Max Lucado Daily: IN THE STORM - April 26, 2018
After Jesus’ disciples fought a raging storm for nine cold hours, at about 4:00 AM the unspeakable happened. They spotted someone coming on the water. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror. (Matthew 14:26 MSG). They didn’t expect Jesus to come to them this way.
Neither do we. We expect him to come in the form of peaceful hymns on Easter Sundays or quiet retreats. We expect to find Jesus in morning devotionals and meditations. We never expect to see him in a divorce or a foreclosure. We never expect to see him in a storm. But it’s in a storm that he does his finest work, for it is in storms that he has our keenest attention.
Jesus replied to the disciples’ fear with an invitation worthy of inscription on every church cornerstone and residential archway, “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” (Matthew 17:27).
Read more Fearless
Leviticus 22
1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to me with reverence so they won’t desecrate my holy name. I am God.
3 “Tell them, From now on, if any of your descendants approaches in a state of ritual uncleanness the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to God, he will be cut off from my presence. I am God.
4-8 “Each and every one of Aaron’s descendants who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge may not eat any of the holy offerings until he is clean. Also, if he touches anything defiled by a corpse, or has an emission of semen, or is contaminated by touching a crawling creature, or touches a person who is contaminated for whatever reason—a person who touches any such thing will be ritually unclean until evening and may not eat any of the holy offerings unless he has washed well with water. After the sun goes down he is clean and may go ahead and eat the holy offerings; they are his food. But he must not contaminate himself by eating anything found dead or torn by wild animals. I am God.
9 “The priests must observe my instructions lest they become guilty and die by treating the offerings with irreverence. I am God who makes them holy.
10-13 “No layperson may eat anything set apart as holy. Nor may a priest’s guest or his hired hand eat anything holy. But if a priest buys a slave, the slave may eat of it; also the slaves born in his house may eat his food. If a priest’s daughter marries a layperson, she may no longer eat from the holy contributions. But if the priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and without children and returns to her father’s household as before, she may eat of her father’s food. But no layperson may eat of it.
14 “If anyone eats from a holy offering accidentally, he must give back the holy offering to the priest and add twenty percent to it.
15-16 “The priests must not treat with irreverence the holy offerings of the Israelites that they contribute to God lest they desecrate themselves and make themselves guilty when they eat the holy offerings. I am God who makes them holy.”
17-25 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the People of Israel, Each and every one of you, whether native born or foreigner, who presents a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, must make sure that it is a male without defect from cattle, sheep, or goats for it to be acceptable. Don’t try slipping in some creature that has a defect—it won’t be accepted. Whenever anyone brings an offering from cattle or sheep as a Peace-Offering to God to fulfill a vow or as a Freewill-Offering, it has to be perfect, without defect, to be acceptable. Don’t try giving God an animal that is blind, crippled, mutilated, an animal with running sores, a rash, or mange. Don’t place any of these on the Altar as a gift to God. You may, though, offer an ox or sheep that is deformed or stunted as a Freewill-Offering, but it is not acceptable in fulfilling a vow. Don’t offer to God an animal with bruised, crushed, torn, or cut-off testicles. Don’t do this in your own land but don’t accept them from foreigners and present them as food for your God either. Because of deformities and defects they will not be acceptable.”
26-30 God spoke to Moses: “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days. After the eighth day, it is acceptable as an offering, a gift to God. Don’t slaughter both a cow or ewe and its young on the same day. When you sacrifice a Thanksgiving-Offering to God, do it right so it will be acceptable. Eat it on the same day; don’t leave any leftovers until morning. I am God.
31 “Do what I tell you; live what I tell you. I am God.
32-33 “Don’t desecrate my holy name. I insist on being treated with holy reverence among the People of Israel. I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Read: 2 Kings 4:1–7
The Widow’s Olive Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
INSIGHT
Can you remember a time when you thought that without a miracle you might not make it?
The Old Testament story of Elijah and Elisha speaks to such fears and the need for faith. Through signs and wonders Elijah called a nation back to its God (1 Kings 18:21, 38–39). Elisha, in turn, inspired hope by miraculously purifying water, multiplying food, and raising the dead.
This is the backstory that according to the New Testament was preparing the way for Jesus. With echoes of Elisha, Jesus filled the stomachs of more than 5,000 hungry people with a little boy’s lunch (Matthew 14:15–21).
Are you troubled by overwhelming needs that keep you awake at night? How does reflecting on God’s miraculous power give you hope? - Mart DeHaan
The Widow’s Faith
By Poh Fang Chia
The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:32
It is pitch dark when Ah-pi starts her day. Others in the village will wake up soon to make their way to the rubber plantation. Harvesting latex is one of the main sources of income for people living in Hongzhuang Village, China. To collect as much latex as possible, the trees must be tapped very early in the morning, before daybreak. Ah-pi will be among the rubber tappers, but first she will spend time communing with God.
Ah-pi’s father, husband, and only son have passed away, and she—with her daughter-in-law—is providing for an elderly mother and two young grandsons. Her story reminds me of another widow in the Bible who trusted God.
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The widow’s husband had died and left her in debt (2 Kings 4:1). In her distress, she looked to God for help by turning to His servant Elisha. She believed that God cared and that He could do something about her situation. And God did. He provided miraculously for the dire needs of this widow (vv. 5–6). This same God also provided for Ah-pi—though less miraculously—through the toil of her hands, the produce from the ground, and gifts from His people.
Though life can make various demands on us, we can always draw strength from God. We can entrust our cares to Him, do all we can, and let Him amaze us with what He can do with our situation.
Father, thank You for Your patience when I trust in my own resources and turn to You only as a last resort. Teach me to seek Your help in all I do.
We may face situations beyond our reserves, but never beyond God’s resources.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 26, 2018
The Supreme Climb
Take now your son…and offer him…as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. —Genesis 22:2
A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.
The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Blinded By the Cure - #8164
My wife and I had an unforgettable time on the little island of Haiti some years ago. You know, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and a heartbreaking place for anyone with a little compassion in their heart. While we were there, missionaries told us about one recent tragedy that was indicative of so many in the lives of these beautiful people. There had been an epidemic of conjunctivitis, or "pinkeye" as it's often called. Women were frustrated by having their eyes crusted over or just running like they do with conjunctivitis, so they tried what they thought might cure it-bleach. They rubbed bleach in their eyes. You know the outcome.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Blinded By the Cure."
What a tragedy! What they thought would help them see actually made them blind. That tragedy has been happening to people spiritually for a long time. Trusting their soul to something they believe to be the answer spiritually, but really getting blinded to the truth about God and how to know Him. What we hope to be the cure just blinding us to what could really make us right with God.
As you read the Bible, it becomes clear that some of the people in the greatest spiritual danger are us religious people. Look at who it was that rejected Jesus and insisted on Him being crucified-the most religious people of the day. On the day Jesus healed a man who had been blind all his life, the religious leaders totally missed the miracle right in front of their eyes and tried to use it to turn the healing into an accusation against Jesus.
It was at that point that He gave us our word for today from the Word of God in John 9, beginning with verse 39. "Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see' (Now, think spiritual blindness here.) Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, 'What? Are we blind too?' Jesus said, 'If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim to see, your guilt remains."
Now, hold on! What's Jesus saying here? He's saying that if you think you're okay spiritually, that you can see, you'll never see your need of Jesus. But when you know and admit that you're spiritually blind-that you're powerless to impress God to earn heaven-then you're ready to have your sins forgiven, you're ready to have your hell cancelled.
And that's the problem with some of us who've been good most of our life, who are very religious people, who may have a whole lot of Christianity; Christian vocabulary that we use, Christian meetings we attend, Christian teachings we agree with. But it's possible to have all that, feeling pretty secure spiritually, only to miss Christ and to end up as one of the most surprised people in hell. We can be blinded by our religion from our need to abandon all hope of heaven but one hope-the only One who died to pay for your sin...Jesus, your only hope of heaven. Titus 3:5 says, "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." If you think you can save yourself from drowning spiritually, you're never going to grab Jesus as your personal rescuer from your personal sin.
Frankly, Satan would love to blind you to your need for Christ all the way to your last breath so you will be with him in hell instead of with Jesus in heaven. But today, Jesus is reaching into your heart. He's removing that blindness so you can see how desperately you need Him. Because He loves you so much, He doesn't want to lose you. You need to come to Him while you can feel Him working in your heart, because you can't come otherwise.
If that's today, please open your heart to Him and tell Him this very day, "Jesus, somehow in all my religion, I've missed you. But not any longer. No, beginning today, I'm Yours."
If that's where your heart is, we've set up our website, ANewStory.com, to be a destination for you right now to get this done. Because from the moment you trade trusting in a religion about Jesus for a relationship with Jesus, you'll be able to see God and see yourself as never before. And you will literally trade death for life.
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Leviticus 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A GREENHOUSE OF PRAYER - April 25, 2018
All people are God’s people—including the small people who sit at our tables. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
Parents, we can do this. We can take our parenting fears to Christ. In fact, if we don’t, we’ll take our fears out on our kids! A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. Fear can also create permissive parents who are high on hugs and low on discipline.
How can we avoid the two extremes? We pray. Jesus makes no comments about spanking, sibling rivalry, or schooling. Yet his actions speak volumes about prayer. Each time a parent prays, Christ responds. His message to moms and dads? Bring your children to me. Raise them in a greenhouse of prayer.
Read more Fearless
Leviticus 21
Holy Priests
21 1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead, except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean, but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.
5-6 “Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
7-8 “Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman. Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.
9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.
10-12 “The high priest, the one among his brothers who has received the anointing oil poured on his head and been ordained to wear the priestly vestments, must not let his hair go wild and tangled nor wear ragged and torn clothes. He must not enter a room where there is a dead body. He must not ritually contaminate himself, even for his father or mother; and he must neither abandon nor desecrate the Sanctuary of his God because of the dedication of the anointing oil which is upon him. I am God.
13-15 “He is to marry a young virgin, not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute—he is only to marry a virgin from his own people. He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy.”
16-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy.”
24 Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Read: Daniel 4:28–37
The Dream Is Fulfilled
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Amnesia
By Mart DeHaan
My understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High. Daniel 4:34 nkjv
Emergency Services in Carlsbad, California, came to the rescue of a woman with an Australian accent who couldn’t recall who she was. Because she was suffering from amnesia and had no ID with her, she was unable to provide her name or where she had come from. It took the help of doctors and international media to restore her health, tell her story, and reunite her with her family.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, also lost sight of who he was and where he had come from. His “amnesia,” though, was spiritual. In taking credit for the kingdom he’d been given, he forgot that God is the King of Kings, and everything he had was from Him (Daniel 4:17, 28–30).
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God dramatized the king’s state of mind by driving him into the fields to live with wild animals and graze like a cow (vv. 32–33). Finally, after seven years Nebuchadnezzar looked up to the skies, and his memory of who he was and who had given him his kingdom returned. With his senses restored, he declared, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven” (v. 37).
What about us? Who do we think we are? Where did we come from? Since we are inclined to forget, who can we count on to help us remember but the King of Kings?
Father, we are so inclined to forget who we are, where we’ve come from, and that we belong to You. Help us to remember that in Christ we are Your children—known, loved, gifted, and cared for—now and forever.
When we forget who we are, our Father cares.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
“Ready in Season”
Be ready in season and out of season. —2 Timothy 4:2
Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to “be ready” only “out of season.” The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.
One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
The Sandcastle Syndrome - #8163
This is going to come as a surprise to my friends who know how technically challenged I am when it comes to building things, but over the years, my sons and I have built several houses together. Don't expect to see a pickup truck that says "Hutchcraft and Sons" on the side. No, and don't look for us in the Yellow Pages. Actually, our houses haven't fared too well. It wasn't because we didn't work hard on them-we did. And it wasn't because they didn't look good; actually they were pretty good. And it wasn't because they weren't big; we did some pretty good sized ones. But every house we built literally collapsed within hours of the time we finished building them. It might have had something to do with the material we built our houses from–sand on a beach next to the ocean.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sandcastle Syndrome."
Jesus is involved in an incredible building project, and what He's building will never collapse. It will never be washed away by any tide or any storm. And He's inviting you to join Him in building it. Of course, you'll have to go out of the sandcastle business first.
Jesus describes His building project in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16:18. Jesus says, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That's some powerful words. There's no doubt about what Jesus is building. He's building His church. Are you? Well, what are you building?
We're all working on some structure. For you, it's wherever your dreams are focused, what you put a lot of your money into, what you put most of your time into. It's a subject of a lot of your daily conversation. Maybe you're building a reputation for yourself, or financial security for yourself, or a romantic relationship, a business, your income, a comfortable retirement. You may even be building a religious empire for yourself in Christian work. Problem: it's all sandcastles. Just ask my boys. A sandcastle is something you put a lot into that just can't last.
Jesus is inviting us to focus what we have on something that will last forever-building His church. Even our Christian work could be building our own kingdom which won't last. You see, that church is not about an actual physical building. It's about reaching the lost people He died for; for adding them to His family. It's about building up the lives of believers. Are those the causes that are getting the best of what you have, that get you excited, that you're passionate about? Someone has wisely said, "In order to pray, 'Thy Kingdom come', you first have to pray, 'My kingdom go.'"
Maybe it's time to stand back and take a candid look at your motives, at your great obsession, and at your top priorities. Is it getting lost and dying people to Jesus? Or has Jesus' building program taken a back seat to something you're building, something out of sand, something that a strong tide or a big storm can wash away?
Jesus said "the gates of hell" itself would not prevail against what He is building. Look, you've got maybe at best 70-or-so years on this planet. Don't waste those years on building something that isn't going to last. Jesus is building His church. What are you building?
All people are God’s people—including the small people who sit at our tables. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
Parents, we can do this. We can take our parenting fears to Christ. In fact, if we don’t, we’ll take our fears out on our kids! A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. Fear can also create permissive parents who are high on hugs and low on discipline.
How can we avoid the two extremes? We pray. Jesus makes no comments about spanking, sibling rivalry, or schooling. Yet his actions speak volumes about prayer. Each time a parent prays, Christ responds. His message to moms and dads? Bring your children to me. Raise them in a greenhouse of prayer.
Read more Fearless
Leviticus 21
Holy Priests
21 1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead, except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean, but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.
5-6 “Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
7-8 “Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman. Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.
9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.
10-12 “The high priest, the one among his brothers who has received the anointing oil poured on his head and been ordained to wear the priestly vestments, must not let his hair go wild and tangled nor wear ragged and torn clothes. He must not enter a room where there is a dead body. He must not ritually contaminate himself, even for his father or mother; and he must neither abandon nor desecrate the Sanctuary of his God because of the dedication of the anointing oil which is upon him. I am God.
13-15 “He is to marry a young virgin, not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute—he is only to marry a virgin from his own people. He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy.”
16-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy.”
24 Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Read: Daniel 4:28–37
The Dream Is Fulfilled
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Amnesia
By Mart DeHaan
My understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High. Daniel 4:34 nkjv
Emergency Services in Carlsbad, California, came to the rescue of a woman with an Australian accent who couldn’t recall who she was. Because she was suffering from amnesia and had no ID with her, she was unable to provide her name or where she had come from. It took the help of doctors and international media to restore her health, tell her story, and reunite her with her family.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, also lost sight of who he was and where he had come from. His “amnesia,” though, was spiritual. In taking credit for the kingdom he’d been given, he forgot that God is the King of Kings, and everything he had was from Him (Daniel 4:17, 28–30).
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God dramatized the king’s state of mind by driving him into the fields to live with wild animals and graze like a cow (vv. 32–33). Finally, after seven years Nebuchadnezzar looked up to the skies, and his memory of who he was and who had given him his kingdom returned. With his senses restored, he declared, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven” (v. 37).
What about us? Who do we think we are? Where did we come from? Since we are inclined to forget, who can we count on to help us remember but the King of Kings?
Father, we are so inclined to forget who we are, where we’ve come from, and that we belong to You. Help us to remember that in Christ we are Your children—known, loved, gifted, and cared for—now and forever.
When we forget who we are, our Father cares.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
“Ready in Season”
Be ready in season and out of season. —2 Timothy 4:2
Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to “be ready” only “out of season.” The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.
One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
The Sandcastle Syndrome - #8163
This is going to come as a surprise to my friends who know how technically challenged I am when it comes to building things, but over the years, my sons and I have built several houses together. Don't expect to see a pickup truck that says "Hutchcraft and Sons" on the side. No, and don't look for us in the Yellow Pages. Actually, our houses haven't fared too well. It wasn't because we didn't work hard on them-we did. And it wasn't because they didn't look good; actually they were pretty good. And it wasn't because they weren't big; we did some pretty good sized ones. But every house we built literally collapsed within hours of the time we finished building them. It might have had something to do with the material we built our houses from–sand on a beach next to the ocean.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sandcastle Syndrome."
Jesus is involved in an incredible building project, and what He's building will never collapse. It will never be washed away by any tide or any storm. And He's inviting you to join Him in building it. Of course, you'll have to go out of the sandcastle business first.
Jesus describes His building project in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16:18. Jesus says, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That's some powerful words. There's no doubt about what Jesus is building. He's building His church. Are you? Well, what are you building?
We're all working on some structure. For you, it's wherever your dreams are focused, what you put a lot of your money into, what you put most of your time into. It's a subject of a lot of your daily conversation. Maybe you're building a reputation for yourself, or financial security for yourself, or a romantic relationship, a business, your income, a comfortable retirement. You may even be building a religious empire for yourself in Christian work. Problem: it's all sandcastles. Just ask my boys. A sandcastle is something you put a lot into that just can't last.
Jesus is inviting us to focus what we have on something that will last forever-building His church. Even our Christian work could be building our own kingdom which won't last. You see, that church is not about an actual physical building. It's about reaching the lost people He died for; for adding them to His family. It's about building up the lives of believers. Are those the causes that are getting the best of what you have, that get you excited, that you're passionate about? Someone has wisely said, "In order to pray, 'Thy Kingdom come', you first have to pray, 'My kingdom go.'"
Maybe it's time to stand back and take a candid look at your motives, at your great obsession, and at your top priorities. Is it getting lost and dying people to Jesus? Or has Jesus' building program taken a back seat to something you're building, something out of sand, something that a strong tide or a big storm can wash away?
Jesus said "the gates of hell" itself would not prevail against what He is building. Look, you've got maybe at best 70-or-so years on this planet. Don't waste those years on building something that isn't going to last. Jesus is building His church. What are you building?
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Mark 10:1-31 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: STOP BEING UNEASY ABOUT YOUR LIFE - April 24, 2018
Worry has more questions than answers, more work than energy, and thinks often about giving up. There’s not enough time, luck, credit, wisdom, or intelligence. We’re running out of everything it seems, and so we worry. But worry doesn’t work. You can dedicate a decade of anxious thoughts to the brevity of life, and not extend it by one minute. Worry accomplishes nothing.
God doesn’t condemn legitimate concern for responsibilities but rather the continuous mind-set that dismisses God’s presence. Destructive anxiety subtracts God from the future and tallies up the challenges of the day without entering God into the equation. Jesus gives us this challenge: “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously; and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:32-33).
Read more Fearless
Mark 10:1-31
Divorce
10 1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”
4 They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”
5-9 Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”
10-12 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”
13-16 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.
To Enter God’s Kingdom
17 As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
18-19 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”
20 He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
21 Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
22 The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
23-25 Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”
26 That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.
27 Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
28 Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.”
29-31 Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Read: Psalm 70
For the director of music. Of David. A petition.
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, Lord, to help me.
2 May those who want to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The Lord is great!”
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.
Footnotes:
Psalm 70:1 In Hebrew texts 70:1-5 is numbered 70:2-6.
INSIGHT
David wrote Psalm 70 (a song of lament or complaint) from a place of waiting. He waited for God to deliver him, to save him from “those who want to take [his] life” and “desire [his] ruin” (vv. 1–2). We don’t know the setting and circumstances of this lament, but we do know that for years David ran from King Saul and his army who wished to kill him (1 Samuel 19:1–2, 11; 20:30–33; 21:10–15; 23:15). David also waited for years to rule Israel, even though the prophet Samuel had anointed him king while David (Jesse’s youngest son) still watched his father’s sheep and Saul still reigned (16:1–13). We see Psalm 70 stated (in slightly different words) in Psalm 40:11–17. Though David waited for deliverance—and endured hardship as he did—he was still able to exclaim wholeheartedly, “The Lord is great!” (40:16; 70:4) and “You are my help and my deliverer” (40:17; 70:5).
When have you cried out to God, longing for Him to rescue you from a difficult situation? How can you praise Him as you wait? - Alyson Kieda
The Waiting Place
By David H. Roper
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night . . . . Everyone is just waiting”—or so Dr. Seuss, author of many children’s books, says.
So much of life is about waiting, but God is never in a hurry—or so it seems. “God has His hour and delay,” suggests an old, reliable saying. Thus we wait.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
Waiting is hard. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, heave long sighs, and fret inwardly in frustration. Why must I live with this awkward person, this tedious job, this embarrassing behavior, this health issue that will not go away? Why doesn’t God come through?
God’s answer: “Wait awhile and see what I will do.”
Waiting is one of life’s best teachers for in it we learn the virtue of . . . well, waiting—waiting while God works in us and for us. It’s in waiting that we develop endurance, the ability to trust God’s love and goodness, even when things aren’t going our way (Psalm 70:5).
But waiting is not dreary, teeth-clenched resignation. We can “rejoice and be glad in [Him]” while we wait (v. 4). We wait in hope, knowing that God will deliver us in due time—in this world or in the next. God is never in a hurry, but He’s always on time.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your loving presence. Help us to make the most of our waiting through trust in and service for You.
God is with us in our waiting.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you… —Luke 10:20
Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.
Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.
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
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Big Spurts and Steady Speed - #8162
I've traveled a lot. Of course, sometimes I drive, and time matters a lot. So over the years, I've learned a fundamental secret of making great time on the open road. Not speeding – just driving steady. Over and over, I've watched what I call a "spurter" come roaring up behind me. (You've seen them too.) He does everything but push you into the right lane. He's obviously well into the State Trooper Zone as far as his speed's concerned. So I move over...he roars past...but I catch up with him a few miles later without ever changing my speed. See, he's settled back into the right lane, just cruising along. (Have you passed this guy, too?) He speeds in binges, he floors it one minute and then he's just tapping the accelerator a few minutes later. I usually make excellent time driving places, and I've talked to other marathon drivers who are used to getting places fast. And we pretty much agree. How do you trim hours off a long trip? A steady foot. The fast way to get somewhere is not with big spurts, but with a consistent, steady speed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Spurts and Steady Speed."
No, I'm not opening a driving school. I brought this up because there are people who do their Christian life like those drivers who do a wild sprint, and then settle into a slow crawl. A lot of believers follow Jesus in spurts.
Spiritual bingers usually shift into high speed after a spiritual high of some kind – a great church service, a retreat, a conference, a concert, a recommitment, a special event – or just a season of great spiritual feelings. When you're on one of your highs, oh, look out world! You're coming on strong! Right? But then, a few miles later, there you are, back to mediocrity, back to business as usual, making little or no progress. A lot of us are really into what I call event Christianity. We live for the next spiritual event, we depend on the next spiritual event, and we start fading when there hasn't been a spiritual event for a while.
A lot of believers live like this – but a lot of believers are getting tired of living like this. Maybe you're tired of stop-and-go Christianity - the roller-coaster ride of real high highs and real low lows. Your heart's hungry for something more satisfying than spiritual spurts. You're hungry for spiritual consistency.
Which is why our word for today from the Word of God is so helpful. In Luke 9:23, Jesus issues a call to follow Him, but in a way that will get you more than a high. He tells you how to get a life. Listen for the all-important "D" word: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny Himself and take up His cross daily and follow Me." How do you follow Jesus? He said daily! One 24-hour slice of life at a time. You give Him your life, not in one big blob, but by consciously living His Lordship each new day.
Our problems come when we try to make some super-commitment that will change our life forever, or by needing an event to keep us going. What Jesus calls us to do is a brand new surrender on this particular Monday, focusing on what it means to take up His cross on this particular Monday, and then giving Him the specific Lordship issues of this specific Monday. Then, when you drive into your Tuesday, you give Him specific Lordship issues of that specific Tuesday. Pretty soon, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you have lived a Jesus-week. Put a few of those together and you've got a Jesus-month. Keep going and you've got a Jesus-year, and then a Jesus-life. How? One day at a time.
The secret of spiritual success is not bigger and bigger highs or bigger and bigger commitments. It's the daily enlarging of Jesus' Lordship over the real stuff in your life for that day.
You won't cover nearly as much ground in spurts as you will by keeping up a steady speed. Steady, consistent, daily progress. It may not be as exciting as the bursts of speed, but it will get you a lot farther, a lot faster.
Worry has more questions than answers, more work than energy, and thinks often about giving up. There’s not enough time, luck, credit, wisdom, or intelligence. We’re running out of everything it seems, and so we worry. But worry doesn’t work. You can dedicate a decade of anxious thoughts to the brevity of life, and not extend it by one minute. Worry accomplishes nothing.
God doesn’t condemn legitimate concern for responsibilities but rather the continuous mind-set that dismisses God’s presence. Destructive anxiety subtracts God from the future and tallies up the challenges of the day without entering God into the equation. Jesus gives us this challenge: “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously; and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:32-33).
Read more Fearless
Mark 10:1-31
Divorce
10 1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”
4 They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”
5-9 Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”
10-12 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”
13-16 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.
To Enter God’s Kingdom
17 As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
18-19 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”
20 He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
21 Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
22 The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
23-25 Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”
26 That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.
27 Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
28 Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.”
29-31 Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Read: Psalm 70
For the director of music. Of David. A petition.
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, Lord, to help me.
2 May those who want to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The Lord is great!”
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.
Footnotes:
Psalm 70:1 In Hebrew texts 70:1-5 is numbered 70:2-6.
INSIGHT
David wrote Psalm 70 (a song of lament or complaint) from a place of waiting. He waited for God to deliver him, to save him from “those who want to take [his] life” and “desire [his] ruin” (vv. 1–2). We don’t know the setting and circumstances of this lament, but we do know that for years David ran from King Saul and his army who wished to kill him (1 Samuel 19:1–2, 11; 20:30–33; 21:10–15; 23:15). David also waited for years to rule Israel, even though the prophet Samuel had anointed him king while David (Jesse’s youngest son) still watched his father’s sheep and Saul still reigned (16:1–13). We see Psalm 70 stated (in slightly different words) in Psalm 40:11–17. Though David waited for deliverance—and endured hardship as he did—he was still able to exclaim wholeheartedly, “The Lord is great!” (40:16; 70:4) and “You are my help and my deliverer” (40:17; 70:5).
When have you cried out to God, longing for Him to rescue you from a difficult situation? How can you praise Him as you wait? - Alyson Kieda
The Waiting Place
By David H. Roper
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night . . . . Everyone is just waiting”—or so Dr. Seuss, author of many children’s books, says.
So much of life is about waiting, but God is never in a hurry—or so it seems. “God has His hour and delay,” suggests an old, reliable saying. Thus we wait.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
Waiting is hard. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, heave long sighs, and fret inwardly in frustration. Why must I live with this awkward person, this tedious job, this embarrassing behavior, this health issue that will not go away? Why doesn’t God come through?
God’s answer: “Wait awhile and see what I will do.”
Waiting is one of life’s best teachers for in it we learn the virtue of . . . well, waiting—waiting while God works in us and for us. It’s in waiting that we develop endurance, the ability to trust God’s love and goodness, even when things aren’t going our way (Psalm 70:5).
But waiting is not dreary, teeth-clenched resignation. We can “rejoice and be glad in [Him]” while we wait (v. 4). We wait in hope, knowing that God will deliver us in due time—in this world or in the next. God is never in a hurry, but He’s always on time.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your loving presence. Help us to make the most of our waiting through trust in and service for You.
God is with us in our waiting.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you… —Luke 10:20
Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.
Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.
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
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Big Spurts and Steady Speed - #8162
I've traveled a lot. Of course, sometimes I drive, and time matters a lot. So over the years, I've learned a fundamental secret of making great time on the open road. Not speeding – just driving steady. Over and over, I've watched what I call a "spurter" come roaring up behind me. (You've seen them too.) He does everything but push you into the right lane. He's obviously well into the State Trooper Zone as far as his speed's concerned. So I move over...he roars past...but I catch up with him a few miles later without ever changing my speed. See, he's settled back into the right lane, just cruising along. (Have you passed this guy, too?) He speeds in binges, he floors it one minute and then he's just tapping the accelerator a few minutes later. I usually make excellent time driving places, and I've talked to other marathon drivers who are used to getting places fast. And we pretty much agree. How do you trim hours off a long trip? A steady foot. The fast way to get somewhere is not with big spurts, but with a consistent, steady speed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Spurts and Steady Speed."
No, I'm not opening a driving school. I brought this up because there are people who do their Christian life like those drivers who do a wild sprint, and then settle into a slow crawl. A lot of believers follow Jesus in spurts.
Spiritual bingers usually shift into high speed after a spiritual high of some kind – a great church service, a retreat, a conference, a concert, a recommitment, a special event – or just a season of great spiritual feelings. When you're on one of your highs, oh, look out world! You're coming on strong! Right? But then, a few miles later, there you are, back to mediocrity, back to business as usual, making little or no progress. A lot of us are really into what I call event Christianity. We live for the next spiritual event, we depend on the next spiritual event, and we start fading when there hasn't been a spiritual event for a while.
A lot of believers live like this – but a lot of believers are getting tired of living like this. Maybe you're tired of stop-and-go Christianity - the roller-coaster ride of real high highs and real low lows. Your heart's hungry for something more satisfying than spiritual spurts. You're hungry for spiritual consistency.
Which is why our word for today from the Word of God is so helpful. In Luke 9:23, Jesus issues a call to follow Him, but in a way that will get you more than a high. He tells you how to get a life. Listen for the all-important "D" word: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny Himself and take up His cross daily and follow Me." How do you follow Jesus? He said daily! One 24-hour slice of life at a time. You give Him your life, not in one big blob, but by consciously living His Lordship each new day.
Our problems come when we try to make some super-commitment that will change our life forever, or by needing an event to keep us going. What Jesus calls us to do is a brand new surrender on this particular Monday, focusing on what it means to take up His cross on this particular Monday, and then giving Him the specific Lordship issues of this specific Monday. Then, when you drive into your Tuesday, you give Him specific Lordship issues of that specific Tuesday. Pretty soon, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you have lived a Jesus-week. Put a few of those together and you've got a Jesus-month. Keep going and you've got a Jesus-year, and then a Jesus-life. How? One day at a time.
The secret of spiritual success is not bigger and bigger highs or bigger and bigger commitments. It's the daily enlarging of Jesus' Lordship over the real stuff in your life for that day.
You won't cover nearly as much ground in spurts as you will by keeping up a steady speed. Steady, consistent, daily progress. It may not be as exciting as the bursts of speed, but it will get you a lot farther, a lot faster.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Mark 9:30-50, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: HIS PERFECT LOVE - April 23, 2018
Jesus loves us too much to leave us in doubt about his grace. His “perfect love expels all fear!” (1 John 4:18 NLT).
If God loved us with an imperfect love, we would have high cause to worry. Imperfect love keeps a list of sins and consults it often. God keeps no list of our wrongs. His love casts out fear because he casts out our sin. Tether your heart to this promise, and tighten the knot. Remember of words of John’s epistle: “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20).
When you feel unforgiven, evict the feelings. Emotions don’t get a vote. Go back to Scripture. God’s Word holds rank over self-criticism and self-doubt. Do you know God’s grace? Then you can love boldly and live robustly. Nothing fosters courage like a clear grasp of grace!
Read more Fearless
Mark 9:30-50
30-32 Leaving there, they went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts, for he wanted to teach his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him. Three days after his murder, he will rise, alive.” They didn’t know what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask him about it.
So You Want First Place?
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”
34 The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.
35 He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”
36-37 He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”
38 John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”
39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.
42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.
43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.
49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 23, 2018
Read: 2 Thessalonians 3:16–18
Final Greetings
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
INSIGHT
Paul, Silas, and Timothy were the first to share the gospel in Thessalonica. The response to the gospel of free grace in Christ was remarkably positive (Acts 17:1–4), but—as is often the case—the positive response to the gospel was accompanied by opposition and persecution (Acts 17:5–6; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:2). Thus Paul was forced to leave the city of Thessalonica sooner than he had hoped (Acts 17:9–10). His concern for the new congregation there motivated him to write two inspired letters to that young church. As he completed his second letter, Paul stressed the peace that only Jesus Christ can offer (2 Thessalonians 3:16). The apostle was no stranger to trials, yet his confidence that everything would work out in God’s sovereignty gave him a deep, abiding peace that he wanted other believers to experience. The Prince of Peace is the source of the believer’s spiritual rest.
For further study on experiencing peace in the midst of trials see Navigating the Storms of Life at discoveryseries.org/hp061. - Dennis Fisher
The Secret of Peace
By Keila Ochoa
The Lord of peace himself give you peace. 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Grace is a very special lady. One word comes to mind when I think of her: peace. The quiet and restful expression on her face has seldom changed in the six months I have known her, even though her husband was diagnosed with a rare disease and then hospitalized.
When I asked Grace the secret of her peace, she said, “It’s not a secret, it’s a person. It’s Jesus in me. There is no other way I can explain the quietness I feel in the midst of this storm.”
To trust in Jesus is peace.
The secret of peace is our relationship to Jesus Christ. He is our peace. When Jesus is our Savior and Lord, and as we become more like Him, peace becomes real. Things like sickness, financial difficulties, or danger may be present, but peace reassures us that God holds our lives in His hands (Daniel 5:23), and we can trust that things will work together for good.
Have we experienced this peace that goes beyond logic and understanding? Do we have the inner confidence that God is in control? My wish for all of us today echoes the words of the apostle Paul: “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace.” And may we feel this peace “at all times and in every way” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
Dear Lord, please give us Your peace at all times and in every situation.
To trust in Jesus is peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 23, 2018
Do You Worship The Work?
We are God’s fellow workers… —1 Corinthians 3:9
Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one. A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.
But the opposite case is equally true– once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone. There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work. The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. The freedom that comes after sanctification is the freedom of a child, and the things that used to hold your life down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been freed for only one thing– to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.
We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 23, 2018
The Wildness Inside - #8161
There was a movie years ago called "The Horse Whisperer." I thought it was about a man with laryngitis, but it's actually about this man who has an amazing ability to gentle horses-horses that it seems no one else can tame. In fact, the main character was modeled after a real man whose skill in gentling and training wild mustangs is almost legendary. In the past, people have used some pretty brutal methods to force a horse into submission. But the real horse whisperer doesn't "break horses." He uses body language and, yes, some quiet talking as his tools to gentle a horse that otherwise would be uncontrollable.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Wildness Inside."
We've all got it! We've got this wildness inside us. Or to use the language of "Star Wars," it's the dark side we all have. We can hide it-we can suppress it-this animal inside us, but only some of the time. And then there are times it takes over. The wildness can erupt in an angry outburst, a selfish lashing out, in a sexual sin, in words that cut people like chain saws, or in unfaithfulness to the person we love. It can surface in our deception, our secret sin, our jealousy, our prejudice, our criticism.
The things we've done because of the untamed animal inside us are the very things that make us feel ashamed and dirty inside. They're the things that hurt most the people we love the most. But through the years, millions of men and women have experienced the miracle of the animal that once controlled them being brought under control by the Master, and that's Jesus Christ. No religion, even Christianity, can tame the animal inside us. It can only give us good things that we can do to feel better about the bad things we do. No, it takes the power of the only man who's ever walked out of His grave under His own power. It takes Jesus to change us.
There's an amazing picture of His power that's just under the surface in the Bible's account of Jesus entering Jerusalem on the original Palm Sunday, just five days before He was crucified. In Luke 19, beginning with verse 30, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus tells two of His disciples to "Find a colt which no one has ever ridden. They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road."
At this point, this massive crowd starts shouting praises to Jesus. Now, hold on! Imagine this: He's riding on an unbroken colt through a screaming crowd who keep throwing things in his path. I'm thinking about bucking bronco here. How about you? But no, he's as peaceful as a lamb.
It's a picture, when Jesus is aboard, the peace of Christ settles in and the untamed animal is gentled by the Master. Not by His force, but by His love. That's the miracle Jesus wants to do in your life. You need to do something about the wild and hurting animal inside for your sake, for your children's sake, for the sake of your husband or wife, for the people you love, for the people you've hurt.
Ultimately, this wildness the Bible calls sin will carry you all the way to hell. That's the eternal price for a life lived our way instead of God's way. But it's a price the very Son of God has already paid when He loved you enough to pay for all your sin on an old rugged cross. This very day you can be forgiven of every wrong thing you have ever done. You can be set free from the guilt, the shame, and the dark side.
But He doesn't force His way into your life. He leaves the choice to you. Your new freedom, your new being "clean inside" awaits your saying to Jesus, "I am Yours, because You are my only hope."
I've actually put on our website the very things that will help you know the steps to be sure that Jesus is in your life and how to let the change begin. Appropriately, the name of that website is ANewStory.com. Maybe your new story can begin there.
When Jesus comes aboard, His peace settles over your life, and it tames what no one else could tame.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Leviticus 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Why Did He Do It?
Why did Jesus live on the earth as long as He did? To take on our sins is one thing; to experience death, yes, but to put up with long roads and long days? Why did He do it? Because He wants you to trust Him. Even His final act on earth was intended to win your trust.
Mark 15:22.says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha where they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified Him.” Why? Why did He endure all this suffering—all these feelings? Because He knew you’d be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be grief-stricken, and hungry, that you’d face pain.
A pauper knows better than to beg from another pauper. He knows he needs someone who’s stronger than he is. Jesus’ message from the Cross is this: I am that Person. Trust Me.
From He Chose the Nails
Leviticus 20
1-5 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, Each and every Israelite and foreigner in Israel who gives his child to the god Molech must be put to death. The community must kill him by stoning. I will resolutely reject that man and cut him off from his people. By giving his child to the god Molech he has polluted my Sanctuary and desecrated my holy name. If the people of the land look the other way as if nothing had happened when that man gives his child to the god Molech and fail to kill him, I will resolutely reject that man and his family, and him and all who join him in prostituting themselves in the rituals of the god Molech I will cut off from their people.
6 “I will resolutely reject persons who dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums, prostituting themselves in their practices. I will cut them off from their people.
7-8 “Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy.
9 “Any and every person who curses his father or mother must be put to death. By cursing his father or mother he is responsible for his own death.
10 “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—the wife, say, of his neighbor—both the man and the woman, the adulterer and adulteress, must be put to death.
11 “If a man has sex with his father’s wife, he has violated his father. Both the man and woman must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths.
12 “If a man has sex with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is perverse. And they are responsible for their own deaths.
13 “If a man has sex with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is abhorrent. They must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths.
14 “If a man marries both a woman and her mother, that’s wicked. All three of them must be burned at the stake, purging the wickedness from the community.
15 “If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death and you must kill the animal.
16 “If a woman has sex with an animal, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. And they are responsible for their deaths.
17 “If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother, and they have sex, that’s a disgrace. They must be publicly cut off from their people. He has violated his sister and will be held responsible.
18 “If a man sleeps with a woman during her period and has sex with her, he has uncovered her ‘fountain’ and she has revealed her ‘fountain’—both of them must be cut off from their people.
19 “Don’t have sex with your aunt on either your mother’s or father’s side. That violates a close relative. Both of you are held responsible.
20 “If a man has sex with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible and die childless.
21 “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it’s a defilement. He has shamed his brother. They will be childless.
22-23 “Do what I tell you, all my decrees and laws; live by them so that the land where I’m bringing you won’t vomit you out. You simply must not live like the nations I’m driving out before you. They did all these things and I hated every minute of it.
24-26 “I’ve told you, remember, that you will possess their land that I’m giving to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am God, your God, who has distinguished you from the nations. So live like it: Distinguish between ritually clean and unclean animals and birds. Don’t pollute yourselves with any animal or bird or crawling thing which I have marked out as unclean for you. Live holy lives before me because I, God, am holy. I have distinguished you from the nations to be my very own.
27 “A man or woman who is a medium or sorcerer among you must be put to death. You must kill them by stoning. They’re responsible for their own deaths.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Read: Matthew 10:29–31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Footnotes:
Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
INSIGHT
When Jesus sent out His disciples He assured them God was aware of their circumstances and would be watching over them. Jesus asked us to consider the sparrows, which are of such little value “yet not one of them is forgotten by God” (Luke 12:6). We are greatly comforted that “the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is interested in every detail of our lives (Psalm 139:1–4) and knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8). We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, knowing He will help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
How does knowing that God already knows what you need help you as you pray? - K. T. Sim
God in the Details
By James Banks
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:9
When my “chocolate” Labrador retriever puppy was three months old, I took him to the veterinarian’s office for his shots and checkup. As our vet carefully looked him over, she noticed a small white marking in his fur on his left hind paw. She smiled and said to him, “That’s where God held you when He dipped you in chocolate.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. But she had unintentionally made a meaningful point about the deep and personal interest God takes in His creation.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:9
Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:30 that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God is so great that He is able to take infinite interest in the most intimate details of our lives. There is nothing so small that it escapes His notice, and there is no concern too trivial to bring before Him. He simply cares that much.
God not only created us; He sustains and keeps us through every moment. It’s sometimes said that “the devil is in the details.” But it’s better by far to understand that God is in them, watching over even the things that escape our notice. How comforting it is to know that our perfectly wise and caring heavenly Father holds us—along with all of creation—in His strong and loving hands.
Loving Lord, I praise You for the wonder of Your creation. Help me to reflect Your compassion by taking care of what You’ve made.
God attends to our every need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 22, 2018
The Light That Never Fails
We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18
A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me….But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Why did Jesus live on the earth as long as He did? To take on our sins is one thing; to experience death, yes, but to put up with long roads and long days? Why did He do it? Because He wants you to trust Him. Even His final act on earth was intended to win your trust.
Mark 15:22.says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha where they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified Him.” Why? Why did He endure all this suffering—all these feelings? Because He knew you’d be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be grief-stricken, and hungry, that you’d face pain.
A pauper knows better than to beg from another pauper. He knows he needs someone who’s stronger than he is. Jesus’ message from the Cross is this: I am that Person. Trust Me.
From He Chose the Nails
Leviticus 20
1-5 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, Each and every Israelite and foreigner in Israel who gives his child to the god Molech must be put to death. The community must kill him by stoning. I will resolutely reject that man and cut him off from his people. By giving his child to the god Molech he has polluted my Sanctuary and desecrated my holy name. If the people of the land look the other way as if nothing had happened when that man gives his child to the god Molech and fail to kill him, I will resolutely reject that man and his family, and him and all who join him in prostituting themselves in the rituals of the god Molech I will cut off from their people.
6 “I will resolutely reject persons who dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums, prostituting themselves in their practices. I will cut them off from their people.
7-8 “Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy.
9 “Any and every person who curses his father or mother must be put to death. By cursing his father or mother he is responsible for his own death.
10 “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—the wife, say, of his neighbor—both the man and the woman, the adulterer and adulteress, must be put to death.
11 “If a man has sex with his father’s wife, he has violated his father. Both the man and woman must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths.
12 “If a man has sex with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is perverse. And they are responsible for their own deaths.
13 “If a man has sex with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is abhorrent. They must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths.
14 “If a man marries both a woman and her mother, that’s wicked. All three of them must be burned at the stake, purging the wickedness from the community.
15 “If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death and you must kill the animal.
16 “If a woman has sex with an animal, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. And they are responsible for their deaths.
17 “If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or mother, and they have sex, that’s a disgrace. They must be publicly cut off from their people. He has violated his sister and will be held responsible.
18 “If a man sleeps with a woman during her period and has sex with her, he has uncovered her ‘fountain’ and she has revealed her ‘fountain’—both of them must be cut off from their people.
19 “Don’t have sex with your aunt on either your mother’s or father’s side. That violates a close relative. Both of you are held responsible.
20 “If a man has sex with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible and die childless.
21 “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it’s a defilement. He has shamed his brother. They will be childless.
22-23 “Do what I tell you, all my decrees and laws; live by them so that the land where I’m bringing you won’t vomit you out. You simply must not live like the nations I’m driving out before you. They did all these things and I hated every minute of it.
24-26 “I’ve told you, remember, that you will possess their land that I’m giving to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am God, your God, who has distinguished you from the nations. So live like it: Distinguish between ritually clean and unclean animals and birds. Don’t pollute yourselves with any animal or bird or crawling thing which I have marked out as unclean for you. Live holy lives before me because I, God, am holy. I have distinguished you from the nations to be my very own.
27 “A man or woman who is a medium or sorcerer among you must be put to death. You must kill them by stoning. They’re responsible for their own deaths.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Read: Matthew 10:29–31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Footnotes:
Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
INSIGHT
When Jesus sent out His disciples He assured them God was aware of their circumstances and would be watching over them. Jesus asked us to consider the sparrows, which are of such little value “yet not one of them is forgotten by God” (Luke 12:6). We are greatly comforted that “the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is interested in every detail of our lives (Psalm 139:1–4) and knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8). We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, knowing He will help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
How does knowing that God already knows what you need help you as you pray? - K. T. Sim
God in the Details
By James Banks
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:9
When my “chocolate” Labrador retriever puppy was three months old, I took him to the veterinarian’s office for his shots and checkup. As our vet carefully looked him over, she noticed a small white marking in his fur on his left hind paw. She smiled and said to him, “That’s where God held you when He dipped you in chocolate.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. But she had unintentionally made a meaningful point about the deep and personal interest God takes in His creation.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:9
Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:30 that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God is so great that He is able to take infinite interest in the most intimate details of our lives. There is nothing so small that it escapes His notice, and there is no concern too trivial to bring before Him. He simply cares that much.
God not only created us; He sustains and keeps us through every moment. It’s sometimes said that “the devil is in the details.” But it’s better by far to understand that God is in them, watching over even the things that escape our notice. How comforting it is to know that our perfectly wise and caring heavenly Father holds us—along with all of creation—in His strong and loving hands.
Loving Lord, I praise You for the wonder of Your creation. Help me to reflect Your compassion by taking care of what You’ve made.
God attends to our every need.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 22, 2018
The Light That Never Fails
We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18
A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me….But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Leviticus 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: He Invites You In
If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.
God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”
God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!
From He Chose the Nails
Leviticus 19
“I Am God, Your God”
1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy.
3 “Every one of you must respect his mother and father.
“Keep my Sabbaths. I am God, your God.
4 “Don’t take up with no-god idols. Don’t make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.
5-8 “When you sacrifice a Peace-Offering to God, do it as you’ve been taught so it is acceptable. Eat it on the day you sacrifice it and the day following. Whatever is left until the third day is to be burned up. If it is eaten on the third day it is polluted meat and not acceptable. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has violated what is holy to God. That person will be cut off from his people.
9-10 “When you harvest your land, don’t harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don’t strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am God, your God.
11 “Don’t steal.
“Don’t lie.
“Don’t deceive anyone.
12 “Don’t swear falsely using my name, violating the name of your God. I am God.
13 “Don’t exploit your friend or rob him.
“Don’t hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.
14 “Don’t curse the deaf; don’t put a stumbling block in front of the blind; fear your God. I am God.
15 “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.
16 “Don’t spread gossip and rumors.
“Don’t just stand by when your neighbor’s life is in danger. I am God.
17 “Don’t secretly hate your neighbor. If you have something against him, get it out into the open; otherwise you are an accomplice in his guilt.
18 “Don’t seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people.
“Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.
19 “Keep my decrees.
“Don’t mate two different kinds of animals.
“Don’t plant your fields with two kinds of seed.
“Don’t wear clothes woven of two kinds of material.
20-22 “If a man has sex with a slave girl who is engaged to another man but has not yet been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be an investigation. But they aren’t to be put to death because she wasn’t free. The man must bring a Compensation-Offering to God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, a ram of compensation. The priest will perform the ritual of atonement for him before God with the ram of compensation for the sin he has committed. Then he will stand forgiven of the sin he committed.
23-25 “When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, don’t eat the fruit for three years; consider it inedible. By the fourth year its fruit is holy, an offering of praise to God. Beginning in the fifth year you can eat its fruit; you’ll have richer harvests this way. I am God, your God.
26 “Don’t eat meat with blood in it.
“Don’t practice divination or sorcery.
27 “Don’t cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard.
28 “Don’t gash your bodies on behalf of the dead.
“Don’t tattoo yourselves. I am God.
29 “Don’t violate your daughter by making her a whore—the whole country would soon become a brothel, filled with sordid sex.
30 “Keep my Sabbaths and revere my Sanctuary: I am God.
31 “Don’t dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums; you’ll pollute your souls. I am God, your God.
32 “Show respect to the aged; honor the presence of an elder; fear your God. I am God.
33-34 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.
35-36 “Don’t cheat when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and weights and measures. I am God, your God. I brought you out of Egypt.
37 “Keep all my decrees and all my laws. Yes, do them. I am God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Read: Jeremiah 2:1–8; 3:14–15
Israel Forsakes God
2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
“This is what the Lord says:
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,
through a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,’”
declares the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
Jeremiah 3:14-15 New International Version (NIV)
14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
INSIGHT
Jeremiah is sometimes known as the weeping prophet. He’s saddened by the messages God has asked him to take to the people of Israel. In essence, the Lord is asking the people of Jerusalem, “Why don’t you love me like you once did?”
Sometimes familiarity can create complacency. What can we do to keep our flame of passion for the Lord burning bright? - J.R. Hudberg
Anywhere
By Elisa Morgan
I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness. Jeremiah 2:2
As I flipped through a box of my old wedding photographs, my fingers stopped at a picture of my husband and me, newly christened “Mr. and Mrs.” My dedication to him was obvious in my expression. I would go anywhere with him.
Nearly four decades later, our marriage is tightly threaded with love and a commitment that has carried us through both hard and good times. Year after year, I’ve recommitted my dedication to go anywhere with him.
Dear God, help me to keep the promises I've made to You. I will follow You anywhere.
In Jeremiah 2:2, God yearns for His beloved but wayward Israel, “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me.” The Hebrew word for devotion conveys the highest loyalty and commitment possible. At first, Israel expressed this unwavering devotion to God, but gradually she turned away.
Despite the undeniably powerful feelings in the early stages of commitment, complacency can dull the sharp edge of love and a lack of zeal can lead to unfaithfulness. We know the importance of fighting against such a lag in our marriages. What about the fervor of our love relationship with God? Are we as devoted to Him now as we were when we first came to faith?
God faithfully allows His people to return (3:14–15). Today we can renew our vows to follow Him—anywhere.
Dear God, help me to keep the promises I’ve made to You. I will follow You anywhere.
You don’t need to know where you’re going if you know God is leading.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Don’t Hurt the Lord
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else. The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L
If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.
God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”
God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!
From He Chose the Nails
Leviticus 19
“I Am God, Your God”
1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy.
3 “Every one of you must respect his mother and father.
“Keep my Sabbaths. I am God, your God.
4 “Don’t take up with no-god idols. Don’t make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.
5-8 “When you sacrifice a Peace-Offering to God, do it as you’ve been taught so it is acceptable. Eat it on the day you sacrifice it and the day following. Whatever is left until the third day is to be burned up. If it is eaten on the third day it is polluted meat and not acceptable. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has violated what is holy to God. That person will be cut off from his people.
9-10 “When you harvest your land, don’t harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don’t strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am God, your God.
11 “Don’t steal.
“Don’t lie.
“Don’t deceive anyone.
12 “Don’t swear falsely using my name, violating the name of your God. I am God.
13 “Don’t exploit your friend or rob him.
“Don’t hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.
14 “Don’t curse the deaf; don’t put a stumbling block in front of the blind; fear your God. I am God.
15 “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.
16 “Don’t spread gossip and rumors.
“Don’t just stand by when your neighbor’s life is in danger. I am God.
17 “Don’t secretly hate your neighbor. If you have something against him, get it out into the open; otherwise you are an accomplice in his guilt.
18 “Don’t seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people.
“Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.
19 “Keep my decrees.
“Don’t mate two different kinds of animals.
“Don’t plant your fields with two kinds of seed.
“Don’t wear clothes woven of two kinds of material.
20-22 “If a man has sex with a slave girl who is engaged to another man but has not yet been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be an investigation. But they aren’t to be put to death because she wasn’t free. The man must bring a Compensation-Offering to God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, a ram of compensation. The priest will perform the ritual of atonement for him before God with the ram of compensation for the sin he has committed. Then he will stand forgiven of the sin he committed.
23-25 “When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, don’t eat the fruit for three years; consider it inedible. By the fourth year its fruit is holy, an offering of praise to God. Beginning in the fifth year you can eat its fruit; you’ll have richer harvests this way. I am God, your God.
26 “Don’t eat meat with blood in it.
“Don’t practice divination or sorcery.
27 “Don’t cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard.
28 “Don’t gash your bodies on behalf of the dead.
“Don’t tattoo yourselves. I am God.
29 “Don’t violate your daughter by making her a whore—the whole country would soon become a brothel, filled with sordid sex.
30 “Keep my Sabbaths and revere my Sanctuary: I am God.
31 “Don’t dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums; you’ll pollute your souls. I am God, your God.
32 “Show respect to the aged; honor the presence of an elder; fear your God. I am God.
33-34 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.
35-36 “Don’t cheat when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and weights and measures. I am God, your God. I brought you out of Egypt.
37 “Keep all my decrees and all my laws. Yes, do them. I am God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Read: Jeremiah 2:1–8; 3:14–15
Israel Forsakes God
2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
“This is what the Lord says:
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,
through a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,’”
declares the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
Jeremiah 3:14-15 New International Version (NIV)
14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
INSIGHT
Jeremiah is sometimes known as the weeping prophet. He’s saddened by the messages God has asked him to take to the people of Israel. In essence, the Lord is asking the people of Jerusalem, “Why don’t you love me like you once did?”
Sometimes familiarity can create complacency. What can we do to keep our flame of passion for the Lord burning bright? - J.R. Hudberg
Anywhere
By Elisa Morgan
I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness. Jeremiah 2:2
As I flipped through a box of my old wedding photographs, my fingers stopped at a picture of my husband and me, newly christened “Mr. and Mrs.” My dedication to him was obvious in my expression. I would go anywhere with him.
Nearly four decades later, our marriage is tightly threaded with love and a commitment that has carried us through both hard and good times. Year after year, I’ve recommitted my dedication to go anywhere with him.
Dear God, help me to keep the promises I've made to You. I will follow You anywhere.
In Jeremiah 2:2, God yearns for His beloved but wayward Israel, “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me.” The Hebrew word for devotion conveys the highest loyalty and commitment possible. At first, Israel expressed this unwavering devotion to God, but gradually she turned away.
Despite the undeniably powerful feelings in the early stages of commitment, complacency can dull the sharp edge of love and a lack of zeal can lead to unfaithfulness. We know the importance of fighting against such a lag in our marriages. What about the fervor of our love relationship with God? Are we as devoted to Him now as we were when we first came to faith?
God faithfully allows His people to return (3:14–15). Today we can renew our vows to follow Him—anywhere.
Dear God, help me to keep the promises I’ve made to You. I will follow You anywhere.
You don’t need to know where you’re going if you know God is leading.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Don’t Hurt the Lord
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else. The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L
Friday, April 20, 2018
Mark 9:1-29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S GOOD IDEA - April 20, 2018
If a basketball player stands at the foul line repeating, “I’ll never make the shot, I’ll never make the shot,” guess what? He’ll never make the shot! Fear of insignificance creates the result it dreads; and arrives at the destination it tries to avoid. If you pass your days mumbling, “I’ll never make a difference; I’m not worth anything,” you sentence yourself to a life of gloom without parole.
Even more, you are disagreeing with God. Questioning his judgment. Second-guessing his taste. According to him you were “skillfully made” (Psalm 139:14). He can’t stop thinking about you! If you could count his thoughts of you, “they would be more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:18).
Why does he love you so much? The same reason the artist loves his paintings or the boat builder loves his vessels. You are his idea. And God only has good ideas!
Read more Anxious for Nothing
Mark 9:1-29 The Message (MSG)
Then he drove it home by saying, “This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.”
In a Light-Radiant Cloud
2-4 Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus.
5-6 Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing.
7 Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.”
8 The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus.
9-10 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you’re free to talk.” They puzzled over that, wondering what on earth “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?”
12-13 Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.”
There Are No Ifs
14-16 When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?”
17-18 A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.”
19-20 Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth.
21-22 He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?”
“Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”
23 Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”
24 No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
25-27 Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.
28 After arriving back home, his disciples cornered Jesus and asked, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”
29 He answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 20, 2018
Read: Luke 15:11–24
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
The Art of Forgiveness
By David C. McCasland
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20
One afternoon I spent two hours at an art exhibit—The Father & His Two Sons: The Art of Forgiveness—in which all of the pieces were focused on Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–31). I found Edward Riojas’s painting The Prodigal Son especially powerful. The painting portrays the once wayward son returning home, wearing rags and walking with his head down. With a land of death behind him, he steps onto a pathway where his father is already running toward him. At the bottom of the painting are Jesus’s words, “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion” (v. 20 kjv).
If a basketball player stands at the foul line repeating, “I’ll never make the shot, I’ll never make the shot,” guess what? He’ll never make the shot! Fear of insignificance creates the result it dreads; and arrives at the destination it tries to avoid. If you pass your days mumbling, “I’ll never make a difference; I’m not worth anything,” you sentence yourself to a life of gloom without parole.
Even more, you are disagreeing with God. Questioning his judgment. Second-guessing his taste. According to him you were “skillfully made” (Psalm 139:14). He can’t stop thinking about you! If you could count his thoughts of you, “they would be more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:18).
Why does he love you so much? The same reason the artist loves his paintings or the boat builder loves his vessels. You are his idea. And God only has good ideas!
Read more Anxious for Nothing
Mark 9:1-29 The Message (MSG)
Then he drove it home by saying, “This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.”
In a Light-Radiant Cloud
2-4 Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus.
5-6 Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing.
7 Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.”
8 The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus.
9-10 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you’re free to talk.” They puzzled over that, wondering what on earth “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?”
12-13 Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.”
There Are No Ifs
14-16 When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?”
17-18 A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.”
19-20 Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth.
21-22 He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?”
“Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”
23 Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”
24 No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”
25-27 Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.
28 After arriving back home, his disciples cornered Jesus and asked, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”
29 He answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 20, 2018
Read: Luke 15:11–24
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
The Art of Forgiveness
By David C. McCasland
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20
One afternoon I spent two hours at an art exhibit—The Father & His Two Sons: The Art of Forgiveness—in which all of the pieces were focused on Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–31). I found Edward Riojas’s painting The Prodigal Son especially powerful. The painting portrays the once wayward son returning home, wearing rags and walking with his head down. With a land of death behind him, he steps onto a pathway where his father is already running toward him. At the bottom of the painting are Jesus’s words, “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion” (v. 20 kjv).
I was deeply moved by realizing once more how God’s unchanging love has altered my life. When I walked away from Him, He didn’t turn His back, but kept looking, watching, and waiting. His love is undeserved yet unchanging; often ignored yet never withdrawn.
We all are guilty, yet our heavenly Father reaches out to welcome us.
We all are guilty, yet our heavenly Father reaches out to welcome us, just as the father in this story embraced his wayward son. “Let’s have a feast and celebrate,” the father told the servants. “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (vv. 23–24).
The Lord still rejoices over those who return to Him today—and that’s worth celebrating!
Father, as we receive Your love and forgiveness, may we also extend it to others in Your name.
God’s love for us is undeserved yet unchanging.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 20, 2018
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.
The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.
Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 20, 2018
When You Don't Like What's On Your Plate - #8160
One of our team members reminded me the other day of how I felt about junior high school lunches. He was talking about it in our team devotions. Few of us remember those 7th or 8th grade cafeteria lunches with great fondness. Friday wasn't bad – that was French fry day. But most of the other days – who knows what some of that stuff was - mystery meat! We'd complain about the food, we'd trash the food sometimes, and sometimes we even had a food fight with it! Hey, it's junior high; what do you want? There were many days I wasn't too excited about what was on my plate. There still are.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Don't Like What's On Your Plate."
Okay, this has nothing to do with your diet. I know you have days when you don't particularly like what's on your plate though. Or you don't like how much there is of it. As a parent, you may have to handle some things that really aren't much fun these days. That's what on your plate. As a son or daughter, or a student, you've been stuck with some jobs you really don't want to do. At work, it's getting pretty messy, or heavy, or boring. At church or in your ministry, you're not particularly liking the way it's going and what you're trying to do for the Lord. But it's just part of life – days, and sometimes lots of days, when we don't like what's on our plate.
So, how are you handling days and tasks you don't care for? Do you complain about them? That would be the way we normally do. Do you worry about them? Freak out over them? Do you get negative or irritable because of what's on your plate? Look, we're not in junior high anymore. It's time for a more grownup response. It's time to see what's on our plate from God's perspective.
Here it is in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 16:5-6. David says, "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure." So who decides what's on the plate of a child of God? Your Heavenly Father who loves you totally and does everything perfectly! Sometimes God's assignment is exciting and energizing, sometimes it just seems sort of humdrum and mundane, and other times God's assignment is downright hard – like when He assigns you to a sickbed or an unappreciated, dirty-work job or working with someone who frustrates you or annoys you.
But there is a peace, there's this lightness in your spirit – even a strange joy – that can come when you look at today's plateful and say, "Lord, You have assigned me to this." Which leads us to that powerful formula for being emotionally and spiritually on top of things, instead of things being on top of you. It's in James 4:7 where the Lord says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." In other words, submit to the Lord's greater plan, His greater wisdom – "OK, Lord, I'm going to handle what's on my plate as if it came right from Your hand." The result? Well, you have resisted the devil's attempts to discourage or distract or detour you.
In fact, since the Lord assigns you your portion, you can actually thank Him for it, looking expectantly for what good things He wants to bring out of it. What's God working on through this? Does He want you to be more of a servant? More patient? A better listener? A learner? More sensitive?
See, whether or not you particularly like what's on His menu for you today, you can be sure it is for your good – it's part of His loving plan for you. What's on your plate is OK – because the One who put it there loves you so much. Oh, by the way, knows exactly what you need.
We all are guilty, yet our heavenly Father reaches out to welcome us.
We all are guilty, yet our heavenly Father reaches out to welcome us, just as the father in this story embraced his wayward son. “Let’s have a feast and celebrate,” the father told the servants. “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (vv. 23–24).
The Lord still rejoices over those who return to Him today—and that’s worth celebrating!
Father, as we receive Your love and forgiveness, may we also extend it to others in Your name.
God’s love for us is undeserved yet unchanging.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 20, 2018
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.
The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.
Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 20, 2018
When You Don't Like What's On Your Plate - #8160
One of our team members reminded me the other day of how I felt about junior high school lunches. He was talking about it in our team devotions. Few of us remember those 7th or 8th grade cafeteria lunches with great fondness. Friday wasn't bad – that was French fry day. But most of the other days – who knows what some of that stuff was - mystery meat! We'd complain about the food, we'd trash the food sometimes, and sometimes we even had a food fight with it! Hey, it's junior high; what do you want? There were many days I wasn't too excited about what was on my plate. There still are.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Don't Like What's On Your Plate."
Okay, this has nothing to do with your diet. I know you have days when you don't particularly like what's on your plate though. Or you don't like how much there is of it. As a parent, you may have to handle some things that really aren't much fun these days. That's what on your plate. As a son or daughter, or a student, you've been stuck with some jobs you really don't want to do. At work, it's getting pretty messy, or heavy, or boring. At church or in your ministry, you're not particularly liking the way it's going and what you're trying to do for the Lord. But it's just part of life – days, and sometimes lots of days, when we don't like what's on our plate.
So, how are you handling days and tasks you don't care for? Do you complain about them? That would be the way we normally do. Do you worry about them? Freak out over them? Do you get negative or irritable because of what's on your plate? Look, we're not in junior high anymore. It's time for a more grownup response. It's time to see what's on our plate from God's perspective.
Here it is in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 16:5-6. David says, "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure." So who decides what's on the plate of a child of God? Your Heavenly Father who loves you totally and does everything perfectly! Sometimes God's assignment is exciting and energizing, sometimes it just seems sort of humdrum and mundane, and other times God's assignment is downright hard – like when He assigns you to a sickbed or an unappreciated, dirty-work job or working with someone who frustrates you or annoys you.
But there is a peace, there's this lightness in your spirit – even a strange joy – that can come when you look at today's plateful and say, "Lord, You have assigned me to this." Which leads us to that powerful formula for being emotionally and spiritually on top of things, instead of things being on top of you. It's in James 4:7 where the Lord says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." In other words, submit to the Lord's greater plan, His greater wisdom – "OK, Lord, I'm going to handle what's on my plate as if it came right from Your hand." The result? Well, you have resisted the devil's attempts to discourage or distract or detour you.
In fact, since the Lord assigns you your portion, you can actually thank Him for it, looking expectantly for what good things He wants to bring out of it. What's God working on through this? Does He want you to be more of a servant? More patient? A better listener? A learner? More sensitive?
See, whether or not you particularly like what's on His menu for you today, you can be sure it is for your good – it's part of His loving plan for you. What's on your plate is OK – because the One who put it there loves you so much. Oh, by the way, knows exactly what you need.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Leviticus 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD - April 19, 2018
Bertrand Russell was the fatalistic atheist who concluded, “I believe that when I die my bones will rot and nothing shall remain of my ego.” He can’t be right, we sigh.
He isn’t right! Jesus announces. And in some of the kindest words ever heard, he allays our fear. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31 NIV).
Who inventories follicles? We monitor money in the bank and gas in the tank. But no one posts tiny number signs adjacent to each strand. We style hair, color hair, cut hair. . .but we don’t count hair. God does! That’s how much you matter to him. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered!”
Read more Anxious for Nothing
Leviticus 17
Holy Living: Sacrifices and Blood
1-7 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites. Tell them, This is what God commands: Any and every man who slaughters an ox or lamb or goat inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to God in front of The Dwelling of God—that man is considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to God the sacrifices that they’re in the habit of sacrificing out in the open fields. They must bring them to God and the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as Peace-Offerings to God. The priest will splash the blood on the Altar of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing fragrance to God. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-demons—a kind of religious orgy. This is a perpetual decree down through the generations.
8-9 “Tell them, Any Israelite or foreigner living among them who offers a Whole-Burnt-Offering or Peace-Offering but doesn’t bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to God, that person must be cut off from his people.
10-12 “If any Israelite or foreigner living among them eats blood, I will disown that person and cut him off from his people, for the life of an animal is in the blood. I have provided the blood for you to make atonement for your lives on the Altar; it is the blood, the life, that makes atonement. That’s why I tell the People of Israel, ‘Don’t eat blood.’ The same goes for the foreigner who lives among you, ‘Don’t eat blood.’
13-14 “Any and every Israelite—this also goes for the foreigners—who hunts down an animal or bird that is edible, must bleed it and cover the blood with dirt, because the life of every animal is its blood—the blood is its life. That’s why I tell the Israelites, ‘Don’t eat the blood of any animal because the life of every animal is its blood. Anyone who eats the blood must be cut off.’
15-16 “Anyone, whether native or foreigner, who eats from an animal that is found dead or mauled must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening and is then clean. If he doesn’t wash or bathe his body, he’ll be held responsible for his actions.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Read: Isaiah 26:1–4
A Song of Praise
26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
INSIGHT
The word peace in Isaiah 26:3 is one of the prophet Isaiah’s favorite words; it’s used over twenty times in Isaiah. The word appears for the first time in Isaiah 9:6 where we find several titles for the promised Messiah, including “Prince of Peace.” Peace is a translation of the great Hebrew word shalom. While peace is certainly an acceptable rendering, more broadly shalom speaks of “welfare,” “prosperity,” “wholeness”—the comprehensive well-being of a person, people, or place. What isn’t immediately apparent in modern versions of verse 3 is that the word translated “perfect” is also the Hebrew word shalom. Thus a literal rendering of “perfect peace” is “shalom, shalom” or “peace, peace.” What’s in view is multiplied peace, true peace, exponential peace. Verse 3 helps us to see that peace awaits those who trust in the Lord as their eternal source of strength—their Rock (v. 4). Such peace allows one to exhale, to rest, to slow down. - Arthur Jackson
Hurry Not
By Amy Boucher Pye
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry.” When two friends repeated that adage by the wise Dallas Willard to me, I knew I needed to consider it. Where was I spinning my wheels, wasting time and energy? More important, where was I rushing ahead and not looking to God for guidance and help? In the weeks and months that followed, I remembered those words and reoriented myself back to the Lord and His wisdom. I reminded myself to trust in Him, rather than leaning on my own ways.
After all, rushing around frantically seems to be the opposite of the “perfect peace” the prophet Isaiah speaks of. The Lord gives this gift to “those whose minds are steadfast,” because they trust in Him (v. 3). And He is worthy of being trusted today, tomorrow, and forever, for “the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (v. 4). Trusting God with our minds fixed on Him is the antidote to a hurried life.
Lord God, You give the peace that passes all understanding.
How about us? Do we sense that we’re hurried or even hasty? Maybe, in contrast, we often experience a sense of peace. Or perhaps we’re somewhere in between the two extremes.
Wherever we may be, I pray today that we’ll be able to put aside any hurry as we trust the Lord, who will never fail us and who gives us His peace.
Lord God, You give the peace that passes all understanding, which is a gift I don’t want to take for granted. Thank You.
God’s peace helps us not to hurry.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.
We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Who's On in Prime Time? - #8159
Every fall, the TV networks start hyping their new shows. And usually, they have a couple that feature some well-known star. You can be sure that those headline shows and those headline stars, won't be on at 2:00 in the afternoon or 1:00 o'clock in the morning. No way. They will air sometime in the heart of the evening, like 8:00 or 9:00 o'clock. What do they call it? Prime time! You know you've made it when you've got a show on prime time. Even though a lot of what's on in those hours doesn't seem very prime to a lot of us, to the networks it's their best. Stick the reruns and the less popular shows to the off-hours when not as many people are watching, right? But prime time, hey, that's reserved for the best.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who's On in Prime Time?"
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the familiar, but extremely challenging, words of Matthew 6:33. "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." In other words, put the things of God in first place in your life, and God will personally take charge of the rest. Powerful promise. Often, not the way we live.
Let's take your personal time with Jesus. If we're going to seek first what matters to Jesus, wouldn't that make our time with Him a primary item in our daily schedule? You've got no more important thing in your life than Jesus. So, do you have Him on in prime time or stuffed in some sleepy, rushed, crummy corner of your life's broadcast schedule? Or is Jesus only on when you get around to time with Him, when you have some time left when you can squeeze Him in. Doesn't sound like seeking first the things of God, does it? It sounds like seeking the things of God if and when there's time.
And there won't be time if you don't schedule it. Your time with Jesus is meant to be the non-negotiable of your personal schedule. If you have to cancel everything but one thing today, the one thing left will be your time with Jesus. Nobody else died for you. Nobody else deserves center stage in your life. No other voice can tell you what He can tell you. No other love can fill your heart. No other peace can still your heart.
All the other people, all the other responsibilities, scream for our attention. Jesus just whispers, "I'm here - waiting for you." Maybe He's been drowned out for too long, crowded out by all that earth-stuff, by good things that just aren't as important as He is.
It's time to say, "Jesus, I'm enthroning You in a central part of my daily schedule. I'm giving You some of my prime time, not my leftover time. I'm making my time with You - beginning today - non-negotiable...the highest priority of my personal schedule. Because I've got no one more important than You." That means getting up earlier, staying up later, going to bed earlier, cutting back on something else - whatever it takes, making His time the anchor of your life.
Open your heart to Him. Look for His heart in the words He recorded in the Bible. Look for a specific praise, a specific change He can make that day, a specific promise that will shape your day. And keep a Jesus-journal where you record what your Lord has spoken to your heart and what you're going to do about it.
Remember, prime time is where you schedule the best. And the best thing you've got is your relationship with the Son of God. Make sure He's on every day - in prime time.
Bertrand Russell was the fatalistic atheist who concluded, “I believe that when I die my bones will rot and nothing shall remain of my ego.” He can’t be right, we sigh.
He isn’t right! Jesus announces. And in some of the kindest words ever heard, he allays our fear. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31 NIV).
Who inventories follicles? We monitor money in the bank and gas in the tank. But no one posts tiny number signs adjacent to each strand. We style hair, color hair, cut hair. . .but we don’t count hair. God does! That’s how much you matter to him. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered!”
Read more Anxious for Nothing
Leviticus 17
Holy Living: Sacrifices and Blood
1-7 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites. Tell them, This is what God commands: Any and every man who slaughters an ox or lamb or goat inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to God in front of The Dwelling of God—that man is considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to God the sacrifices that they’re in the habit of sacrificing out in the open fields. They must bring them to God and the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as Peace-Offerings to God. The priest will splash the blood on the Altar of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing fragrance to God. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-demons—a kind of religious orgy. This is a perpetual decree down through the generations.
8-9 “Tell them, Any Israelite or foreigner living among them who offers a Whole-Burnt-Offering or Peace-Offering but doesn’t bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to God, that person must be cut off from his people.
10-12 “If any Israelite or foreigner living among them eats blood, I will disown that person and cut him off from his people, for the life of an animal is in the blood. I have provided the blood for you to make atonement for your lives on the Altar; it is the blood, the life, that makes atonement. That’s why I tell the People of Israel, ‘Don’t eat blood.’ The same goes for the foreigner who lives among you, ‘Don’t eat blood.’
13-14 “Any and every Israelite—this also goes for the foreigners—who hunts down an animal or bird that is edible, must bleed it and cover the blood with dirt, because the life of every animal is its blood—the blood is its life. That’s why I tell the Israelites, ‘Don’t eat the blood of any animal because the life of every animal is its blood. Anyone who eats the blood must be cut off.’
15-16 “Anyone, whether native or foreigner, who eats from an animal that is found dead or mauled must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening and is then clean. If he doesn’t wash or bathe his body, he’ll be held responsible for his actions.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Read: Isaiah 26:1–4
A Song of Praise
26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
INSIGHT
The word peace in Isaiah 26:3 is one of the prophet Isaiah’s favorite words; it’s used over twenty times in Isaiah. The word appears for the first time in Isaiah 9:6 where we find several titles for the promised Messiah, including “Prince of Peace.” Peace is a translation of the great Hebrew word shalom. While peace is certainly an acceptable rendering, more broadly shalom speaks of “welfare,” “prosperity,” “wholeness”—the comprehensive well-being of a person, people, or place. What isn’t immediately apparent in modern versions of verse 3 is that the word translated “perfect” is also the Hebrew word shalom. Thus a literal rendering of “perfect peace” is “shalom, shalom” or “peace, peace.” What’s in view is multiplied peace, true peace, exponential peace. Verse 3 helps us to see that peace awaits those who trust in the Lord as their eternal source of strength—their Rock (v. 4). Such peace allows one to exhale, to rest, to slow down. - Arthur Jackson
Hurry Not
By Amy Boucher Pye
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry.” When two friends repeated that adage by the wise Dallas Willard to me, I knew I needed to consider it. Where was I spinning my wheels, wasting time and energy? More important, where was I rushing ahead and not looking to God for guidance and help? In the weeks and months that followed, I remembered those words and reoriented myself back to the Lord and His wisdom. I reminded myself to trust in Him, rather than leaning on my own ways.
After all, rushing around frantically seems to be the opposite of the “perfect peace” the prophet Isaiah speaks of. The Lord gives this gift to “those whose minds are steadfast,” because they trust in Him (v. 3). And He is worthy of being trusted today, tomorrow, and forever, for “the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (v. 4). Trusting God with our minds fixed on Him is the antidote to a hurried life.
Lord God, You give the peace that passes all understanding.
How about us? Do we sense that we’re hurried or even hasty? Maybe, in contrast, we often experience a sense of peace. Or perhaps we’re somewhere in between the two extremes.
Wherever we may be, I pray today that we’ll be able to put aside any hurry as we trust the Lord, who will never fail us and who gives us His peace.
Lord God, You give the peace that passes all understanding, which is a gift I don’t want to take for granted. Thank You.
God’s peace helps us not to hurry.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.
We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Who's On in Prime Time? - #8159
Every fall, the TV networks start hyping their new shows. And usually, they have a couple that feature some well-known star. You can be sure that those headline shows and those headline stars, won't be on at 2:00 in the afternoon or 1:00 o'clock in the morning. No way. They will air sometime in the heart of the evening, like 8:00 or 9:00 o'clock. What do they call it? Prime time! You know you've made it when you've got a show on prime time. Even though a lot of what's on in those hours doesn't seem very prime to a lot of us, to the networks it's their best. Stick the reruns and the less popular shows to the off-hours when not as many people are watching, right? But prime time, hey, that's reserved for the best.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who's On in Prime Time?"
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the familiar, but extremely challenging, words of Matthew 6:33. "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." In other words, put the things of God in first place in your life, and God will personally take charge of the rest. Powerful promise. Often, not the way we live.
Let's take your personal time with Jesus. If we're going to seek first what matters to Jesus, wouldn't that make our time with Him a primary item in our daily schedule? You've got no more important thing in your life than Jesus. So, do you have Him on in prime time or stuffed in some sleepy, rushed, crummy corner of your life's broadcast schedule? Or is Jesus only on when you get around to time with Him, when you have some time left when you can squeeze Him in. Doesn't sound like seeking first the things of God, does it? It sounds like seeking the things of God if and when there's time.
And there won't be time if you don't schedule it. Your time with Jesus is meant to be the non-negotiable of your personal schedule. If you have to cancel everything but one thing today, the one thing left will be your time with Jesus. Nobody else died for you. Nobody else deserves center stage in your life. No other voice can tell you what He can tell you. No other love can fill your heart. No other peace can still your heart.
All the other people, all the other responsibilities, scream for our attention. Jesus just whispers, "I'm here - waiting for you." Maybe He's been drowned out for too long, crowded out by all that earth-stuff, by good things that just aren't as important as He is.
It's time to say, "Jesus, I'm enthroning You in a central part of my daily schedule. I'm giving You some of my prime time, not my leftover time. I'm making my time with You - beginning today - non-negotiable...the highest priority of my personal schedule. Because I've got no one more important than You." That means getting up earlier, staying up later, going to bed earlier, cutting back on something else - whatever it takes, making His time the anchor of your life.
Open your heart to Him. Look for His heart in the words He recorded in the Bible. Look for a specific praise, a specific change He can make that day, a specific promise that will shape your day. And keep a Jesus-journal where you record what your Lord has spoken to your heart and what you're going to do about it.
Remember, prime time is where you schedule the best. And the best thing you've got is your relationship with the Son of God. Make sure He's on every day - in prime time.
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