Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula.
16:15b Greek brothers; also in 16:20.
16:19a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
16:19b Greek Prisca.
16:22 From Aramaic, Marana tha. Some manuscripts read Maran atha, “Our Lord has come.”
16:24 Some manuscripts add Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 02, 2016
Read: Luke 19:1–9
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
INSIGHT:
For generations, the government of ancient Rome commissioned generals to conquer and colonize people of various cultures and locations. In governing these conquered people, Rome enlisted the service of the publicani, who are called publicans or tax collectors in Scripture. These publicans were often considered both traitors to their own people and collaborators with the occupying forces, and they would often tax more revenue than required in order to line their own pockets. Today’s reading bears significant meaning because it shows how even a hated publican like Zacchaeus received forgiveness and redemption through Christ. As a result of his repentance, Zacchaeus reimbursed those he had cheated four times the amount he had taken. Dennis Fisher
Come Sit a Spell
By Dave Branon
Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Luke 19:5
When I was a kid, our family made a monthly excursion from Ohio to West Virginia to visit my maternal grandparents. Every time we arrived at the door of their farmhouse, Grandma Lester would greet us with the words, “Come on in and sit a spell.” It was her way of telling us to make ourselves comfortable, stay a while, and share in some “catching-up” conversation.
Life can get pretty busy. In our action-oriented world, it’s hard to get to know people. It’s tough to find time to ask someone to “sit a spell” with us. We can get more done if we text each other and get right to the point.
Get to know someone to make a difference in their life.
But look at what Jesus did when He wanted to make a difference in the life of a tax collector. He went to Zacchaeus’s house to “sit a spell.” His words, “I must stay at your house” indicate that this was no quick stopover (Luke 19:5). Jesus spent time with him, and Zacchaeus’s life was turned around because of this time with Jesus.
On the front porch of my grandmother’s house were several chairs—a warm invitation to all visitors to relax and talk. If we’re going to get to know someone and to make a difference in their life—as Jesus did for Zacchaeus—we need to invite them to “come sit a spell.”
Dear Lord, as I look around at those who share this life with me, help me to make time to spend with them—for encouragement, challenge, and perhaps just plain conversation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 02, 2016
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
Friday, July 1, 2016
1 Corinthians 15:35-58, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: YOUR UNIQUENESS
When God made you, the angels stood in awe and declared, “We’ve never seen one like that before.” And they never will again! You are heaven’s first and final attempt at you. You are matchless, unprecedented, and unequaled. Consequently, you can do something no one else can do in a way no one else can. Call it what you wish. A talent. A skill set. A gift. An anointing. A divine spark. An unction. A call.
Scripture says, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (I Corinthians 12:7). Each of us—not some of us, a few of us, or the elite among us. Many people settle for someone else’s story and they never find their call. Don’t make the same mistake. Your existence isn’t accidental. Your skills are not incidental. God has shaped each person in turn! And that includes you!
From God is With You Every Day
1 Corinthians 15:35-58
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[c] this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.[d]
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[e]”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Footnotes:
15:45 Gen 2:7.
15:49 Some manuscripts read let us be like.
15:54a Some manuscripts add and our mortal bodies have been transformed into immortal bodies.
15:54b Isa 25:8.
15:55 Hos 13:14 (Greek version).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 01, 2016
Read: Job 11:7–20
“Can you solve the mysteries of God?
Can you discover everything about the Almighty?
8 Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—
and who are you?
It is deeper than the underworld[a]—
what do you know?
9 It is broader than the earth
and wider than the sea.
10 If God comes and puts a person in prison
or calls the court to order, who can stop him?
11 For he knows those who are false,
and he takes note of all their sins.
12 An empty-headed person won’t become wise
any more than a wild donkey can bear a human child.[b]
13 “If only you would prepare your heart
and lift up your hands to him in prayer!
14 Get rid of your sins,
and leave all iniquity behind you.
15 Then your face will brighten with innocence.
You will be strong and free of fear.
16 You will forget your misery;
it will be like water flowing away.
17 Your life will be brighter than the noonday.
Even darkness will be as bright as morning.
18 Having hope will give you courage.
You will be protected and will rest in safety.
19 You will lie down unafraid,
and many will look to you for help.
20 But the wicked will be blinded.
They will have no escape.
Their only hope is death.”
Footnotes:
11:8 Hebrew than Sheol.
11:12 Or than a wild male donkey can bear a tame colt
INSIGHT:
Many scholars consider the book of Job to be the oldest biblical book, though it does not contain the oldest stories about the creation of the universe and the fall of the human race (see Genesis). It is fitting, therefore, that the oldest biblical book would deal with the most universally experienced human reality—the presence of suffering in the world.
Out in the Cold
By Tim Gustafson
To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13
In desperation, a woman called the housing assistance center where I worked. A heating problem had turned her rental home into a freezer with furniture. Panicked, she asked me how she would care for her children. I hurriedly replied with the scripted official response: “Just move into a hotel and send the landlord the bill.” She angrily hung up on me.
I knew the textbook answer to her question, but I had completely missed her heart. She wanted someone to understand her fear and desperation. She needed to know she wasn’t alone. In essence, I had left her out in the cold.
Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit so that we will never be alone.
After Job had lost everything, he had friends with answers but little understanding. Zophar told him all he needed to do was live wholeheartedly for God. Then “life will be brighter than noonday,” he said (11:17). That counsel wasn’t well received, and Job responded with scathing sarcasm: “Wisdom will die with you!” (12:2). He knew the dissatisfying taste of textbook answers to real-world problems.
It’s easy to be critical of Job’s friends for their failure to see the big picture. But how often are we too quick with answers to questions we don’t truly understand? People do want answers. But more than that, they want to know we hear and understand. They want to know we care.
Father, help us to be a friend first before we offer advice to others. Thank You for the privilege of sharing our hearts with You in prayer. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit so that we will never be alone.
Before people want to hear what you say, they want to know that you c
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 01, 2016
The Inevitable Penalty
You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]…you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 01, 2016
Homeland Security For Your Home - #7690
The Department of Homeland Security is a fairly new idea in American government. Of course, we live in pretty dangerous times and we need an agency that coordinates our efforts to keep our country safe from growingly hostile forces that could hurt us. But "homeland security" is hardly a new idea. It's been the job of every parent since children were invented. It's a sacred assignment – guarding our family from the things that could hurt them, and the job's never been more difficult.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Homeland Security For Your Home."
Not all the things that can hurt our children are from the outside. Some of them are from the darkness inside us; selfishness, anger, a critical or negative attitude, hurting words, praise that's really needed but never given, affection that's not shown, words that should be said but are left unsaid, and the words that should have been left unsaid. Those are some of the deadliest missiles that can hit a child's heart. And the same mom or dad who is in such a wonderful position to protect them from harm can be the same mom or dad who is in a position to inflict so much hurt.
Our families need our own Department of Homeland Security, right? Something or someone who will keep our family safe and who can make us the mom or dad that our children so need us to be.
Jesus Christ wants to be that for you. He describes the unique security He offers in Isaiah 40:11, our word for today from the Word of God; one of my favorite verses as a Dad. "He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms (you can put the names of your children where it says "lambs") and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that have young." Whoa! That's you, Mom! That's you, Dad! The dark side of each of us could be the single greatest threat to the security of our personal homeland. The battle against that dark side is going to have to be won by someone stronger than we are – because most of us have tried to change the things we don't like about ourselves and we know that hurt other people, and there's still way too much dark stuff.
Good news! There are three wonderful miracles that Jesus does in the heart and life of a mom or dad who will allow Him to be their shepherd; to decide the direction they go. First, He forgives you for every mistake, every sin, every wound you've ever inflicted, everything you wish you'd done differently, and every hurting thing you've ever done. That forgiveness was not cheap. It meant paying the price to remove the huge wall that we've all built between us and God. We built that wall by our sins. And paying that price meant being separated from God himself on that awful cross. Jesus was, so you would never have to be, separated from Him again. When you open your life to Jesus, He brings with Him the new beginning of being totally forgiven and clean.
Secondly, Jesus will change you from the inside out. The Bible calls it becoming "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). If He had the power to conquer death, He surely has the power to conquer the darkness in you and me. And then, Jesus protects those who belong to Him, like a shepherd protects His sheep.
And right now, this Jesus is waiting for you to put your life in His hands. He's probably been waiting a long time. I don't know how much longer He'll wait, but I can tell you, Jesus is a Daddy's Savior. He's a Mommy's Savior. He wants to be your Savior. And He will be from the moment you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm not running things anymore. You died for me! I am all yours."
I would love to help you get started in this relationship with Him. In fact, we've set up our website just to do that. It's ANewStory.com. Kind of a good name for it, because it could be the beginning of a new story for you and for your family. Would you go there – ANewStory.com?
There's no home that is more secure than a home where Jesus Christ lives, and He wants to live in your home because you've asked Him to live in you.
When God made you, the angels stood in awe and declared, “We’ve never seen one like that before.” And they never will again! You are heaven’s first and final attempt at you. You are matchless, unprecedented, and unequaled. Consequently, you can do something no one else can do in a way no one else can. Call it what you wish. A talent. A skill set. A gift. An anointing. A divine spark. An unction. A call.
Scripture says, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (I Corinthians 12:7). Each of us—not some of us, a few of us, or the elite among us. Many people settle for someone else’s story and they never find their call. Don’t make the same mistake. Your existence isn’t accidental. Your skills are not incidental. God has shaped each person in turn! And that includes you!
From God is With You Every Day
1 Corinthians 15:35-58
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[a] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[b] the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[c] this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.[d]
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[e]”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Footnotes:
15:45 Gen 2:7.
15:49 Some manuscripts read let us be like.
15:54a Some manuscripts add and our mortal bodies have been transformed into immortal bodies.
15:54b Isa 25:8.
15:55 Hos 13:14 (Greek version).
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 01, 2016
Read: Job 11:7–20
“Can you solve the mysteries of God?
Can you discover everything about the Almighty?
8 Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—
and who are you?
It is deeper than the underworld[a]—
what do you know?
9 It is broader than the earth
and wider than the sea.
10 If God comes and puts a person in prison
or calls the court to order, who can stop him?
11 For he knows those who are false,
and he takes note of all their sins.
12 An empty-headed person won’t become wise
any more than a wild donkey can bear a human child.[b]
13 “If only you would prepare your heart
and lift up your hands to him in prayer!
14 Get rid of your sins,
and leave all iniquity behind you.
15 Then your face will brighten with innocence.
You will be strong and free of fear.
16 You will forget your misery;
it will be like water flowing away.
17 Your life will be brighter than the noonday.
Even darkness will be as bright as morning.
18 Having hope will give you courage.
You will be protected and will rest in safety.
19 You will lie down unafraid,
and many will look to you for help.
20 But the wicked will be blinded.
They will have no escape.
Their only hope is death.”
Footnotes:
11:8 Hebrew than Sheol.
11:12 Or than a wild male donkey can bear a tame colt
INSIGHT:
Many scholars consider the book of Job to be the oldest biblical book, though it does not contain the oldest stories about the creation of the universe and the fall of the human race (see Genesis). It is fitting, therefore, that the oldest biblical book would deal with the most universally experienced human reality—the presence of suffering in the world.
Out in the Cold
By Tim Gustafson
To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13
In desperation, a woman called the housing assistance center where I worked. A heating problem had turned her rental home into a freezer with furniture. Panicked, she asked me how she would care for her children. I hurriedly replied with the scripted official response: “Just move into a hotel and send the landlord the bill.” She angrily hung up on me.
I knew the textbook answer to her question, but I had completely missed her heart. She wanted someone to understand her fear and desperation. She needed to know she wasn’t alone. In essence, I had left her out in the cold.
Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit so that we will never be alone.
After Job had lost everything, he had friends with answers but little understanding. Zophar told him all he needed to do was live wholeheartedly for God. Then “life will be brighter than noonday,” he said (11:17). That counsel wasn’t well received, and Job responded with scathing sarcasm: “Wisdom will die with you!” (12:2). He knew the dissatisfying taste of textbook answers to real-world problems.
It’s easy to be critical of Job’s friends for their failure to see the big picture. But how often are we too quick with answers to questions we don’t truly understand? People do want answers. But more than that, they want to know we hear and understand. They want to know we care.
Father, help us to be a friend first before we offer advice to others. Thank You for the privilege of sharing our hearts with You in prayer. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit so that we will never be alone.
Before people want to hear what you say, they want to know that you c
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 01, 2016
The Inevitable Penalty
You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]…you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 01, 2016
Homeland Security For Your Home - #7690
The Department of Homeland Security is a fairly new idea in American government. Of course, we live in pretty dangerous times and we need an agency that coordinates our efforts to keep our country safe from growingly hostile forces that could hurt us. But "homeland security" is hardly a new idea. It's been the job of every parent since children were invented. It's a sacred assignment – guarding our family from the things that could hurt them, and the job's never been more difficult.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Homeland Security For Your Home."
Not all the things that can hurt our children are from the outside. Some of them are from the darkness inside us; selfishness, anger, a critical or negative attitude, hurting words, praise that's really needed but never given, affection that's not shown, words that should be said but are left unsaid, and the words that should have been left unsaid. Those are some of the deadliest missiles that can hit a child's heart. And the same mom or dad who is in such a wonderful position to protect them from harm can be the same mom or dad who is in a position to inflict so much hurt.
Our families need our own Department of Homeland Security, right? Something or someone who will keep our family safe and who can make us the mom or dad that our children so need us to be.
Jesus Christ wants to be that for you. He describes the unique security He offers in Isaiah 40:11, our word for today from the Word of God; one of my favorite verses as a Dad. "He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms (you can put the names of your children where it says "lambs") and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that have young." Whoa! That's you, Mom! That's you, Dad! The dark side of each of us could be the single greatest threat to the security of our personal homeland. The battle against that dark side is going to have to be won by someone stronger than we are – because most of us have tried to change the things we don't like about ourselves and we know that hurt other people, and there's still way too much dark stuff.
Good news! There are three wonderful miracles that Jesus does in the heart and life of a mom or dad who will allow Him to be their shepherd; to decide the direction they go. First, He forgives you for every mistake, every sin, every wound you've ever inflicted, everything you wish you'd done differently, and every hurting thing you've ever done. That forgiveness was not cheap. It meant paying the price to remove the huge wall that we've all built between us and God. We built that wall by our sins. And paying that price meant being separated from God himself on that awful cross. Jesus was, so you would never have to be, separated from Him again. When you open your life to Jesus, He brings with Him the new beginning of being totally forgiven and clean.
Secondly, Jesus will change you from the inside out. The Bible calls it becoming "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). If He had the power to conquer death, He surely has the power to conquer the darkness in you and me. And then, Jesus protects those who belong to Him, like a shepherd protects His sheep.
And right now, this Jesus is waiting for you to put your life in His hands. He's probably been waiting a long time. I don't know how much longer He'll wait, but I can tell you, Jesus is a Daddy's Savior. He's a Mommy's Savior. He wants to be your Savior. And He will be from the moment you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm not running things anymore. You died for me! I am all yours."
I would love to help you get started in this relationship with Him. In fact, we've set up our website just to do that. It's ANewStory.com. Kind of a good name for it, because it could be the beginning of a new story for you and for your family. Would you go there – ANewStory.com?
There's no home that is more secure than a home where Jesus Christ lives, and He wants to live in your home because you've asked Him to live in you.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
1 Chronicles 29 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: YOUR HELPER
God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!” That’s the promise God gave Joshua. And he gives you the same promise. The writer of Hebrews quoted those same words in Hebrews 13:5-6 and then concluded by saying, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”
What can anyone do to me? You know the answers. Lie to me. Deceive me. Bully me. But the Scripture asks a different question. The Greek word for helper in this passage means “to shout, to run.” When you need help, God runs with a shout, “I’m coming!” He never leaves you. Ever! Since God is strong, you will be strong. Since he is able, you will be able. Since he has no limits, you have no limits.
The Lord is my helper! What can man do to me?
From God is With You Every Day
1 Chronicles 29
Gifts for Building the Temple
29 Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise,[a] stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: 4 three thousand talents[b] of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents[c] of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents[d] and ten thousand darics[e] of gold, ten thousand talents[f] of silver, eighteen thousand talents[g] of bronze and a hundred thousand talents[h] of iron. 8 Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
David’s Prayer
10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.
Solomon Acknowledged as King
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day.
Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.
The Death of David
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.
29 As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, 30 together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.
Footnotes:
1 Chronicles 29:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
1 Chronicles 29:4 That is, about 110 tons or about 100 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:4 That is, about 260 tons or about 235 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 190 tons or about 170 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 185 pounds or about 84 kilograms
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 380 tons or about 340 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 675 tons or about 610 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 3,800 tons or about 3,400 metric tons
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Read: John 10:1–11
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
Footnotes:
10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me.
10:9 Or will find safety.
INSIGHT:
In our relativistic age, some believe that many roads lead to God. In our passage for today, however, Jesus says He is the only way to God. Jesus uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd to show how He leads and cares for those who know Him by faith. He also uses the symbol of a gate to show that He is the only means by which we can have eternal life. The one who seeks and saves the lost is the one who laid down His life for all who believe.
Called by Name
By Dave Branon
He calls his own sheep by name. John 10:3
When I first meet a new group of students in the college composition class I teach, I already know their names. I take the time to familiarize myself with their names and photos on my student roster, so when they walk into my classroom I can say, “Hello, Jessica,” or “Welcome, Trevor.” I do this because I know how meaningful it is when someone knows and calls us by name.
Yet to truly know someone, we need to know more than that person’s name. In John 10, we can sense the warmth and care Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has for us when we read that He “calls his own sheep by name” (v. 3). He knows even more than our name. He knows our thoughts, longings, fears, wrongs, and deepest needs. Because He knows our deepest needs, He has given us our very life—our eternal life—at the cost of His own. As He says in verse 11, He “lays down his life for the sheep.”
Give thanks to Jesus! He knows your name and your needs.
You see, our sin separated us from God. So Jesus, the Good Shepherd, became the Lamb and sacrificed Himself, taking our sin on Himself. When He gave His life for us and then was resurrected, He redeemed us. As a result, when we accept His gift of salvation through faith, we are no longer separated from God.
Give thanks to Jesus! He knows your name and your needs!
Dear Lord, thank You for knowing my name and for knowing exactly what I need. Thank You for dying for my sin and for rising from the grave to defeat death and give me eternal life with You.
God’s knowledge of us knows no bounds.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Do It Now!
Agree with your adversary quickly… —Matthew 5:25
In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.
Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?
Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).
“Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Indestructible Truth - #7689
The crews assigned to the recovery effort after the September 11th attack on the Pentagon had an awful job to do. They were working in 120-degree heat; they were making their way through the wreckage left behind when terrorists flew Flight 757 into the Pentagon. They didn't find any survivors. They did find a mass of concrete and metal debris; the metal too hot to touch. But the news reported that they had found a sign of hope as they looked into that black chasm inside. On a second floor, right next to where the jet sheared off a section of the building, was an undisturbed stool. On it was a thick, open book – a Bible. It wasn't burned. Neither was anything around it or on the two floors above it. The leader of the recovery team was quoted as saying, "I'm not as religious as some, but that would have me thinking. I just can't explain it."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Indestructible Truth".
I was moved when I read that – because the Bible has been for me, and for millions of people, the one thing that has survived every fire in our life. Everything else might be taken away, but God's words are still true, always surviving life's fires. Jesus said it in Luke 21:33, our word for today from the Word of God – "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."
If you want to anchor your life to truth that will never let you down, the Bible is that anchor. It's the only book God ever wrote. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." It's authored by God and it's life-changing!
The Bible doesn't just claim to be God's own words – the evidence for that claim is overwhelming. The Bible was written by 40 different authors over 2000 years in three different languages – imagine the changing ideas of truth or the changing cultures over that span. And yet the Bible has a unified message – same God, same concept of sin, same concept of forgiveness, of heaven, of morality. Imagine getting forty different people from the same city and the same generation together right now in one room and asking them to write their ideas on those subjects. You'd be lucky to get two of them to agree! But the Bible, written over so many years with such diversity in the authors and the cultures, reads like it had one author. It did – God.
Every time the archeologists have dug up something described in the Bible, it has proven the Bible to be true – even if the Bible was the only book that talked about it. And hundreds of Biblical prophecies, most of them 200 to 2,000 years in advance, have been fulfilled to the finest detail. No Biblical prophecy has ever been wrong. That's God, folks.
But for most of us, what matters most is that this book has proven to be God's words in our own lives, over and over again. His promises have been proven true, His warnings have been proven right, His directions work. The Bible is that rock that never moves, the compass that's never wrong, and the life preserver that never sinks. And though it is an anvil that has been hammered against for centuries, the hammers are gone, the anvil remains.
And right now, as so much in your life may be burning down, as so much in our world and our culture may be changing, go to this Book, trust this Book, stake everything on this Book. These are God's words, and you'll make it if you hang onto them with everything you've got. Jeremiah 23:29 says it so well – "'Is not My word like fire,' declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?'"
God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!” That’s the promise God gave Joshua. And he gives you the same promise. The writer of Hebrews quoted those same words in Hebrews 13:5-6 and then concluded by saying, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”
What can anyone do to me? You know the answers. Lie to me. Deceive me. Bully me. But the Scripture asks a different question. The Greek word for helper in this passage means “to shout, to run.” When you need help, God runs with a shout, “I’m coming!” He never leaves you. Ever! Since God is strong, you will be strong. Since he is able, you will be able. Since he has no limits, you have no limits.
The Lord is my helper! What can man do to me?
From God is With You Every Day
1 Chronicles 29
Gifts for Building the Temple
29 Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise,[a] stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: 4 three thousand talents[b] of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents[c] of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents[d] and ten thousand darics[e] of gold, ten thousand talents[f] of silver, eighteen thousand talents[g] of bronze and a hundred thousand talents[h] of iron. 8 Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
David’s Prayer
10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.
Solomon Acknowledged as King
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day.
Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.
The Death of David
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.
29 As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, 30 together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.
Footnotes:
1 Chronicles 29:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
1 Chronicles 29:4 That is, about 110 tons or about 100 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:4 That is, about 260 tons or about 235 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 190 tons or about 170 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 185 pounds or about 84 kilograms
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 380 tons or about 340 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 675 tons or about 610 metric tons
1 Chronicles 29:7 That is, about 3,800 tons or about 3,400 metric tons
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Read: John 10:1–11
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
Footnotes:
10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me.
10:9 Or will find safety.
INSIGHT:
In our relativistic age, some believe that many roads lead to God. In our passage for today, however, Jesus says He is the only way to God. Jesus uses the metaphor of the Good Shepherd to show how He leads and cares for those who know Him by faith. He also uses the symbol of a gate to show that He is the only means by which we can have eternal life. The one who seeks and saves the lost is the one who laid down His life for all who believe.
Called by Name
By Dave Branon
He calls his own sheep by name. John 10:3
When I first meet a new group of students in the college composition class I teach, I already know their names. I take the time to familiarize myself with their names and photos on my student roster, so when they walk into my classroom I can say, “Hello, Jessica,” or “Welcome, Trevor.” I do this because I know how meaningful it is when someone knows and calls us by name.
Yet to truly know someone, we need to know more than that person’s name. In John 10, we can sense the warmth and care Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has for us when we read that He “calls his own sheep by name” (v. 3). He knows even more than our name. He knows our thoughts, longings, fears, wrongs, and deepest needs. Because He knows our deepest needs, He has given us our very life—our eternal life—at the cost of His own. As He says in verse 11, He “lays down his life for the sheep.”
Give thanks to Jesus! He knows your name and your needs.
You see, our sin separated us from God. So Jesus, the Good Shepherd, became the Lamb and sacrificed Himself, taking our sin on Himself. When He gave His life for us and then was resurrected, He redeemed us. As a result, when we accept His gift of salvation through faith, we are no longer separated from God.
Give thanks to Jesus! He knows your name and your needs!
Dear Lord, thank You for knowing my name and for knowing exactly what I need. Thank You for dying for my sin and for rising from the grave to defeat death and give me eternal life with You.
God’s knowledge of us knows no bounds.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Do It Now!
Agree with your adversary quickly… —Matthew 5:25
In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.
Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?
Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).
“Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Indestructible Truth - #7689
The crews assigned to the recovery effort after the September 11th attack on the Pentagon had an awful job to do. They were working in 120-degree heat; they were making their way through the wreckage left behind when terrorists flew Flight 757 into the Pentagon. They didn't find any survivors. They did find a mass of concrete and metal debris; the metal too hot to touch. But the news reported that they had found a sign of hope as they looked into that black chasm inside. On a second floor, right next to where the jet sheared off a section of the building, was an undisturbed stool. On it was a thick, open book – a Bible. It wasn't burned. Neither was anything around it or on the two floors above it. The leader of the recovery team was quoted as saying, "I'm not as religious as some, but that would have me thinking. I just can't explain it."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Indestructible Truth".
I was moved when I read that – because the Bible has been for me, and for millions of people, the one thing that has survived every fire in our life. Everything else might be taken away, but God's words are still true, always surviving life's fires. Jesus said it in Luke 21:33, our word for today from the Word of God – "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."
If you want to anchor your life to truth that will never let you down, the Bible is that anchor. It's the only book God ever wrote. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." It's authored by God and it's life-changing!
The Bible doesn't just claim to be God's own words – the evidence for that claim is overwhelming. The Bible was written by 40 different authors over 2000 years in three different languages – imagine the changing ideas of truth or the changing cultures over that span. And yet the Bible has a unified message – same God, same concept of sin, same concept of forgiveness, of heaven, of morality. Imagine getting forty different people from the same city and the same generation together right now in one room and asking them to write their ideas on those subjects. You'd be lucky to get two of them to agree! But the Bible, written over so many years with such diversity in the authors and the cultures, reads like it had one author. It did – God.
Every time the archeologists have dug up something described in the Bible, it has proven the Bible to be true – even if the Bible was the only book that talked about it. And hundreds of Biblical prophecies, most of them 200 to 2,000 years in advance, have been fulfilled to the finest detail. No Biblical prophecy has ever been wrong. That's God, folks.
But for most of us, what matters most is that this book has proven to be God's words in our own lives, over and over again. His promises have been proven true, His warnings have been proven right, His directions work. The Bible is that rock that never moves, the compass that's never wrong, and the life preserver that never sinks. And though it is an anvil that has been hammered against for centuries, the hammers are gone, the anvil remains.
And right now, as so much in your life may be burning down, as so much in our world and our culture may be changing, go to this Book, trust this Book, stake everything on this Book. These are God's words, and you'll make it if you hang onto them with everything you've got. Jeremiah 23:29 says it so well – "'Is not My word like fire,' declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?'"
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
1 Chronicles 28 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Problem with Un-prayed for Problems
Take your problems to Jesus. Don’t take them out on others. Temper tantrums never advance a cause. The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ. I can almost hear you say, “Max if I take my problems to Jesus every time I have one, I’m going to be talking to Jesus all day long.” Now you’re getting the point!
The Bible reminds us not to “worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you’ll experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:6-7).
An unprayed-for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects—first the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers. Let Jesus take care of you. He knows about thorns!
From God is With You Ever Day
1 Chronicles 28
David’s Plans for the Temple
28 David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the warriors and all the brave fighting men.
2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3 But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’
4 “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’
8 “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
19 “All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.”
20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. 21 The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Read: Ephesians 2:1–10
Made Alive with Christ
2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Footnotes:
2:2 Greek obeying the commander of the power of the air.
INSIGHT:
Paul makes an instructive distinction in Ephesians 2:1. He tells his readers that they were dead in their transgressions and sins. By using the past tense he establishes a new normal for those who follow Christ. They are no longer spiritually dead, but are alive in Christ. Paul makes a subtle distinction between transgression, the disobedience of known and established standards, and sin, missing the mark of God’s holiness. He points out that when followers of Christ fall short of God’s perfect and holy standard, whether they know it or not, they are living lives that are no longer natural to the new life given to them. The resurrection of Christ has brought our dead hearts to life.
Our Way of Life
By David McCasland
We are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2:10 nrsv
I was struck by a phrase I heard quoted from a contemporary Bible translation. When I Googled the phrase “our way of life” to locate the passage, many of the results focused on things people felt were threatening their expected way of living. Prominent among the perceived threats were climate change, terrorism, and government policies.
What really is our way of life as followers of Jesus? I wondered. Is it what makes us comfortable, secure, and happy, or is it something more?
God has called us to pursue a life that reaches out to others and honors Him.
Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus of the remarkable way God had transformed their lives. “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:4-5 nrsv). The result is that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (v. 10 nrsv).
Doing good works, helping others, giving, loving, and serving in Jesus’s name—these are to be our way of life. They are not optional activities for believers, but the very reason God has given us life in Christ.
In a changing world, God has called and empowered us to pursue a life that reaches out to others and honors Him.
Father, thank You for the incredible riches of Your love and mercy. You rescued us from our dead way of living and made us alive with Christ.
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
The Strictest Discipline
If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. —Matthew 5:30
Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.
When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.
The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
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
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
A Donkey with a Cross - #7688
I've lived in the city; I've lived in the country. And when I live in the country...a lot more farm animals, so I learn a lot. I've actually learned a lot about donkeys. It's kind of fun to hear their braying. I mean there's no other animal that sounds quite like a donkey. Now, the ones that I knew best, the gray one and the brown one, but they both have the same marking on their back. It's one long dark line along their spine and then there's a shorter dark line across their shoulders. It actually makes a cross. One old farmer told my wife that all donkeys have that cross, and that they have it because a donkey carried Jesus to His birth and on Palm Sunday. I don't know the reason, but there's no doubt that many a donkey carries the cross on his back.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and want to have A Word With You today about "A Donkey with a Cross."
I have to tell you something, I saw myself when I looked at those donkeys. I don't have the ears and I don't bray. But in a lot of ways, I am sort of a donkey who carries the cross of Jesus.
Jesus' great ambassador, Paul, knew that the message of the cross-the one that he carried everywhere he went-was all he really had to offer. In our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 6:14, he simply says, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Oh, Paul had a list of Christian accomplishments that would dwarf anything any of us could be proud of. But he knew who he was. In his own words, "less than the least of all the Lord's people" (Eph. 3:8). Then He said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst" (1 Timothy 1:15).
Several years ago I was surprised at a large Christian event by the presentation of a wonderful award. In fact, I was almost in shock as I went up to accept the award. They wanted me to say something and, believe it or not, for once in my life, I did not know what I would say. And this verse, King James style, was all I could think of, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Look, I'm nothing without the cross. Paul was nothing without the cross. You're nothing without the cross.
This isn't a matter of putting yourself down and insulting God by saying that He created someone worthless. We are "His workmanship" the Bible says (Eph. 2:10). But without the cross, we're stranded in an orbit away from the One who gave us our worth, and the death of Jesus on that brutal cross is the only way to connect with our Creator.
If you've drifted into promoting yourself these days, if you've been trying to get attention or recognition or advancement for you, how about going out of the self-promoting business? God has you here to promote Jesus and to promote His cross.
God really doesn't need you or me, but when we pick up our cross to follow Jesus, He appoints us to His service. And He gives us a simple mission. In a sense, the one He's given those donkeys, "Carry My cross wherever you go!" Are you?
Your mission is to take as many people as you can by the hand and lead them up Skull Hill to the foot of Jesus' cross where you show them how much this Jesus loves them. Anyone who knows you for very long should be guided by you to the cross. I just pray that you won't be ashamed of the cross of Jesus. Aren't you thankful that He wasn't ashamed of you when He died for you on the cross?
Take your problems to Jesus. Don’t take them out on others. Temper tantrums never advance a cause. The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ. I can almost hear you say, “Max if I take my problems to Jesus every time I have one, I’m going to be talking to Jesus all day long.” Now you’re getting the point!
The Bible reminds us not to “worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you’ll experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:6-7).
An unprayed-for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects—first the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers. Let Jesus take care of you. He knows about thorns!
From God is With You Ever Day
1 Chronicles 28
David’s Plans for the Temple
28 David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the warriors and all the brave fighting men.
2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3 But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’
4 “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’
8 “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
19 “All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.”
20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. 21 The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Read: Ephesians 2:1–10
Made Alive with Christ
2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Footnotes:
2:2 Greek obeying the commander of the power of the air.
INSIGHT:
Paul makes an instructive distinction in Ephesians 2:1. He tells his readers that they were dead in their transgressions and sins. By using the past tense he establishes a new normal for those who follow Christ. They are no longer spiritually dead, but are alive in Christ. Paul makes a subtle distinction between transgression, the disobedience of known and established standards, and sin, missing the mark of God’s holiness. He points out that when followers of Christ fall short of God’s perfect and holy standard, whether they know it or not, they are living lives that are no longer natural to the new life given to them. The resurrection of Christ has brought our dead hearts to life.
Our Way of Life
By David McCasland
We are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2:10 nrsv
I was struck by a phrase I heard quoted from a contemporary Bible translation. When I Googled the phrase “our way of life” to locate the passage, many of the results focused on things people felt were threatening their expected way of living. Prominent among the perceived threats were climate change, terrorism, and government policies.
What really is our way of life as followers of Jesus? I wondered. Is it what makes us comfortable, secure, and happy, or is it something more?
God has called us to pursue a life that reaches out to others and honors Him.
Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus of the remarkable way God had transformed their lives. “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:4-5 nrsv). The result is that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (v. 10 nrsv).
Doing good works, helping others, giving, loving, and serving in Jesus’s name—these are to be our way of life. They are not optional activities for believers, but the very reason God has given us life in Christ.
In a changing world, God has called and empowered us to pursue a life that reaches out to others and honors Him.
Father, thank You for the incredible riches of Your love and mercy. You rescued us from our dead way of living and made us alive with Christ.
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
The Strictest Discipline
If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. —Matthew 5:30
Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.
When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.
The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
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
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
A Donkey with a Cross - #7688
I've lived in the city; I've lived in the country. And when I live in the country...a lot more farm animals, so I learn a lot. I've actually learned a lot about donkeys. It's kind of fun to hear their braying. I mean there's no other animal that sounds quite like a donkey. Now, the ones that I knew best, the gray one and the brown one, but they both have the same marking on their back. It's one long dark line along their spine and then there's a shorter dark line across their shoulders. It actually makes a cross. One old farmer told my wife that all donkeys have that cross, and that they have it because a donkey carried Jesus to His birth and on Palm Sunday. I don't know the reason, but there's no doubt that many a donkey carries the cross on his back.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and want to have A Word With You today about "A Donkey with a Cross."
I have to tell you something, I saw myself when I looked at those donkeys. I don't have the ears and I don't bray. But in a lot of ways, I am sort of a donkey who carries the cross of Jesus.
Jesus' great ambassador, Paul, knew that the message of the cross-the one that he carried everywhere he went-was all he really had to offer. In our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 6:14, he simply says, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Oh, Paul had a list of Christian accomplishments that would dwarf anything any of us could be proud of. But he knew who he was. In his own words, "less than the least of all the Lord's people" (Eph. 3:8). Then He said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst" (1 Timothy 1:15).
Several years ago I was surprised at a large Christian event by the presentation of a wonderful award. In fact, I was almost in shock as I went up to accept the award. They wanted me to say something and, believe it or not, for once in my life, I did not know what I would say. And this verse, King James style, was all I could think of, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Look, I'm nothing without the cross. Paul was nothing without the cross. You're nothing without the cross.
This isn't a matter of putting yourself down and insulting God by saying that He created someone worthless. We are "His workmanship" the Bible says (Eph. 2:10). But without the cross, we're stranded in an orbit away from the One who gave us our worth, and the death of Jesus on that brutal cross is the only way to connect with our Creator.
If you've drifted into promoting yourself these days, if you've been trying to get attention or recognition or advancement for you, how about going out of the self-promoting business? God has you here to promote Jesus and to promote His cross.
God really doesn't need you or me, but when we pick up our cross to follow Jesus, He appoints us to His service. And He gives us a simple mission. In a sense, the one He's given those donkeys, "Carry My cross wherever you go!" Are you?
Your mission is to take as many people as you can by the hand and lead them up Skull Hill to the foot of Jesus' cross where you show them how much this Jesus loves them. Anyone who knows you for very long should be guided by you to the cross. I just pray that you won't be ashamed of the cross of Jesus. Aren't you thankful that He wasn't ashamed of you when He died for you on the cross?
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