Max Lucado Daily: God Does What He Says He Will Do
Faith is a choice. It is! And Promised Land people risk the choice. When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, they choose belief. They place one determined step after the other on the pathway of faith. Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp. They make a conscious decision to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven. They press into the promises of God.
Joshua 21:43-45 urges us to do likewise. In fact, one might argue that the central message of the book is this headline: God keeps his promises. Trust him. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”
Don’t miss this! Attention everyone. God keeps his word! God does what he says he will do!
From Glory Days
Hosea 5
They Wouldn’t Recognize God If They Saw Him
“Listen to this, priests!
Attention, people of Israel!
Royal family—all ears!
You’re in charge of justice around here.
But what have you done? Exploited people at Mizpah,
ripped them off on Tabor,
Victimized them at Shittim.
I’m going to punish the lot of you.
3-4 “I know you, Ephraim, inside and out.
Yes, Israel, I see right through you!
Ephraim, you’ve played your sex-and-religion games long enough.
All Israel is thoroughly polluted.
They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to.
Their evil life is a bad habit.
Every breath they take is a whore’s breath.
They wouldn’t recognize God if they saw me.
5-7 “Bloated by arrogance, big as a house,
they’re a public disgrace,
The lot of them—Israel, Ephraim, Judah—
lurching and weaving down their guilty streets.
When they decide to get their lives together
and go off looking for God once again,
They’ll find it’s too late.
I, God, will be long gone.
They’ve played fast and loose with me for too long,
filling the country with their bastard offspring.
A plague of locusts will
devastate their violated land.
8-9 “Blow the ram’s horn shofar in Gibeah,
the bugle in Ramah!
Signal the invasion of Sin City!
Scare the daylights out of Benjamin!
Ephraim will be left wasted,
a lifeless moonscape.
I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,
to the tribes of Israel.
10 “Israel’s rulers are crooks and thieves,
cheating the people of their land,
And I’m angry, good and angry.
Every inch of their bodies is going to feel my anger.
11-12 “Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized—
a taste of his own medicine!
He was so determined
to do it his own worthless way.
Therefore I’m pus to Ephraim,
dry rot in the house of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw he was sick
and Judah saw his pus-filled sores,
Ephraim went running to Assyria,
went for help to the big king.
But he can’t heal you.
He can’t cure your oozing sores.
14-15 “I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,
a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.
I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!
No one can stop me now.
I’ll drag them off.
No one can help them.
Then I’ll go back to where I came from
until they come to their senses.
When they finally hit rock bottom,
maybe they’ll come looking for me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Read: Psalm 92:12–15
But you’ve made me strong as a charging bison,
you’ve honored me with a festive parade.
The sight of my critics going down is still fresh,
the rout of my malicious detractors.
My ears are filled with the sounds of promise:
“Good people will prosper like palm trees,
Grow tall like Lebanon cedars;
transplanted to God’s courtyard,
They’ll grow tall in the presence of God,
lithe and green, virile still in old age.”
15 Such witnesses to upright God!
My Mountain, my huge, holy Mountain!
INSIGHT:
In today’s Scripture, Psalm 92, the psalmist proclaims in verse 12 that the righteous—the faithful—will flourish like a palm tree and grow like the cedars of Lebanon. The palm tree was associated with value—both ornamental and economic—and palm fronds were already being used in worship (Lev. 23:40). The cedars of Lebanon are almost always used in Scripture to illustrate strength, stability, and majesty. At the time this psalm was written, magnificent evergreen (cedar) forests graced the mountains of Lebanon. With low branches and expansive canopies, these trees can reach up to 100 feet tall. The psalmist’s prayer is for the righteous to increase like the cedar and blossom like the palm tree.
The Red Hackle
By David Roper
They will still bear fruit in old age. Psalm 92:14
Several years ago I stumbled across a bit of fishing lore in a second-century ad work by the Greek writer Aelian. “Between Boroca and Thessalonica runs a river called the Astracus, and in it there are fish with spotted skins [trout].” He then describes a “snare for the fish, by which they get the better of them. They fastened crimson red wool round a hook and attached two feathers. Then they would throw their snare, and the fish, attracted by the color, comes up, thinking to get a mouthful” (On the Nature of Animals).
Fishermen still use this lure today. It is called the Red Hackle. First used over 2,200 years ago, it remains a snare for trout by which we “get the better of them.”
As the years add up, God's faithfulness keeps multiplying.
When I read that ancient work I thought: Not all old things are passé—especially people. If through contented and cheerful old age we show others the fullness and deepness of God, we’ll be useful to the end of our days. Old age does not have to focus on declining health, pining over what once was. It can also be full of tranquility and mirth and courage and kindness, the fruit of those who have grown old with God.
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord . . . shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing” (Ps. 92:13–14 nkjv).
Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness throughout our lives. Help us finish our lives well in service to You and to remember that old age does not mean uselessness.
As the years add up, God’s faithfulness keeps multiplying.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 27, 2016
The Consecration of Spiritual Powe
…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Romans 14 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Holy Cause
Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.
It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!
From Glory Days
Romans 14
Cultivating Good Relationships
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:
“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”
So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 3:8–12
Suffering for Doing Good
8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.
INSIGHT:
The apostle Peter may be one of the last people from whom we would expect counsel on bridling our tongues. He was the one to chastise Jesus and claim fidelity even if all others failed, and yet he later disowned Christ (Matt. 26:33, 69–75). He was the only disciple to resort to violence (v. 51; John 18:10–11), and yet he encouraged the mistreated and displaced not to return like for like (see 1 Peter 3:9). Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Peter finally understood the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38–44. Have you wished you could hit rewind and take back your words or actions? Is it comforting to know that just as Peter was changed, you too, through the Holy Spirit, can experience growth and change?
Unsend
By David McCasland
Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 1 Peter 3:10
Have you ever sent an email and suddenly realized it went to the wrong person or it contained harmful, harsh words? If only you could press a key and stop it. Well, now you can. Several companies offer a feature that gives you a brief time after sending an email to stop it from leaving your computer. After that, the email is like a spoken word that cannot be unsaid. Rather than being seen as a cure-all, an “unsend” feature should remind us that it’s extremely important to guard what we say.
In the apostle Peter’s first letter, he told the followers of Jesus, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing. . . . For, ‘whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it’ ” (1 Peter 3:9–11).
Lord, guard our words today so we may not harm others by what we say.
The psalmist David wrote, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3). That’s a great prayer for the beginning of each day and in every situation when we want to strike back with words.
Lord, guard our words today so we may not harm others by what we say.
Father, teach us first to guard our hearts so that we may guard our tongues. And help us, when we do say things we regret, to humbly apologize and seek forgiveness.
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 26, 2016
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold. Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L
Maybe the reason your problems feel so great is because your cause is too small. Perhaps you need to set your mind on a holy cause. Do you have a holy cause? A faith worth preserving? A mission worth living for? Ask God to give you an orphanage to serve. A neighbor to encourage or a needy family to feed. A class to teach or some senior citizens to love.
It really is better to give than receive. In the kingdom of Christ we gain by giving, not taking. We grow by helping, not hurting. We advance by serving, not demanding. Want to see your troubles evaporate? Help others with theirs. You will always face problems, but you don’t have to face them in the same way. Instead, immerse your mind in God-thoughts. Turn a deaf ear to doubters and set your mind on a holy cause!
From Glory Days
Romans 14
Cultivating Good Relationships
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:
“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”
So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 3:8–12
Suffering for Doing Good
8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.
INSIGHT:
The apostle Peter may be one of the last people from whom we would expect counsel on bridling our tongues. He was the one to chastise Jesus and claim fidelity even if all others failed, and yet he later disowned Christ (Matt. 26:33, 69–75). He was the only disciple to resort to violence (v. 51; John 18:10–11), and yet he encouraged the mistreated and displaced not to return like for like (see 1 Peter 3:9). Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Peter finally understood the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38–44. Have you wished you could hit rewind and take back your words or actions? Is it comforting to know that just as Peter was changed, you too, through the Holy Spirit, can experience growth and change?
Unsend
By David McCasland
Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 1 Peter 3:10
Have you ever sent an email and suddenly realized it went to the wrong person or it contained harmful, harsh words? If only you could press a key and stop it. Well, now you can. Several companies offer a feature that gives you a brief time after sending an email to stop it from leaving your computer. After that, the email is like a spoken word that cannot be unsaid. Rather than being seen as a cure-all, an “unsend” feature should remind us that it’s extremely important to guard what we say.
In the apostle Peter’s first letter, he told the followers of Jesus, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing. . . . For, ‘whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it’ ” (1 Peter 3:9–11).
Lord, guard our words today so we may not harm others by what we say.
The psalmist David wrote, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3). That’s a great prayer for the beginning of each day and in every situation when we want to strike back with words.
Lord, guard our words today so we may not harm others by what we say.
Father, teach us first to guard our hearts so that we may guard our tongues. And help us, when we do say things we regret, to humbly apologize and seek forgiveness.
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 26, 2016
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold. Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L
Friday, November 25, 2016
Hosea 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE?
What is your unique assignment in life? The Bible shows us how to answer that question. Galatians 6:4 reads “make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” (MSG). Try starting with these two questions:
(1) With whom do you feel most fluent? You may be tongue-tied around children but eloquent with executives. This is how God designed you. Scripture reminds us that “God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12:6 NLT).
(2) For whom do you feel most compassion? God doesn’t burden us equally. He fashions our hearts individually. When does your heart break and pulse race? When you spot the homeless? When you travel to the inner city?
Discover what makes you unique…and use your gifts for God.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 4
No One Is Faithful
Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
4-10 “But don’t look for someone to blame.
No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
for a life of rutting with whores.
They Make a Picnic Out of Religion
11-14 “Wine and whiskey
leave my people in a stupor.
They ask questions of a dead tree,
expect answers from a sturdy walking stick.
Drunk on sex, they can’t find their way home.
They’ve replaced their God with their genitals.
They worship on the tops of mountains,
make a picnic out of religion.
Under the oaks and elms on the hills
they stretch out and take it easy.
Before you know it, your daughters are whores
and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.
But I’m not going after your whoring daughters
or the adulterous wives of your sons.
It’s the men who pick up the whores that I’m after,
the men who worship at the holy whorehouses—
a stupid people, ruined by whores!
15-19 “You’ve ruined your own life, Israel—
but don’t drag Judah down with you!
Don’t go to the sex shrine at Gilgal,
don’t go to that sin city Bethel,
Don’t go around saying ‘God bless you’ and not mean it,
taking God’s name in vain.
Israel is stubborn as a mule.
How can God lead him like a lamb to open pasture?
Ephraim is addicted to idols.
Let him go.
When the beer runs out,
it’s sex, sex, and more sex.
Bold and sordid debauchery—
how they love it!
The whirlwind has them in its clutches.
Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 25, 2016
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10–19
The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,
Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.
11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.
And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?
12 Hard and honest work earns a good night’s sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man’s belly gives him insomnia.
13-17 Here’s a piece of bad luck I’ve seen happen:
A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him
And then loses it all in a bad business deal.
He fathered a child but hasn’t a cent left to give him.
He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;
He’ll leave in the same condition—with nothing.
This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.
So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?
All for a miserable life spent in the dark?
Make the Most of What God Gives
18-20 After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.
INSIGHT:
Without the living God being brought into the picture, Ecclesiastes is one of the most paradoxical books in the Old Testament. For much of this short reflective work, we see life portrayed without God as an active Person in our lives. As a result, much of the text, though inspired by the Spirit, describes secular beliefs. Nonetheless, today’s reading showcases wisdom in various aspects of life.
Best Deal Ever!
By Amy Boucher Pye
As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners? Ecclesiastes 5:11
How much is enough? We might ask this simple question on a day that many developed countries increasingly devote to shopping. I speak of Black Friday, the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, in which many stores open early and offer cut-price deals; a day that has spread from the States to other nations. Some shoppers have limited resources and are trying to purchase something at a price they can afford. But sadly, for others greed is the motivation, and violence erupts as they fight for bargains.
The wisdom of the Old Testament writer known as “the Teacher” (Eccl. 1:1) provides an antidote to the frenzy of consumerism we may face in the shops—and in our hearts. He points out that those who love money never will have enough and will be ruled by their possessions. And yet, they will die with nothing: “As everyone comes, so they depart” (5:15). The apostle Paul echoes the Teacher in his letter to Timothy, when he says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and that we should strive for “godliness with contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6–10).
True contentment does not depend on anything in this world.
Whether we live in a place of plenty or not, we all can seek unhealthy ways of filling the God-shaped hole in our hearts. But when we look to the Lord for our sense of peace and well-being, He will fill us with His goodness and love.
“You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” Augustine, The Confessions
True contentment does not depend on anything in this world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 25, 2016
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 25, 2016
Our grandson was just about six months old, but it was obvious even then that he and his Mother had a very close relationship. In fact, I noticed back then an interesting dimension of their connectedness. There will be a sudden loud noise or a rowdy outburst by someone-like me for example-and you could tell that my grandson didn't know how he should respond. So instinctively he looked at his mother. His mother knew that, and she had learned how important it was for her to look calm and unfazed, no matter what was coming down. See, he studied her reaction for a moment and then he just obviously decided to do what she did, respond the same way; no tears, no fear. "Hey, Mom's OK. I'm OK."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Showing Your Child How to Live."
Babies just instinctively look to a parent – have you ever noticed? – to see how they should react, even after those babies aren't babies anymore. In so many ways, our children are the products of how we program them with our responses to life.
God underscores the importance of this parental shaping in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 11, "Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm." So, God says, "Fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
Notice where our children will learn the ways of God in the classroom of everyday life. In the real life experiences and situations, more than in some formal teaching time. They're going to watch and listen to us in those times, and they're going to learn how they should act, for better or for worse. They won't be shaped primarily by all the formal teaching, but by those informal times when they see the real difference a real God makes in real things.
So as your son or daughter looks to you to learn how to respond, what are they learning? When problems come and they look your way, do they see prayer and trusting God, or worrying and complaining? Are they learning to respond to frustrations by seeing patience in you or anger? Is it integrity they see, or do they see cutting corners and compromise when they look at you? Are they learning prejudice or are they learning the unconditional love of Christ?
Looking at you, Mom or Dad, does your child see forgiving grievances or harboring grievances; bringing them back over and over again? Do they see peace or do they see stress? Are they hearing words that encourage people or words that criticize and tear people down?
The fact is, children learn what they live. Old saying/true saying, "They learn what they live." And when we know we're showing them an approach to life that is hurtful and wrong, it can be a pretty powerful incentive to finally let Jesus be the Lord of that weakness in us. You know, when it was just us and we were driving on a bad road, it only affected us. But guess what? Now, as parents, we're taking them with us everywhere we go.
If you can't find any other reason for opening up a sinful part of you to Christ's control, would you do it for your precious son or daughter, "Lord, for his sake, for her sake, I just can't be this way anymore!"
Because like a certain baby I remember and love, your child is looking your direction to decide how to live. And whatever you sow in them, you and they will spend a lifetime reaping.
What is your unique assignment in life? The Bible shows us how to answer that question. Galatians 6:4 reads “make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” (MSG). Try starting with these two questions:
(1) With whom do you feel most fluent? You may be tongue-tied around children but eloquent with executives. This is how God designed you. Scripture reminds us that “God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12:6 NLT).
(2) For whom do you feel most compassion? God doesn’t burden us equally. He fashions our hearts individually. When does your heart break and pulse race? When you spot the homeless? When you travel to the inner city?
Discover what makes you unique…and use your gifts for God.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 4
No One Is Faithful
Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
4-10 “But don’t look for someone to blame.
No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
for a life of rutting with whores.
They Make a Picnic Out of Religion
11-14 “Wine and whiskey
leave my people in a stupor.
They ask questions of a dead tree,
expect answers from a sturdy walking stick.
Drunk on sex, they can’t find their way home.
They’ve replaced their God with their genitals.
They worship on the tops of mountains,
make a picnic out of religion.
Under the oaks and elms on the hills
they stretch out and take it easy.
Before you know it, your daughters are whores
and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.
But I’m not going after your whoring daughters
or the adulterous wives of your sons.
It’s the men who pick up the whores that I’m after,
the men who worship at the holy whorehouses—
a stupid people, ruined by whores!
15-19 “You’ve ruined your own life, Israel—
but don’t drag Judah down with you!
Don’t go to the sex shrine at Gilgal,
don’t go to that sin city Bethel,
Don’t go around saying ‘God bless you’ and not mean it,
taking God’s name in vain.
Israel is stubborn as a mule.
How can God lead him like a lamb to open pasture?
Ephraim is addicted to idols.
Let him go.
When the beer runs out,
it’s sex, sex, and more sex.
Bold and sordid debauchery—
how they love it!
The whirlwind has them in its clutches.
Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, November 25, 2016
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10–19
The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,
Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.
11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.
And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?
12 Hard and honest work earns a good night’s sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man’s belly gives him insomnia.
13-17 Here’s a piece of bad luck I’ve seen happen:
A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him
And then loses it all in a bad business deal.
He fathered a child but hasn’t a cent left to give him.
He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;
He’ll leave in the same condition—with nothing.
This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.
So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?
All for a miserable life spent in the dark?
Make the Most of What God Gives
18-20 After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.
INSIGHT:
Without the living God being brought into the picture, Ecclesiastes is one of the most paradoxical books in the Old Testament. For much of this short reflective work, we see life portrayed without God as an active Person in our lives. As a result, much of the text, though inspired by the Spirit, describes secular beliefs. Nonetheless, today’s reading showcases wisdom in various aspects of life.
Best Deal Ever!
By Amy Boucher Pye
As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners? Ecclesiastes 5:11
How much is enough? We might ask this simple question on a day that many developed countries increasingly devote to shopping. I speak of Black Friday, the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, in which many stores open early and offer cut-price deals; a day that has spread from the States to other nations. Some shoppers have limited resources and are trying to purchase something at a price they can afford. But sadly, for others greed is the motivation, and violence erupts as they fight for bargains.
The wisdom of the Old Testament writer known as “the Teacher” (Eccl. 1:1) provides an antidote to the frenzy of consumerism we may face in the shops—and in our hearts. He points out that those who love money never will have enough and will be ruled by their possessions. And yet, they will die with nothing: “As everyone comes, so they depart” (5:15). The apostle Paul echoes the Teacher in his letter to Timothy, when he says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and that we should strive for “godliness with contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6–10).
True contentment does not depend on anything in this world.
Whether we live in a place of plenty or not, we all can seek unhealthy ways of filling the God-shaped hole in our hearts. But when we look to the Lord for our sense of peace and well-being, He will fill us with His goodness and love.
“You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” Augustine, The Confessions
True contentment does not depend on anything in this world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 25, 2016
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 25, 2016
Our grandson was just about six months old, but it was obvious even then that he and his Mother had a very close relationship. In fact, I noticed back then an interesting dimension of their connectedness. There will be a sudden loud noise or a rowdy outburst by someone-like me for example-and you could tell that my grandson didn't know how he should respond. So instinctively he looked at his mother. His mother knew that, and she had learned how important it was for her to look calm and unfazed, no matter what was coming down. See, he studied her reaction for a moment and then he just obviously decided to do what she did, respond the same way; no tears, no fear. "Hey, Mom's OK. I'm OK."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Showing Your Child How to Live."
Babies just instinctively look to a parent – have you ever noticed? – to see how they should react, even after those babies aren't babies anymore. In so many ways, our children are the products of how we program them with our responses to life.
God underscores the importance of this parental shaping in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 11, "Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm." So, God says, "Fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
Notice where our children will learn the ways of God in the classroom of everyday life. In the real life experiences and situations, more than in some formal teaching time. They're going to watch and listen to us in those times, and they're going to learn how they should act, for better or for worse. They won't be shaped primarily by all the formal teaching, but by those informal times when they see the real difference a real God makes in real things.
So as your son or daughter looks to you to learn how to respond, what are they learning? When problems come and they look your way, do they see prayer and trusting God, or worrying and complaining? Are they learning to respond to frustrations by seeing patience in you or anger? Is it integrity they see, or do they see cutting corners and compromise when they look at you? Are they learning prejudice or are they learning the unconditional love of Christ?
Looking at you, Mom or Dad, does your child see forgiving grievances or harboring grievances; bringing them back over and over again? Do they see peace or do they see stress? Are they hearing words that encourage people or words that criticize and tear people down?
The fact is, children learn what they live. Old saying/true saying, "They learn what they live." And when we know we're showing them an approach to life that is hurtful and wrong, it can be a pretty powerful incentive to finally let Jesus be the Lord of that weakness in us. You know, when it was just us and we were driving on a bad road, it only affected us. But guess what? Now, as parents, we're taking them with us everywhere we go.
If you can't find any other reason for opening up a sinful part of you to Christ's control, would you do it for your precious son or daughter, "Lord, for his sake, for her sake, I just can't be this way anymore!"
Because like a certain baby I remember and love, your child is looking your direction to decide how to live. And whatever you sow in them, you and they will spend a lifetime reaping.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Hosea 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GRATITUDE
Gratitude gets us through the hard stuff! To reflect on your blessings is to rehearse God’s accomplishments. To rehearse God’s accomplishments is to discover his heart! To discover his heart is to discover not just good gifts but the Good Giver. Gratitude always leaves us looking at God and away from dread. The apostle Paul said, “Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 NLT).
The surest path out of a slump is marked by the road sign, Thank you. But what of the disastrous days? Grateful then? Jesus was. “On the night when he was betrayed,” Scriptures says, “the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24 NLT). How often do you see the words betrayed and thanks in the same sentence—much less in the same heart? Give thanks…and see what happens.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 3
In Time They’ll Come Back
Then God ordered me, “Start all over: Love your wife again,
your wife who’s in bed with her latest boyfriend, your
cheating wife.
Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people,
even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy.”
2-3 I did it. I paid good money to get her back.
It cost me the price of a slave.
Then I told her, “From now on you’re living with me.
No more whoring, no more sleeping around.
You’re living with me and I’m living with you.”
4-5 The people of Israel are going to live a long time
stripped of security and protection,
without religion and comfort,
godless and prayerless.
But in time they’ll come back, these Israelites,
come back looking for their God and their David-King.
They’ll come back chastened to reverence
before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Read: Colossians 3:12–17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
INSIGHT:
Paul compared new life in Christ to changing old clothes for new ones (Col. 3:9, 10). But don’t we have old “clothes”—attitudes—that feel more comfortable than new ones? What if we’ve tried over and over to be more forgiving, thankful, and peaceful (vv. 14–15) without much change? If so, it’s important that we not misunderstand what Paul is urging us to do. The secret of clothing ourselves in the attitudes of Christ, according to Paul, is being good hosts to Christ in us (1:27). As we learn to consider and rely on His presence in us gratefully, we gradually discover that wonderful new attitudes of love, peace, and gratefulness are growing in us in ways that we sense are not simply the result of our own efforts.
Game of Thanks
By Joe Stowell
Whatever you do, . . . do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17
Every autumn we throw a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast on campus at Cornerstone University. Our students love it! Last year a group of students played a game at their table. They challenged each other to name something they were thankful for—in three seconds or less—without repeating what someone else had said. Anyone who hesitated was out of the game.
There are all kinds of things that students might gripe about—tests, deadlines, rules, and a host of other college-type complaints. But these students had chosen to be thankful. And my guess is that they all felt a lot better after the game than they would have if they had chosen to complain.
Today, let’s make the choice to have an attitude of thankfulness.
While there will always be things to complain about, if we look carefully there are always blessings to be thankful for. When Paul describes our newness in Christ, “thankfulness” is the only characteristic mentioned more than once. In fact it is mentioned three times. “Be thankful,” he says in Colossians 3:15. Sing to God “with gratitude in your hearts” (v. 16). And whatever you do, be sure to be “giving thanks to God the Father” (v. 17). Paul’s instruction to be thankful is astonishing when we consider that he wrote this letter from prison!
Today, let’s make the choice to have an attitude of thankfulness.
Lord, teach me the liberating joy of being thankful! Help me to find the blessings that are locked up in the things I complain about and to regularly express my gratitude to You and others.
Choose the attitude of gratitude.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Direction of Focus
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God… —Psalm 123:2
This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.” We have to realize that no effort can be too high.
For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your “rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure.” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.” That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Tigger, Eeyore and Thanksgiving - #7794
Maybe it was the dumb voices I did. But the kids used to love it when I read "Winnie the Pooh" to them. Tigger with his irrepressible "hoo-hoo!" bouncing everywhere. And Eeyore with his head down and his ever-present gloom. I'd rather be Tigger than Eeyore maybe without the bouncing. I mean, I want to be the one to leave sunshine in the room, not storm clouds.
That's not so easy. There's plenty to make us Eeyores: overheated schedules, grumpy folks, medical battles, family tension, too little sleep, long delays, aggravating pain, and aggravating people who are a pain. And then there's the antidote – thanksgiving. Well, actually, giving thanks. That may be the difference between being the joy-bringer or the joy-killer.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tigger, Eeyore, and Thanksgiving."
The "inventors" of our Thanksgiving exemplify that difference. According to H. U. Westermayer, "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
There's Thanksgiving the holiday. Then there's thanks-living, the lifestyle. It's the difference between the dirty window and the blessing glasses. Yep! See, when I look out a dirty window, the whole world looks yucky. Even the really good stuff is dimmed by all the caked-on dirt that's coloring my view.
If you've decided your role in life is "victim," it's going to be hard for you to see much that's positive through that window: abused, neglected, abandoned, misunderstood, passed over, or wounded – that's real hurt. But to let those who hurt you define you? That's a self-imposed sentence of despair; denying the many good things because they don't fit the victim narrative – living as a prisoner of your past.
Unthankfulness, for whatever reason, breeds some ugly offspring. In Romans 1, God describes how humans end up doing unthinkably depraved things and where that downward slide starts. "They wouldn't worship Him as God or even give Him thanks...their minds became dark and confused" (Romans 1:21 NLT). Okay, here it is. Unthankful heart – dark mind, bitterness, resentment, depression, anger, rebellion against God. They come from an ungrateful heart.
Yes, you can choose to go through life looking out your dirty window, seeing all that's wrong. Or, you can choose to put on your blessing glasses that enable you to live, not in denial of the bad stuff but celebrating the goodness of God all around you if you have eyes to see it.
Henry Ward Beecher, said, "The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as a magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" And those blessings are always there: the ever-changing masterpiece of the Ultimate Artist all over the sky, the yard, the horizon, the smile of a friend, the laughter of that child, the roof over your head, the food in the fridge, the song of that bird, the car that runs, the job you have, that person who cares. We call them "God-sightings."
Actually, thanks-living isn't just an option for a follower of Jesus. It's a command. "Always be joyful." How am I going to do that, for heaven's sake? Well, in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18, where it says, "Always be joyful." It also says, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Jesus."
When you look at life through blessing glasses, all kinds of good things blossom: joy that's from what's happening in your spirit, not your situation, peace that banishes anxiety, faith that sees a God who's bigger than whatever is bigger than you are.
Thanksgiving's a great time to become intentional about collecting blessings, not burdens. Living "with gratitude in your hearts to God" the Bible says. To "Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:16-17).
For me, that thanks begins, not at a turkey-filled table, but at an old rugged cross where I once again allow myself to be leveled by the love of my Jesus who took my hell so I can spend forever in His heaven.
Thanksgiving and thanks-living begin with the love that will never let me go.
Gratitude gets us through the hard stuff! To reflect on your blessings is to rehearse God’s accomplishments. To rehearse God’s accomplishments is to discover his heart! To discover his heart is to discover not just good gifts but the Good Giver. Gratitude always leaves us looking at God and away from dread. The apostle Paul said, “Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 NLT).
The surest path out of a slump is marked by the road sign, Thank you. But what of the disastrous days? Grateful then? Jesus was. “On the night when he was betrayed,” Scriptures says, “the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24 NLT). How often do you see the words betrayed and thanks in the same sentence—much less in the same heart? Give thanks…and see what happens.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 3
In Time They’ll Come Back
Then God ordered me, “Start all over: Love your wife again,
your wife who’s in bed with her latest boyfriend, your
cheating wife.
Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people,
even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy.”
2-3 I did it. I paid good money to get her back.
It cost me the price of a slave.
Then I told her, “From now on you’re living with me.
No more whoring, no more sleeping around.
You’re living with me and I’m living with you.”
4-5 The people of Israel are going to live a long time
stripped of security and protection,
without religion and comfort,
godless and prayerless.
But in time they’ll come back, these Israelites,
come back looking for their God and their David-King.
They’ll come back chastened to reverence
before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Read: Colossians 3:12–17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
INSIGHT:
Paul compared new life in Christ to changing old clothes for new ones (Col. 3:9, 10). But don’t we have old “clothes”—attitudes—that feel more comfortable than new ones? What if we’ve tried over and over to be more forgiving, thankful, and peaceful (vv. 14–15) without much change? If so, it’s important that we not misunderstand what Paul is urging us to do. The secret of clothing ourselves in the attitudes of Christ, according to Paul, is being good hosts to Christ in us (1:27). As we learn to consider and rely on His presence in us gratefully, we gradually discover that wonderful new attitudes of love, peace, and gratefulness are growing in us in ways that we sense are not simply the result of our own efforts.
Game of Thanks
By Joe Stowell
Whatever you do, . . . do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17
Every autumn we throw a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast on campus at Cornerstone University. Our students love it! Last year a group of students played a game at their table. They challenged each other to name something they were thankful for—in three seconds or less—without repeating what someone else had said. Anyone who hesitated was out of the game.
There are all kinds of things that students might gripe about—tests, deadlines, rules, and a host of other college-type complaints. But these students had chosen to be thankful. And my guess is that they all felt a lot better after the game than they would have if they had chosen to complain.
Today, let’s make the choice to have an attitude of thankfulness.
While there will always be things to complain about, if we look carefully there are always blessings to be thankful for. When Paul describes our newness in Christ, “thankfulness” is the only characteristic mentioned more than once. In fact it is mentioned three times. “Be thankful,” he says in Colossians 3:15. Sing to God “with gratitude in your hearts” (v. 16). And whatever you do, be sure to be “giving thanks to God the Father” (v. 17). Paul’s instruction to be thankful is astonishing when we consider that he wrote this letter from prison!
Today, let’s make the choice to have an attitude of thankfulness.
Lord, teach me the liberating joy of being thankful! Help me to find the blessings that are locked up in the things I complain about and to regularly express my gratitude to You and others.
Choose the attitude of gratitude.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Direction of Focus
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God… —Psalm 123:2
This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.” We have to realize that no effort can be too high.
For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your “rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure.” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.” That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Tigger, Eeyore and Thanksgiving - #7794
Maybe it was the dumb voices I did. But the kids used to love it when I read "Winnie the Pooh" to them. Tigger with his irrepressible "hoo-hoo!" bouncing everywhere. And Eeyore with his head down and his ever-present gloom. I'd rather be Tigger than Eeyore maybe without the bouncing. I mean, I want to be the one to leave sunshine in the room, not storm clouds.
That's not so easy. There's plenty to make us Eeyores: overheated schedules, grumpy folks, medical battles, family tension, too little sleep, long delays, aggravating pain, and aggravating people who are a pain. And then there's the antidote – thanksgiving. Well, actually, giving thanks. That may be the difference between being the joy-bringer or the joy-killer.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tigger, Eeyore, and Thanksgiving."
The "inventors" of our Thanksgiving exemplify that difference. According to H. U. Westermayer, "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
There's Thanksgiving the holiday. Then there's thanks-living, the lifestyle. It's the difference between the dirty window and the blessing glasses. Yep! See, when I look out a dirty window, the whole world looks yucky. Even the really good stuff is dimmed by all the caked-on dirt that's coloring my view.
If you've decided your role in life is "victim," it's going to be hard for you to see much that's positive through that window: abused, neglected, abandoned, misunderstood, passed over, or wounded – that's real hurt. But to let those who hurt you define you? That's a self-imposed sentence of despair; denying the many good things because they don't fit the victim narrative – living as a prisoner of your past.
Unthankfulness, for whatever reason, breeds some ugly offspring. In Romans 1, God describes how humans end up doing unthinkably depraved things and where that downward slide starts. "They wouldn't worship Him as God or even give Him thanks...their minds became dark and confused" (Romans 1:21 NLT). Okay, here it is. Unthankful heart – dark mind, bitterness, resentment, depression, anger, rebellion against God. They come from an ungrateful heart.
Yes, you can choose to go through life looking out your dirty window, seeing all that's wrong. Or, you can choose to put on your blessing glasses that enable you to live, not in denial of the bad stuff but celebrating the goodness of God all around you if you have eyes to see it.
Henry Ward Beecher, said, "The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as a magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" And those blessings are always there: the ever-changing masterpiece of the Ultimate Artist all over the sky, the yard, the horizon, the smile of a friend, the laughter of that child, the roof over your head, the food in the fridge, the song of that bird, the car that runs, the job you have, that person who cares. We call them "God-sightings."
Actually, thanks-living isn't just an option for a follower of Jesus. It's a command. "Always be joyful." How am I going to do that, for heaven's sake? Well, in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18, where it says, "Always be joyful." It also says, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Jesus."
When you look at life through blessing glasses, all kinds of good things blossom: joy that's from what's happening in your spirit, not your situation, peace that banishes anxiety, faith that sees a God who's bigger than whatever is bigger than you are.
Thanksgiving's a great time to become intentional about collecting blessings, not burdens. Living "with gratitude in your hearts to God" the Bible says. To "Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:16-17).
For me, that thanks begins, not at a turkey-filled table, but at an old rugged cross where I once again allow myself to be leveled by the love of my Jesus who took my hell so I can spend forever in His heaven.
Thanksgiving and thanks-living begin with the love that will never let me go.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Hosea 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: UNENDING INTERCESSION
Jesus is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us (Romans 8:34). In the presence of God, in defiance of Satan, Jesus Christ rises to your defense. He takes on the role of a priest.
The Book of Hebrews tells us, “Since we have a great priest over God’s house, let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience” (Hebrews 10:21-22 NCV). A clean conscience. A clean record. A clean heart. Free from accusation. Free from condemnation. Not just for our past mistakes but also for our future ones.
“Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for our sins with his blood” (Hebrews 7:25 TLB). Christ offers unending intercession on your behalf.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 2
“Rename your brothers ‘God’s Somebody.’
Rename your sisters ‘All Mercy.’
Wild Weekends and Unholy Holidays
2-13 “Haul your mother into court. Accuse her!
She’s no longer my wife.
I’m no longer her husband.
Tell her to quit dressing like a whore,
displaying her breasts for sale.
If she refuses, I’ll rip off her clothes
and expose her, naked as a newborn.
I’ll turn her skin into dried-out leather,
her body into a badlands landscape,
a rack of bones in the desert.
I’ll have nothing to do with her children,
born one and all in a whorehouse.
Face it: Your mother’s been a whore,
bringing bastard children into the world.
She said, ‘I’m off to see my lovers!
They’ll wine and dine me,
Dress and caress me,
perfume and adorn me!’
But I’ll fix her: I’ll dump her in a field of thistles,
then lose her in a dead-end alley.
She’ll go on the hunt for her lovers
but not bring down a single one.
She’ll look high and low
but won’t find a one. Then she’ll say,
‘I’m going back to my husband, the one I started out with.
That was a better life by far than this one.’
She didn’t know that it was I all along
who wined and dined and adorned her,
That I was the one who dressed her up
in the big-city fashions and jewelry
that she wasted on wild Baal-orgies.
I’m about to bring her up short: No more wining and dining!
Silk lingerie and gowns are a thing of the past.
I’ll expose her genitals to the public.
All her fly-by-night lovers will be helpless to help her.
Party time is over. I’m calling a halt to the whole business,
her wild weekends and unholy holidays.
I’ll wreck her sumptuous gardens and ornamental fountains,
of which she bragged, ‘Whoring paid for all this!’
They will soon be dumping grounds for garbage,
feeding grounds for stray dogs and cats.
I’ll make her pay for her indulgence in promiscuous religion—
all that sensuous Baal worship
And all the promiscuous sex that went with it,
stalking her lovers, dressed to kill,
And not a thought for me.”
God’s Message!
To Start All Over Again
14-15 “And now, here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to start all over again.
I’m taking her back out into the wilderness
where we had our first date, and I’ll court her.
I’ll give her bouquets of roses.
I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.
She’ll respond like she did as a young girl,
those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
16-20 “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
“you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.
21-23 “On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
“I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Read: Philippians 2:1–11
He Took on the Status of a Slave
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
INSIGHT:
In today’s reading, we see Paul’s eloquent treatment of how God became human. Jesus Christ had the attributes of God yet took on human flesh to become a servant. This self-sacrificial mission found its ultimate expression in Jesus’s death on the cross to provide salvation for all who believe in Him as Savior and Lord. C. S. Lewis wrote, “The Son of God became man so that men might become sons of God.”
Fame and Humility
By Cindy Hess Kasper
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
Many of us are obsessed with fame—either with being famous ourselves or with following every detail of famous people’s lives. International book or film tours. Late-night show appearances. Millions of followers on Twitter.
In a recent study in the US, researchers ranked the names of famous individuals using a specially developed algorithm that scoured the Internet. Jesus topped the list as the most famous person in history.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
Yet Jesus was never concerned about obtaining celebrity status. When He was here on earth, He never sought fame (Matt. 9:30; John 6:15)—although fame found Him all the same as news about Him quickly traveled throughout the region of Galilee (Mark 1:28; Luke 4:37).
Wherever Jesus went, crowds soon gathered. The miracles He performed drew people to Him. But when they tried to make Him a king by force, He slipped away by Himself (John 6:15). United in purpose with His Father, He repeatedly deferred to the Father’s will and timing (4:34; 8:29; 12:23). “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).
Fame was never Jesus’s goal. His purpose was simple. As the Son of God, He humbly, obediently, and voluntarily offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
You are to be celebrated, Lord, above all others. You have been highly exalted and given a name that is above every name. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord.
Jesus came not to be famous, but to humbly offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The Distraction of Contempt
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
We're all broken and we're covering it up. It's just too risky to come out from behind that mask, the wall that we've put up to keep people out, because we don't really want to see what's behind it. For sure we don't want anyone else to see it. We keep it until someone else takes their mask off; speaking transparently from their own brokenness. In essence, they give us permission to face our own hurt, to face our own darkness. Remember, Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will scare you to death." No, He didn't say that. He said, "set you free" (John 8:32).
I watched it happen on 11 pain-and-poverty-hardened Indian reservations this past summer. I've seen it happen when I've opened up about my very broken heart; broken by the sudden loss of my Karen a few months ago. She was the irreplaceable love of my life. And I have seen the singular power of brokenness to break through to the hardest closed hearts, including some who may be very close to us. Because an open heart opens hearts.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Brokenness."
These amazing young people I traveled with this past summer, 48 Native Americans bringing the hope they have found to some hope-starved places where the walls frankly are high around these wounded hearts of reservation young people. Abuse, anger, addictions, all the dying around them; man, they try to protect themselves by closing down. Nobody's going to get in.
These team members get that. They've lived it. Their stories would break your heart. Until they get to the turning point - Jesus. That brown-skinned, tribal man whose death for their sins and whose death-beating resurrection power changed everything. Because of Him, things just don't have to be the way they've always been. And that's called hope.
Through them, I was an eye witness to watching hundreds of Native young people do what Native young people don't do. They stepped out to declare they were choosing Jesus. What broke through where nothing has? It was their stories, in one-on-one conversations, from center court speaking - often with tears - about the darkest, most personal moments of their lives so they could tell about their Jesus.
And they broke through the walls, again and again, because they brought Jesus, wrapped in their own brokenness because that's how He came. Listen to the Bible's words in our word for today in the Word of God in Isaiah 52:14, and then out of chapter 53, verses 3-5. "He was rejected, a man of sorrows, despised, afflicted, disfigured, pierced, crushed." A broken Savior for broken people like me.
At our national conference for Native young people, I told about Jesus through my freshly broken heart. You know, when there was an opportunity for those young people to choose my Jesus, it was the largest response we've ever seen at the conference. Open hearts open hearts!
The walls and masks that we put up to hide our brokenness often cannot be breached by persuasion, debate, even Scripture unless the messenger comes broken with hope to share. A marriage can be saved, a child, a friendship, a soul – if someone is willing to come from behind their mask, their walls and their defenses, and simply let their heart do the talking.
That's when Jesus turns my hurt into hope for someone else. It's how my Jesus – who said He "came to bind up the brokenhearted" – does His life-restoring miracle. He turns my "ashes" into what He calls a "crown of beauty" (Isaiah 61:3).
Jesus is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us (Romans 8:34). In the presence of God, in defiance of Satan, Jesus Christ rises to your defense. He takes on the role of a priest.
The Book of Hebrews tells us, “Since we have a great priest over God’s house, let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience” (Hebrews 10:21-22 NCV). A clean conscience. A clean record. A clean heart. Free from accusation. Free from condemnation. Not just for our past mistakes but also for our future ones.
“Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for our sins with his blood” (Hebrews 7:25 TLB). Christ offers unending intercession on your behalf.
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 2
“Rename your brothers ‘God’s Somebody.’
Rename your sisters ‘All Mercy.’
Wild Weekends and Unholy Holidays
2-13 “Haul your mother into court. Accuse her!
She’s no longer my wife.
I’m no longer her husband.
Tell her to quit dressing like a whore,
displaying her breasts for sale.
If she refuses, I’ll rip off her clothes
and expose her, naked as a newborn.
I’ll turn her skin into dried-out leather,
her body into a badlands landscape,
a rack of bones in the desert.
I’ll have nothing to do with her children,
born one and all in a whorehouse.
Face it: Your mother’s been a whore,
bringing bastard children into the world.
She said, ‘I’m off to see my lovers!
They’ll wine and dine me,
Dress and caress me,
perfume and adorn me!’
But I’ll fix her: I’ll dump her in a field of thistles,
then lose her in a dead-end alley.
She’ll go on the hunt for her lovers
but not bring down a single one.
She’ll look high and low
but won’t find a one. Then she’ll say,
‘I’m going back to my husband, the one I started out with.
That was a better life by far than this one.’
She didn’t know that it was I all along
who wined and dined and adorned her,
That I was the one who dressed her up
in the big-city fashions and jewelry
that she wasted on wild Baal-orgies.
I’m about to bring her up short: No more wining and dining!
Silk lingerie and gowns are a thing of the past.
I’ll expose her genitals to the public.
All her fly-by-night lovers will be helpless to help her.
Party time is over. I’m calling a halt to the whole business,
her wild weekends and unholy holidays.
I’ll wreck her sumptuous gardens and ornamental fountains,
of which she bragged, ‘Whoring paid for all this!’
They will soon be dumping grounds for garbage,
feeding grounds for stray dogs and cats.
I’ll make her pay for her indulgence in promiscuous religion—
all that sensuous Baal worship
And all the promiscuous sex that went with it,
stalking her lovers, dressed to kill,
And not a thought for me.”
God’s Message!
To Start All Over Again
14-15 “And now, here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to start all over again.
I’m taking her back out into the wilderness
where we had our first date, and I’ll court her.
I’ll give her bouquets of roses.
I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.
She’ll respond like she did as a young girl,
those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
16-20 “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
“you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.
21-23 “On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
“I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Read: Philippians 2:1–11
He Took on the Status of a Slave
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
INSIGHT:
In today’s reading, we see Paul’s eloquent treatment of how God became human. Jesus Christ had the attributes of God yet took on human flesh to become a servant. This self-sacrificial mission found its ultimate expression in Jesus’s death on the cross to provide salvation for all who believe in Him as Savior and Lord. C. S. Lewis wrote, “The Son of God became man so that men might become sons of God.”
Fame and Humility
By Cindy Hess Kasper
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
Many of us are obsessed with fame—either with being famous ourselves or with following every detail of famous people’s lives. International book or film tours. Late-night show appearances. Millions of followers on Twitter.
In a recent study in the US, researchers ranked the names of famous individuals using a specially developed algorithm that scoured the Internet. Jesus topped the list as the most famous person in history.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
Yet Jesus was never concerned about obtaining celebrity status. When He was here on earth, He never sought fame (Matt. 9:30; John 6:15)—although fame found Him all the same as news about Him quickly traveled throughout the region of Galilee (Mark 1:28; Luke 4:37).
Wherever Jesus went, crowds soon gathered. The miracles He performed drew people to Him. But when they tried to make Him a king by force, He slipped away by Himself (John 6:15). United in purpose with His Father, He repeatedly deferred to the Father’s will and timing (4:34; 8:29; 12:23). “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).
Fame was never Jesus’s goal. His purpose was simple. As the Son of God, He humbly, obediently, and voluntarily offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
You are to be celebrated, Lord, above all others. You have been highly exalted and given a name that is above every name. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord.
Jesus came not to be famous, but to humbly offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The Distraction of Contempt
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
We're all broken and we're covering it up. It's just too risky to come out from behind that mask, the wall that we've put up to keep people out, because we don't really want to see what's behind it. For sure we don't want anyone else to see it. We keep it until someone else takes their mask off; speaking transparently from their own brokenness. In essence, they give us permission to face our own hurt, to face our own darkness. Remember, Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will scare you to death." No, He didn't say that. He said, "set you free" (John 8:32).
I watched it happen on 11 pain-and-poverty-hardened Indian reservations this past summer. I've seen it happen when I've opened up about my very broken heart; broken by the sudden loss of my Karen a few months ago. She was the irreplaceable love of my life. And I have seen the singular power of brokenness to break through to the hardest closed hearts, including some who may be very close to us. Because an open heart opens hearts.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful Brokenness."
These amazing young people I traveled with this past summer, 48 Native Americans bringing the hope they have found to some hope-starved places where the walls frankly are high around these wounded hearts of reservation young people. Abuse, anger, addictions, all the dying around them; man, they try to protect themselves by closing down. Nobody's going to get in.
These team members get that. They've lived it. Their stories would break your heart. Until they get to the turning point - Jesus. That brown-skinned, tribal man whose death for their sins and whose death-beating resurrection power changed everything. Because of Him, things just don't have to be the way they've always been. And that's called hope.
Through them, I was an eye witness to watching hundreds of Native young people do what Native young people don't do. They stepped out to declare they were choosing Jesus. What broke through where nothing has? It was their stories, in one-on-one conversations, from center court speaking - often with tears - about the darkest, most personal moments of their lives so they could tell about their Jesus.
And they broke through the walls, again and again, because they brought Jesus, wrapped in their own brokenness because that's how He came. Listen to the Bible's words in our word for today in the Word of God in Isaiah 52:14, and then out of chapter 53, verses 3-5. "He was rejected, a man of sorrows, despised, afflicted, disfigured, pierced, crushed." A broken Savior for broken people like me.
At our national conference for Native young people, I told about Jesus through my freshly broken heart. You know, when there was an opportunity for those young people to choose my Jesus, it was the largest response we've ever seen at the conference. Open hearts open hearts!
The walls and masks that we put up to hide our brokenness often cannot be breached by persuasion, debate, even Scripture unless the messenger comes broken with hope to share. A marriage can be saved, a child, a friendship, a soul – if someone is willing to come from behind their mask, their walls and their defenses, and simply let their heart do the talking.
That's when Jesus turns my hurt into hope for someone else. It's how my Jesus – who said He "came to bind up the brokenhearted" – does His life-restoring miracle. He turns my "ashes" into what He calls a "crown of beauty" (Isaiah 61:3).
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Hosea 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE INSPIRED WORD
Can we believe that all Scripture is inspired by God? Composed over sixteen centuries by forty authors! Begun by Moses in Arabia and finished by John on Patmos. Penned by kings in palaces, shepherds in tents, and prisoners in prisons. Would it be possible for forty writers writing in three different languages in several different countries, separated by as much as sixteen-hundred years, to produce a book of singular theme unless behind them there was one mind and one designer?
God’s Word endures. More than three-hundred fulfilled prophecies about the life of Christ were written at least four hundred years before he was born. Imagine if something similar occurred today. If we found a book written in 1900 that prophesied two world wars, a depression, an atomic bomb, and the assassinations of presidents—wouldn’t we trust it? Shouldn’t we trust the Bible?
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 1
This is God’s Message to Hosea son of Beeri. It came to him during the royal reigns of Judah’s kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This was also the time that Jeroboam son of Joash was king over Israel.
This Whole Country Has Become a Whorehouse
2 The first time God spoke to Hosea he said:
“Find a whore and marry her.
Make this whore the mother of your children.
And here’s why: This whole country
has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, God.”
3 Hosea did it. He picked Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She got pregnant and gave him a son.
4-5 Then God told him:
“Name him Jezreel. It won’t be long now before
I’ll make the people of Israel pay for the massacre at Jezreel.
I’m calling it quits on the kingdom of Israel.
Payday is coming! I’m going to chop Israel’s bows and arrows
into kindling in the valley of Jezreel.”
6-7 Gomer got pregnant again. This time she had a daughter. God told Hosea:
“Name this one No-Mercy. I’m fed up with Israel.
I’ve run out of mercy. There’s no more forgiveness.
Judah’s another story. I’ll continue having mercy on them.
I’ll save them. It will be their God who saves them,
Not their armaments and armies,
not their horsepower and manpower.”
8-9 After Gomer had weaned No-Mercy, she got pregnant yet again and had a son. God said:
“Name him Nobody. You’ve become nobodies to me,
and I, God, am a nobody to you.
10-11 “But down the road the population of Israel is going to explode past counting, like sand on the ocean beaches. In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody. Everybody in Judah and everybody in Israel will be assembled as one people. They’ll choose a single leader. There’ll be no stopping them—a great day in Jezreel!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Read: Hebrews 11:8–16
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
11-12 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
13-16 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
INSIGHT:
Those listed in today’s text “were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.” We must repeatedly remind ourselves that “this world is not our home” but we are passing through. Ultimate satisfaction will never be realized in this life but must be anchored in God and the eternal home He has prepared us for.
Longing for Home
By James Banks
They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Hebrews 11:16
My wife walked into the room and found me poking my head inside the cabinet of our grandfather clock. “What are you doing?” she asked. “This clock smells just like my parents’ house,” I answered sheepishly, closing the door. “I guess you could say I was going home for a moment.”
The sense of smell can evoke powerful memories. We had moved the clock across the country from my parents’ house nearly twenty years ago, but the aroma of the wood inside it still takes me back to my childhood.
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven.”
The writer of Hebrews tells of others who were longing for home in a different way. Instead of looking backward, they were looking ahead with faith to their home in heaven. Even though what they hoped for seemed a long way off, they trusted that God was faithful to keep His promise to bring them to a place where they would be with Him forever (Heb. 11:13–16).
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven,” and we are to “eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Looking forward to seeing Jesus and receiving everything God has promised us through Him help us keep our focus. The past or the present can never compare with what’s ahead of us!
Jesus, thank You that You are faithful to keep Your promises. Please help me to always look forward to You.
The best home of all is our home in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Shallow and Profound
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31
Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).
We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Flying Together or Flying Alone - #7792
If you're a photographer, you love seagulls. They soar so gracefully, almost like they're posing for the camera. They're beautiful – when they're alone. When they're together – not so beautiful. One gets on a perch, another comes and "boom!" knocks him off. One gets some food, others attack him for it. Actually, scientists put a red band on the leg of one seagull to find out what would happen. He was pecked to death by the other seagulls because he had something they didn't.
Contrast that with those Canada Geese some of us see migrating in the Spring and the Fall. They do everything together. Studies show that those geese almost always travel together, usually in those familiar V-formations. They rotate who's in front so one bird doesn't wear out. If one Canada goose is injured and can't go on, another goose will stay with him until he's ready to join another flock. They're like never left alone. The scientists even believe that the honking we hear is actually the geese cheerleading for each other, "Honk! You can make it! Mexico or bust! Honk!" I guess.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Together or Flying Alone."
The bottom line on those geese from those who study them is this: they are able to fly up to 71% farther together than they could ever fly alone. So are we who belong to Jesus Christ. We're able to fly a whole lot farther together than we ever could by ourselves. It's just too bad that so many of us are more seagull than goose – we're up there soaring all by ourselves, doing our thing, but missing the power of flying together with our brothers and sisters.
That is so clearly demonstrated in Acts 2, beginning with verse 44, and that's our word for today from the Word of God. "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, enjoying the favor of all the people."
Part of the power of these original believers was that they were geese, not gulls. They looked out for one another, provided for each other, and they pursued the Lord together. And they were powerful. The next verse says, "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." When's the last time you saw that happening? But then, when's the last time you saw believers together like that?
The "geese" principle actually applies to your family, your business, the ministry you're in, the relationships between believers in your church, and to the relationships between believers in your church with those in other churches. We can fly a lot farther together than we could ever fly alone!
But whether it's your church, your family, or another group, you have to fight to keep the flock together – because too many of us are solo-flying seagulls at heart aren't we? Here's Paul's blueprint for keeping the flock together. See how much this describes how you're acting. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit..." (Ephesians 4:2-3). That's "effort" as in "keep working at everyone staying together".
Maybe you're in a situation where it's prone to be cliques, power blocs, little personal kingdoms, personal egos, personal agendas, and polarizing individualism. Don't get sucked into that. Do whatever you have to do to keep the flock together or pull the flock together; write a letter, bring people together, get people praying together, ask for forgiveness, or help folks keep their eye on a mission that unites them rather than issues that divide them. If you need to, tell them about the gulls and the geese.
It's time to bring the flock together and see how far we can fly when we're flying together.
Can we believe that all Scripture is inspired by God? Composed over sixteen centuries by forty authors! Begun by Moses in Arabia and finished by John on Patmos. Penned by kings in palaces, shepherds in tents, and prisoners in prisons. Would it be possible for forty writers writing in three different languages in several different countries, separated by as much as sixteen-hundred years, to produce a book of singular theme unless behind them there was one mind and one designer?
God’s Word endures. More than three-hundred fulfilled prophecies about the life of Christ were written at least four hundred years before he was born. Imagine if something similar occurred today. If we found a book written in 1900 that prophesied two world wars, a depression, an atomic bomb, and the assassinations of presidents—wouldn’t we trust it? Shouldn’t we trust the Bible?
From God is With You Every Day
Hosea 1
This is God’s Message to Hosea son of Beeri. It came to him during the royal reigns of Judah’s kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This was also the time that Jeroboam son of Joash was king over Israel.
This Whole Country Has Become a Whorehouse
2 The first time God spoke to Hosea he said:
“Find a whore and marry her.
Make this whore the mother of your children.
And here’s why: This whole country
has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, God.”
3 Hosea did it. He picked Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She got pregnant and gave him a son.
4-5 Then God told him:
“Name him Jezreel. It won’t be long now before
I’ll make the people of Israel pay for the massacre at Jezreel.
I’m calling it quits on the kingdom of Israel.
Payday is coming! I’m going to chop Israel’s bows and arrows
into kindling in the valley of Jezreel.”
6-7 Gomer got pregnant again. This time she had a daughter. God told Hosea:
“Name this one No-Mercy. I’m fed up with Israel.
I’ve run out of mercy. There’s no more forgiveness.
Judah’s another story. I’ll continue having mercy on them.
I’ll save them. It will be their God who saves them,
Not their armaments and armies,
not their horsepower and manpower.”
8-9 After Gomer had weaned No-Mercy, she got pregnant yet again and had a son. God said:
“Name him Nobody. You’ve become nobodies to me,
and I, God, am a nobody to you.
10-11 “But down the road the population of Israel is going to explode past counting, like sand on the ocean beaches. In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody. Everybody in Judah and everybody in Israel will be assembled as one people. They’ll choose a single leader. There’ll be no stopping them—a great day in Jezreel!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Read: Hebrews 11:8–16
By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
11-12 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
13-16 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
INSIGHT:
Those listed in today’s text “were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.” We must repeatedly remind ourselves that “this world is not our home” but we are passing through. Ultimate satisfaction will never be realized in this life but must be anchored in God and the eternal home He has prepared us for.
Longing for Home
By James Banks
They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Hebrews 11:16
My wife walked into the room and found me poking my head inside the cabinet of our grandfather clock. “What are you doing?” she asked. “This clock smells just like my parents’ house,” I answered sheepishly, closing the door. “I guess you could say I was going home for a moment.”
The sense of smell can evoke powerful memories. We had moved the clock across the country from my parents’ house nearly twenty years ago, but the aroma of the wood inside it still takes me back to my childhood.
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven.”
The writer of Hebrews tells of others who were longing for home in a different way. Instead of looking backward, they were looking ahead with faith to their home in heaven. Even though what they hoped for seemed a long way off, they trusted that God was faithful to keep His promise to bring them to a place where they would be with Him forever (Heb. 11:13–16).
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven,” and we are to “eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Looking forward to seeing Jesus and receiving everything God has promised us through Him help us keep our focus. The past or the present can never compare with what’s ahead of us!
Jesus, thank You that You are faithful to keep Your promises. Please help me to always look forward to You.
The best home of all is our home in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Shallow and Profound
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31
Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).
We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Flying Together or Flying Alone - #7792
If you're a photographer, you love seagulls. They soar so gracefully, almost like they're posing for the camera. They're beautiful – when they're alone. When they're together – not so beautiful. One gets on a perch, another comes and "boom!" knocks him off. One gets some food, others attack him for it. Actually, scientists put a red band on the leg of one seagull to find out what would happen. He was pecked to death by the other seagulls because he had something they didn't.
Contrast that with those Canada Geese some of us see migrating in the Spring and the Fall. They do everything together. Studies show that those geese almost always travel together, usually in those familiar V-formations. They rotate who's in front so one bird doesn't wear out. If one Canada goose is injured and can't go on, another goose will stay with him until he's ready to join another flock. They're like never left alone. The scientists even believe that the honking we hear is actually the geese cheerleading for each other, "Honk! You can make it! Mexico or bust! Honk!" I guess.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Together or Flying Alone."
The bottom line on those geese from those who study them is this: they are able to fly up to 71% farther together than they could ever fly alone. So are we who belong to Jesus Christ. We're able to fly a whole lot farther together than we ever could by ourselves. It's just too bad that so many of us are more seagull than goose – we're up there soaring all by ourselves, doing our thing, but missing the power of flying together with our brothers and sisters.
That is so clearly demonstrated in Acts 2, beginning with verse 44, and that's our word for today from the Word of God. "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, enjoying the favor of all the people."
Part of the power of these original believers was that they were geese, not gulls. They looked out for one another, provided for each other, and they pursued the Lord together. And they were powerful. The next verse says, "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." When's the last time you saw that happening? But then, when's the last time you saw believers together like that?
The "geese" principle actually applies to your family, your business, the ministry you're in, the relationships between believers in your church, and to the relationships between believers in your church with those in other churches. We can fly a lot farther together than we could ever fly alone!
But whether it's your church, your family, or another group, you have to fight to keep the flock together – because too many of us are solo-flying seagulls at heart aren't we? Here's Paul's blueprint for keeping the flock together. See how much this describes how you're acting. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit..." (Ephesians 4:2-3). That's "effort" as in "keep working at everyone staying together".
Maybe you're in a situation where it's prone to be cliques, power blocs, little personal kingdoms, personal egos, personal agendas, and polarizing individualism. Don't get sucked into that. Do whatever you have to do to keep the flock together or pull the flock together; write a letter, bring people together, get people praying together, ask for forgiveness, or help folks keep their eye on a mission that unites them rather than issues that divide them. If you need to, tell them about the gulls and the geese.
It's time to bring the flock together and see how far we can fly when we're flying together.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Isaiah 66 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: OPEN MANHOLES
It happens in an instant. One minute you’re walking and whistling, the next you’re wide-eyed and falling. Satan yanks back the manhole cover, and an innocent afternoon stroll becomes a horror story. Such is the pattern of sudden sin. This demon of hell can penetrate the deepest faith, and desecrate the purest home.
Want to sharpen your defenses a bit? Recognize Satan. Rip off his mask. Look him squarely in the eye and call his bluff. “Get behind me, Satan!” And…accept God’s forgiveness. Romans chapters 7-8 declare the Emancipation Proclamation for those of us who have a tendency to tumble. “Thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord!. . .therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:25-8:1 NIV).
Claim the promise. Praise the Lord. And…watch out for open manholes!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 66
Living Worship to God
God’s Message:
“Heaven’s my throne,
earth is my footstool.
What sort of house could you build for me?
What holiday spot reserve for me?
I made all this! I own all this!”
God’s Decree.
“But there is something I’m looking for:
a person simple and plain,
reverently responsive to what I say.
3-4 “Your acts of worship
are acts of sin:
Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox
is no different from murdering the neighbor;
Your offerings for worship,
no different from dumping pig’s blood on the altar;
Your presentation of memorial gifts,
no different from honoring a no-god idol.
You choose self-serving worship,
you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!
Well, I choose to expose your nonsense
and let you realize your worst fears,
Because when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil,
you chose what I hate.”
5 But listen to what God has to say
to you who reverently respond to his Word:
“Your own families hate you
and turn you out because of me.
They taunt you, ‘Let us see God’s glory!
If God’s so great, why aren’t you happy?’
But they’re the ones
who are going to end up shamed.”
6 Rumbles of thunder from the city!
A voice out of the Temple!
God’s voice,
handing out judgment to his enemies:
7-9 “Before she went into labor,
she had the baby.
Before the birth pangs hit,
she delivered a son.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Has anyone seen anything like this?
A country born in a day?
A nation born in a flash?
But Zion was barely in labor
when she had her babies!
Do I open the womb
and not deliver the baby?
Do I, the One who delivers babies,
shut the womb?
10-11 “Rejoice, Jerusalem,
and all who love her, celebrate!
And all you who have shed tears over her,
join in the happy singing.
You newborns can satisfy yourselves
at her nurturing breasts.
Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill
at her ample bosom.”
12-13 God’s Message:
“I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river,
the glory of nations like a river in flood.
You’ll nurse at her breasts,
nestle in her bosom,
and be bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so I’ll comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14-16 You’ll see all this and burst with joy
—you’ll feel ten feet tall—
As it becomes apparent that God is on your side
and against his enemies.
For God arrives like wildfire
and his chariots like a tornado,
A furious outburst of anger,
a rebuke fierce and fiery.
For it’s by fire that God brings judgment,
a death sentence on the human race.
Many, oh so many,
are under God’s sentence of death:
17 “All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together.” God’s Decree.
18-21 “I know everything they’ve ever done or thought. I’m going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They’ll come and see my glory. I’ll set up a station at the center. I’ll send the survivors of judgment all over the world: Spain and Africa, Turkey and Greece, and the far-off islands that have never heard of me, who know nothing of what I’ve done nor who I am. I’ll send them out as missionaries to preach my glory among the nations. They’ll return with all your long-lost brothers and sisters from all over the world. They’ll bring them back and offer them in living worship to God. They’ll bring them on horses and wagons and carts, on mules and camels, straight to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says God. “They’ll present them just as Israelites present their offerings in a ceremonial vessel in the Temple of God. I’ll even take some of them and make them priests and Levites,” says God.
22-23 “For just as the new heavens and new earth
that I am making will stand firm before me”
—God’s Decree—
“So will your children
and your reputation stand firm.
Month after month and week by week,
everyone will come to worship me,” God says.
24 “And then they’ll go out and look at what happened
to those who rebelled against me. Corpses!
Maggots endlessly eating away on them,
an endless supply of fuel for fires.
Everyone who sees what’s happened
and smells the stench retches.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 21, 2016
Read: Ephesians 4:25–32
What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
26-27 Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
28 Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
30 Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
INSIGHT:
At first glance, today’s Scripture can look like a list of rules. Stop telling lies, quit stealing, don’t use abusive language, stop being bitter or angry. But it’s important to remember that these instructions aren’t just about changing behavior. They are about a change in identity. This list flows out of Paul’s earlier exhortation for the Christians in Ephesus to live according to their new identity as children of light (4:17–21). They used to participate in all kinds of sinful behavior. But when the Spirit opened their minds and softened their hearts (v. 18) to the truth of Christ, they were no longer dead but became alive in Christ. The Spirit renews our thoughts and attitudes, making an inward change that has outward effects.
What About You?
By Anne Cetas
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
Emily listened as a group of friends talked about their Thanksgiving traditions with family. “We go around the room and each one tells what he or she is thankful to God for,” Gary said.
Another friend mentioned his family's Thanksgiving meal and prayertime. He recalled time with his dad before he had died: “Even though Dad had dementia, his prayer of thanks to the Lord was clear.” Randy shared, “My family has a special time of singing together on the holiday. My grandma goes on and on and on!” Emily’s sadness and jealousy grew as she thought of her own family, and she complained: “Our traditions are to eat turkey, watch television, and never mention anything about God or giving thanks.”
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
Right away Emily felt uneasy with her attitude. You are part of that family. What would you like to do differently to change the day? she asked herself. She decided she wanted to privately tell each person she was thankful to the Lord that they were her sister, niece, brother, or great-niece. When the day arrived, she expressed her thankfulness for them one by one, and they all felt loved. It wasn’t easy because it wasn’t normal conversation in her family, but she experienced joy as she shared her love for each of them.
“Let everything you say be good and helpful,” wrote the apostle Paul, “so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Eph. 4:29 nlt). Our words of thanks can remind others of their value to us and to God.
Dear Lord, show me how I can be an encouragement to others with my words.
The human spirit fills with hope at the sound of an encouraging word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 21, 2016
"It is Finished!"
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. -John 17:4
The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him- something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption "much ado about nothing." God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. "We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…" (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ- "It is finished!" (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 21, 2016
How to Survive When Everything's Coming Down - #7791
I was watching on TV an anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and my mind raced back to this unforgettable personal visit I had to the site of what was a very deadly tragedy. In a pre-September 11th America, that terrorist bombing of a Federal Office Building left most Americans in like stunned disbelief; at least it did me. My guide for my visit to the memorial made it really special and very moving, because he's a state trooper. He was one of the rescuers that day. His recollections of the joy of rescues and the heartbreak of lives lost I'm not going to ever forget.
Of course, all the traces of that bombed-out building are gone now. The site is now a beautiful lawn with a stone chair for each of the victims. What was the street that day is now a reflection pond. Nothing remains there from the day the world stopped at 9:02 A. M. – nothing, that is, except the tree. On an embankment across from what was the building site stands a big old tree, still partially blackened by the bomb blast. We stood there, my rescuer friend and I, and we prayed beneath those branches that somehow had endured the blast. They call it The Survivor Tree.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Survive When Everything's Coming Down."
One indestructible tree – that's all that survived the most powerful blast that city had ever known.
For 2000 years, men and women who are reeling from blasts that seem to have blown apart everything in their lives, have made it – because of one indestructible tree. The Survivor Tree; the one the Bible talks about when it says that Jesus Christ "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). That tree is, of course, the cross where the greatest act of love in human history took place – the one and only Son of God dying in our place, paying for our sins so we would never have to. In that cross – in the unspeakable love that it makes available – so many have found the one life-anchor that nothing can take from them.
Every one of us has seasons in our life when a massive blast suddenly rips through everything around us. You could be in one of those seasons right now. Maybe you've been betrayed by a love you thought would always be there, your parent's marriage is coming apart, or you've lost someone who has been an anchor in your life. Sometimes we are victims of the destruction that comes from our own bad choices, which leaves you devastated by the shame of what you've done. Or it may not be what you've done. It may be the wrongs that have been done against you. The blast that changes everything can be a financial one or a medical one when a doctor's diagnosis hits like a bomb.
It is in those moments that we look for something to hold onto, something that can withstand what has rocked our life. And it is in moments like these that many of us have finally run to The Survivor Tree – the cross where Jesus died for us, where we can experience the "never leave you" love of Almighty God. That's the day you discover the miracle that's described in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 2:13-14, "You who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace."
That peace is within your reach this very day; maybe at a time when peace seems so impossible because of what you've lost. It may be that very loss will finally bring you to the one love you'll never lose. Jesus stands right now with arms wide open, waiting to forgive every sin of your life, to transform your dark side, and to heal what's broken inside you as only He can. He's waiting only for you to tell Him that you're turning from the sin that put Him on that cross and that you're putting all your trust in Him.
Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." I would love to give you information that will help you secure your new beginning with Jesus Christ. And it's at our website ANewStory.com where your new story could begin today. Would you go there?
Take your stand by the tree – by the cross – that nothing has ever blown away. You are one heartfelt prayer away from having in your heart the indestructible love of Almighty God.
It happens in an instant. One minute you’re walking and whistling, the next you’re wide-eyed and falling. Satan yanks back the manhole cover, and an innocent afternoon stroll becomes a horror story. Such is the pattern of sudden sin. This demon of hell can penetrate the deepest faith, and desecrate the purest home.
Want to sharpen your defenses a bit? Recognize Satan. Rip off his mask. Look him squarely in the eye and call his bluff. “Get behind me, Satan!” And…accept God’s forgiveness. Romans chapters 7-8 declare the Emancipation Proclamation for those of us who have a tendency to tumble. “Thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord!. . .therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:25-8:1 NIV).
Claim the promise. Praise the Lord. And…watch out for open manholes!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 66
Living Worship to God
God’s Message:
“Heaven’s my throne,
earth is my footstool.
What sort of house could you build for me?
What holiday spot reserve for me?
I made all this! I own all this!”
God’s Decree.
“But there is something I’m looking for:
a person simple and plain,
reverently responsive to what I say.
3-4 “Your acts of worship
are acts of sin:
Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox
is no different from murdering the neighbor;
Your offerings for worship,
no different from dumping pig’s blood on the altar;
Your presentation of memorial gifts,
no different from honoring a no-god idol.
You choose self-serving worship,
you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!
Well, I choose to expose your nonsense
and let you realize your worst fears,
Because when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil,
you chose what I hate.”
5 But listen to what God has to say
to you who reverently respond to his Word:
“Your own families hate you
and turn you out because of me.
They taunt you, ‘Let us see God’s glory!
If God’s so great, why aren’t you happy?’
But they’re the ones
who are going to end up shamed.”
6 Rumbles of thunder from the city!
A voice out of the Temple!
God’s voice,
handing out judgment to his enemies:
7-9 “Before she went into labor,
she had the baby.
Before the birth pangs hit,
she delivered a son.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Has anyone seen anything like this?
A country born in a day?
A nation born in a flash?
But Zion was barely in labor
when she had her babies!
Do I open the womb
and not deliver the baby?
Do I, the One who delivers babies,
shut the womb?
10-11 “Rejoice, Jerusalem,
and all who love her, celebrate!
And all you who have shed tears over her,
join in the happy singing.
You newborns can satisfy yourselves
at her nurturing breasts.
Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill
at her ample bosom.”
12-13 God’s Message:
“I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river,
the glory of nations like a river in flood.
You’ll nurse at her breasts,
nestle in her bosom,
and be bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so I’ll comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14-16 You’ll see all this and burst with joy
—you’ll feel ten feet tall—
As it becomes apparent that God is on your side
and against his enemies.
For God arrives like wildfire
and his chariots like a tornado,
A furious outburst of anger,
a rebuke fierce and fiery.
For it’s by fire that God brings judgment,
a death sentence on the human race.
Many, oh so many,
are under God’s sentence of death:
17 “All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together.” God’s Decree.
18-21 “I know everything they’ve ever done or thought. I’m going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They’ll come and see my glory. I’ll set up a station at the center. I’ll send the survivors of judgment all over the world: Spain and Africa, Turkey and Greece, and the far-off islands that have never heard of me, who know nothing of what I’ve done nor who I am. I’ll send them out as missionaries to preach my glory among the nations. They’ll return with all your long-lost brothers and sisters from all over the world. They’ll bring them back and offer them in living worship to God. They’ll bring them on horses and wagons and carts, on mules and camels, straight to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says God. “They’ll present them just as Israelites present their offerings in a ceremonial vessel in the Temple of God. I’ll even take some of them and make them priests and Levites,” says God.
22-23 “For just as the new heavens and new earth
that I am making will stand firm before me”
—God’s Decree—
“So will your children
and your reputation stand firm.
Month after month and week by week,
everyone will come to worship me,” God says.
24 “And then they’ll go out and look at what happened
to those who rebelled against me. Corpses!
Maggots endlessly eating away on them,
an endless supply of fuel for fires.
Everyone who sees what’s happened
and smells the stench retches.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, November 21, 2016
Read: Ephesians 4:25–32
What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
26-27 Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
28 Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
30 Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
INSIGHT:
At first glance, today’s Scripture can look like a list of rules. Stop telling lies, quit stealing, don’t use abusive language, stop being bitter or angry. But it’s important to remember that these instructions aren’t just about changing behavior. They are about a change in identity. This list flows out of Paul’s earlier exhortation for the Christians in Ephesus to live according to their new identity as children of light (4:17–21). They used to participate in all kinds of sinful behavior. But when the Spirit opened their minds and softened their hearts (v. 18) to the truth of Christ, they were no longer dead but became alive in Christ. The Spirit renews our thoughts and attitudes, making an inward change that has outward effects.
What About You?
By Anne Cetas
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
Emily listened as a group of friends talked about their Thanksgiving traditions with family. “We go around the room and each one tells what he or she is thankful to God for,” Gary said.
Another friend mentioned his family's Thanksgiving meal and prayertime. He recalled time with his dad before he had died: “Even though Dad had dementia, his prayer of thanks to the Lord was clear.” Randy shared, “My family has a special time of singing together on the holiday. My grandma goes on and on and on!” Emily’s sadness and jealousy grew as she thought of her own family, and she complained: “Our traditions are to eat turkey, watch television, and never mention anything about God or giving thanks.”
The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
Right away Emily felt uneasy with her attitude. You are part of that family. What would you like to do differently to change the day? she asked herself. She decided she wanted to privately tell each person she was thankful to the Lord that they were her sister, niece, brother, or great-niece. When the day arrived, she expressed her thankfulness for them one by one, and they all felt loved. It wasn’t easy because it wasn’t normal conversation in her family, but she experienced joy as she shared her love for each of them.
“Let everything you say be good and helpful,” wrote the apostle Paul, “so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Eph. 4:29 nlt). Our words of thanks can remind others of their value to us and to God.
Dear Lord, show me how I can be an encouragement to others with my words.
The human spirit fills with hope at the sound of an encouraging word.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 21, 2016
"It is Finished!"
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. -John 17:4
The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him- something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption "much ado about nothing." God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. "We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…" (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ- "It is finished!" (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 21, 2016
How to Survive When Everything's Coming Down - #7791
I was watching on TV an anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and my mind raced back to this unforgettable personal visit I had to the site of what was a very deadly tragedy. In a pre-September 11th America, that terrorist bombing of a Federal Office Building left most Americans in like stunned disbelief; at least it did me. My guide for my visit to the memorial made it really special and very moving, because he's a state trooper. He was one of the rescuers that day. His recollections of the joy of rescues and the heartbreak of lives lost I'm not going to ever forget.
Of course, all the traces of that bombed-out building are gone now. The site is now a beautiful lawn with a stone chair for each of the victims. What was the street that day is now a reflection pond. Nothing remains there from the day the world stopped at 9:02 A. M. – nothing, that is, except the tree. On an embankment across from what was the building site stands a big old tree, still partially blackened by the bomb blast. We stood there, my rescuer friend and I, and we prayed beneath those branches that somehow had endured the blast. They call it The Survivor Tree.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Survive When Everything's Coming Down."
One indestructible tree – that's all that survived the most powerful blast that city had ever known.
For 2000 years, men and women who are reeling from blasts that seem to have blown apart everything in their lives, have made it – because of one indestructible tree. The Survivor Tree; the one the Bible talks about when it says that Jesus Christ "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). That tree is, of course, the cross where the greatest act of love in human history took place – the one and only Son of God dying in our place, paying for our sins so we would never have to. In that cross – in the unspeakable love that it makes available – so many have found the one life-anchor that nothing can take from them.
Every one of us has seasons in our life when a massive blast suddenly rips through everything around us. You could be in one of those seasons right now. Maybe you've been betrayed by a love you thought would always be there, your parent's marriage is coming apart, or you've lost someone who has been an anchor in your life. Sometimes we are victims of the destruction that comes from our own bad choices, which leaves you devastated by the shame of what you've done. Or it may not be what you've done. It may be the wrongs that have been done against you. The blast that changes everything can be a financial one or a medical one when a doctor's diagnosis hits like a bomb.
It is in those moments that we look for something to hold onto, something that can withstand what has rocked our life. And it is in moments like these that many of us have finally run to The Survivor Tree – the cross where Jesus died for us, where we can experience the "never leave you" love of Almighty God. That's the day you discover the miracle that's described in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 2:13-14, "You who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace."
That peace is within your reach this very day; maybe at a time when peace seems so impossible because of what you've lost. It may be that very loss will finally bring you to the one love you'll never lose. Jesus stands right now with arms wide open, waiting to forgive every sin of your life, to transform your dark side, and to heal what's broken inside you as only He can. He's waiting only for you to tell Him that you're turning from the sin that put Him on that cross and that you're putting all your trust in Him.
Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." I would love to give you information that will help you secure your new beginning with Jesus Christ. And it's at our website ANewStory.com where your new story could begin today. Would you go there?
Take your stand by the tree – by the cross – that nothing has ever blown away. You are one heartfelt prayer away from having in your heart the indestructible love of Almighty God.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Isaiah 65 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: What He Says He Will Do
God will always be the same. No one else will. Companies follow pay raises with pink slips. Friends applaud you when you drive a classic and dismiss you when you drive a dud. Not God. God is always the same. James 4:1 says, with Him, “there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Catch God in a bad mood? Won’t happen. Fear exhausting His grace? A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first. Think He’s given up on you? Wrong. Did He not make a promise to you?
God is not a human being, and He will not lie. He is not a human, and He does not change His mind. What He says He will do. What He promises will come true. His strength, truth, ways, and love never change.
Hebrews 13:8 declares “He is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Trust him…what He says, He will do!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Isaiah 65
The People Who Bothered to Reach Out to God
“I’ve made myself available
to those who haven’t bothered to ask.
I’m here, ready to be found
by those who haven’t bothered to look.
I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’
to a nation that ignored me.
I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
They get on my nerves,
are rude to my face day after day,
Make up their own kitchen religion,
a potluck religious stew.
They spend the night in tombs
to get messages from the dead,
Eat forbidden foods
and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms.
They say, ‘Keep your distance.
Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’
These people gag me.
I can’t stand their stench.
Look at this! Their sins are all written out—
I have the list before me.
I’m not putting up with this any longer.
I’ll pay them the wages
They have coming for their sins.
And for the sins of their parents lumped in,
a bonus.” God says so.
“Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship,
mocking me at their hillside shrines,
I’ll let loose the consequences
and pay them in full for their actions.”
8-10 God’s Message:
“But just as one bad apple doesn’t ruin the whole bushel,
there are still plenty of good apples left.
So I’ll preserve those in Israel who obey me.
I won’t destroy the whole nation.
I’ll bring out my true children from Jacob
and the heirs of my mountains from Judah.
My chosen will inherit the land,
my servants will move in.
The lush valley of Sharon in the west
will be a pasture for flocks,
And in the east, the valley of Achor,
a place for herds to graze.
These will be for the people
who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives,
who actually bothered to look for me.
11-12 “But you who abandon me, your God,
who forget the holy mountains,
Who hold dinners for Lady Luck
and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be:
your destiny, Death.
For when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil;
you chose what I hate.”
13-16 Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God:
“My servants will eat,
and you’ll go hungry;
My servants will drink,
and you’ll go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
and you’ll hang your heads.
My servants will laugh from full hearts,
and you’ll cry out heartbroken,
yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Your legacy to my chosen
will be your name reduced to a cussword.
I, God, will put you to death
and give a new name to my servants.
Then whoever prays a blessing in the land
will use my faithful name for the blessing,
And whoever takes an oath in the land
will use my faithful name for the oath,
Because the earlier troubles are gone and forgotten,
banished far from my sight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Read: Acts 6:8–15; 7:59–60
Stephen, brimming with God’s grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some men from the meeting place whose membership was made up of freed slaves, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some others from Cilicia and Asia, went up against him trying to argue him down. But they were no match for his wisdom and spirit when he spoke.
11 So in secret they bribed men to lie: “We heard him cursing Moses and God.”
12-14 That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council. They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: “This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God’s Law. We even heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would tear this place down and throw out all the customs Moses gave us.”
15 As all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found they couldn’t take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an angel!
INSIGHT:
The name Stephen comes from the Greek word stephanos, which refers to a victor’s crown awarded in the ancient games. Stephen’s final words show how victorious he was. Acts 7:60 reads, “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’” Even in the midst of a painful and unjust death, Stephen displayed a spirit of victory that reflected Jesus’s heart when dying on the cross (Luke 23:34). He also had a proven character. In Acts 6, when Stephen is selected to assist with the widows’ ministry, he is described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). Stephen lived a life of faith under the control of the Spirit.
Sacrificial Faith
By Our Daily Bread
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10
It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting in the garden of our home, which is near the church where my husband is the minister. I hear wafts of praise and worship music floating through the air in the Farsi language. Our church in London hosts a vibrant Iranian congregation, and we feel humbled by their passion for Christ as they share some of their stories of persecution and tell of those, such as the senior pastor’s brother, who have been martyred for their faith. These faithful believers are following in the footsteps of the first Christian martyr, Stephen.
Stephen, one of the first appointed leaders in the early church, garnered attention in Jerusalem when he performed “great wonders and signs” (Acts 6:8) and was brought before the Jewish authorities to defend his actions. He gave an impassioned defense of the faith before describing the hard-heartedness of his accusers. But instead of repenting, they were “furious and gnashed their teeth at him” (7:54). They dragged him from the city and stoned him to death—even as he prayed for their forgiveness.
May we find grace to be found faithful to the One who suffered so much more for us.
The stories of Stephen and modern martyrs remind us that the message of Christ can be met with brutality. If we have never faced persecution for our faith, let’s pray for the persecuted church around the world. And may we, if and when tested, find grace to be found faithful to the One who suffered so much more for us.
Lord God, we believe You weep at the pain and anguish some of Your children experience because they love You. We pray that You will strengthen them in the midst of their suffering and send them Your grace.
May we find grace to walk in the Master’s steps.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 20, 2016
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins… —Ephesians 1:7
Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
God will always be the same. No one else will. Companies follow pay raises with pink slips. Friends applaud you when you drive a classic and dismiss you when you drive a dud. Not God. God is always the same. James 4:1 says, with Him, “there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Catch God in a bad mood? Won’t happen. Fear exhausting His grace? A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first. Think He’s given up on you? Wrong. Did He not make a promise to you?
God is not a human being, and He will not lie. He is not a human, and He does not change His mind. What He says He will do. What He promises will come true. His strength, truth, ways, and love never change.
Hebrews 13:8 declares “He is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Trust him…what He says, He will do!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Isaiah 65
The People Who Bothered to Reach Out to God
“I’ve made myself available
to those who haven’t bothered to ask.
I’m here, ready to be found
by those who haven’t bothered to look.
I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’
to a nation that ignored me.
I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
They get on my nerves,
are rude to my face day after day,
Make up their own kitchen religion,
a potluck religious stew.
They spend the night in tombs
to get messages from the dead,
Eat forbidden foods
and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms.
They say, ‘Keep your distance.
Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’
These people gag me.
I can’t stand their stench.
Look at this! Their sins are all written out—
I have the list before me.
I’m not putting up with this any longer.
I’ll pay them the wages
They have coming for their sins.
And for the sins of their parents lumped in,
a bonus.” God says so.
“Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship,
mocking me at their hillside shrines,
I’ll let loose the consequences
and pay them in full for their actions.”
8-10 God’s Message:
“But just as one bad apple doesn’t ruin the whole bushel,
there are still plenty of good apples left.
So I’ll preserve those in Israel who obey me.
I won’t destroy the whole nation.
I’ll bring out my true children from Jacob
and the heirs of my mountains from Judah.
My chosen will inherit the land,
my servants will move in.
The lush valley of Sharon in the west
will be a pasture for flocks,
And in the east, the valley of Achor,
a place for herds to graze.
These will be for the people
who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives,
who actually bothered to look for me.
11-12 “But you who abandon me, your God,
who forget the holy mountains,
Who hold dinners for Lady Luck
and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be:
your destiny, Death.
For when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil;
you chose what I hate.”
13-16 Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God:
“My servants will eat,
and you’ll go hungry;
My servants will drink,
and you’ll go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
and you’ll hang your heads.
My servants will laugh from full hearts,
and you’ll cry out heartbroken,
yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Your legacy to my chosen
will be your name reduced to a cussword.
I, God, will put you to death
and give a new name to my servants.
Then whoever prays a blessing in the land
will use my faithful name for the blessing,
And whoever takes an oath in the land
will use my faithful name for the oath,
Because the earlier troubles are gone and forgotten,
banished far from my sight.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Read: Acts 6:8–15; 7:59–60
Stephen, brimming with God’s grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some men from the meeting place whose membership was made up of freed slaves, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some others from Cilicia and Asia, went up against him trying to argue him down. But they were no match for his wisdom and spirit when he spoke.
11 So in secret they bribed men to lie: “We heard him cursing Moses and God.”
12-14 That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council. They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: “This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God’s Law. We even heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would tear this place down and throw out all the customs Moses gave us.”
15 As all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found they couldn’t take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an angel!
INSIGHT:
The name Stephen comes from the Greek word stephanos, which refers to a victor’s crown awarded in the ancient games. Stephen’s final words show how victorious he was. Acts 7:60 reads, “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’” Even in the midst of a painful and unjust death, Stephen displayed a spirit of victory that reflected Jesus’s heart when dying on the cross (Luke 23:34). He also had a proven character. In Acts 6, when Stephen is selected to assist with the widows’ ministry, he is described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). Stephen lived a life of faith under the control of the Spirit.
Sacrificial Faith
By Our Daily Bread
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10
It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting in the garden of our home, which is near the church where my husband is the minister. I hear wafts of praise and worship music floating through the air in the Farsi language. Our church in London hosts a vibrant Iranian congregation, and we feel humbled by their passion for Christ as they share some of their stories of persecution and tell of those, such as the senior pastor’s brother, who have been martyred for their faith. These faithful believers are following in the footsteps of the first Christian martyr, Stephen.
Stephen, one of the first appointed leaders in the early church, garnered attention in Jerusalem when he performed “great wonders and signs” (Acts 6:8) and was brought before the Jewish authorities to defend his actions. He gave an impassioned defense of the faith before describing the hard-heartedness of his accusers. But instead of repenting, they were “furious and gnashed their teeth at him” (7:54). They dragged him from the city and stoned him to death—even as he prayed for their forgiveness.
May we find grace to be found faithful to the One who suffered so much more for us.
The stories of Stephen and modern martyrs remind us that the message of Christ can be met with brutality. If we have never faced persecution for our faith, let’s pray for the persecuted church around the world. And may we, if and when tested, find grace to be found faithful to the One who suffered so much more for us.
Lord God, we believe You weep at the pain and anguish some of Your children experience because they love You. We pray that You will strengthen them in the midst of their suffering and send them Your grace.
May we find grace to walk in the Master’s steps.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 20, 2016
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins… —Ephesians 1:7
Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
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