Max Lucado Daily: Potential Time with God
Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. Try being silent with God.
By the time your life is over, you'll have spent six months at stoplights, eight months opening junk mail, a year and a half looking for lost stuff (double that in my case), and a whopping five years standing in various lines.
Why don't you give these moments to God? By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as "Thank you, Father"…"Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord"… "You are my resting place, Jesus"…can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You don't have to leave your office or your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.
From Just Like Jesus
1 Kings 1
King David grew old. The years had caught up with him. Even though they piled blankets on him, he couldn’t keep warm. So his servants said to him, “We’re going to get a young virgin for our master the king to be at his side and look after him; she’ll get in bed with you and arouse our master the king.” So they searched the country of Israel for the most ravishing girl they could find; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was stunningly beautiful; she stayed at his side and looked after the king, but the king did not have sex with her.
5-6 At this time Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, puffed himself up saying, “I’m the next king!” He made quite a splash, with chariots and riders and fifty men to run ahead of him. His father had spoiled him rotten as a child, never once reprimanding him. Besides that, he was very good-looking and the next in line after Absalom.
7-8 Adonijah talked with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they threw their weight on his side. But neither the priest Zadok, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor Nathan the prophet, nor Shimei and Rei, nor David’s personal bodyguards supported Adonijah.
9-10 Next Adonijah held a coronation feast, sacrificing sheep, cattle, and grain-fed heifers at the Stone of Zoheleth near the Rogel Spring. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and everyone in Judah who had position and influence—but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the bodyguards, or his brother Solomon.
11-14 Nathan went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Did you know that Adonijah, Haggith’s son, has taken over as king, and our master David doesn’t know a thing about it? Quickly now, let me tell you how you can save both your own life and Solomon’s. Go immediately to King David. Speak up: ‘Didn’t you, my master the king, promise me, “Your son Solomon will be king after me and sit on my throne”? So why is Adonijah now king?’ While you’re there talking with the king, I’ll come in and corroborate your story.”
15-16 Bathsheba went at once to the king in his palace bedroom. He was so old! Abishag was at his side making him comfortable. As Bathsheba bowed low, honoring the king, he said, “What do you want?”
17-21 “My master,” she said, “you promised me in God’s name, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me and sit on my throne.’ And now look what’s happened—Adonijah has taken over as king, and my master the king doesn’t even know it! He has thrown a huge coronation feast—cattle and grain-fed heifers and sheep—inviting all the king’s sons, the priest Abiathar, and Joab head of the army. But your servant Solomon was not invited. My master the king, every eye in Israel is watching you to see what you’ll do—to see who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him. If you fail to act, the moment you’re buried my son Solomon and I are as good as dead.”
22-23 Abruptly, while she was telling the king all this, Nathan the prophet came in and was announced: “Nathan the prophet is here.” He came before the king, honoring him by bowing deeply, his face touching the ground.
24-27 “My master the king,” Nathan began, “did you say, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me and sit on my throne’? Because that’s what’s happening. He’s thrown a huge coronation feast—cattle, grain-fed heifers, sheep—inviting all the king’s sons, the army officers, and Abiathar the priest. They’re having a grand time, eating and drinking and shouting, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ But I wasn’t invited, nor was the priest Zadok, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. Is this something that my master the king has done behind our backs, not telling your servants who you intended to be king after you?”
28 King David took action: “Get Bathsheba back in here.” She entered and stood before the king.
29-30 The king solemnly promised, “As God lives, the God who delivered me from every kind of trouble, I’ll do exactly what I promised in God’s name, the God of Israel: Your son Solomon will be king after me and take my place on the throne. And I’ll make sure it happens this very day.”
31 Bathsheba bowed low, her face to the ground. Kneeling in reverence before the king she said, “Oh, may my master, King David, live forever!”
32 King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came to the king.
33-35 Then he ordered, “Gather my servants, then mount my son Solomon on my royal mule and lead him in procession down to Gihon. When you get there, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the ram’s horn trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ You will then accompany him as he enters and takes his place on my throne, succeeding me as king. I have named him ruler over Israel and Judah.”
36-37 Benaiah son of Jehoiada backed the king: “Yes! And may God, the God of my master the king, confirm it! Just as God has been with my master the king, may he also be with Solomon and make his rule even greater than that of my master King David!”
38-40 Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the king’s personal bodyguard (the Kerethites and Pelethites) went down, mounted Solomon on King David’s mule, and paraded with him to Gihon. Zadok the priest brought a flask of oil from the sanctuary and anointed Solomon. They blew the ram’s horn trumpet and everyone shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” Everyone joined the fanfare, the band playing and the people singing, the very earth reverberating to the sound.
41 Adonijah and his retinue of guests were just finishing their “coronation” feast when they heard it. When Joab heard the blast of the ram’s horn trumpet he said, “What’s going on here? What’s all this uproar?”
42 Suddenly, in the midst of the questioning, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest, showed up. Adonijah said, “Welcome! A brave and good man like you must have good news.”
43-48 But Jonathan answered, “Hardly! Our master King David has just made Solomon king! And the king has surrounded him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, with the Kerethites and Pelethites; and they’ve mounted Solomon on the royal mule. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon and the parade is headed up this way singing—a great fanfare! The city is rocking! That’s what you’re hearing. Here’s the crowning touch—Solomon is seated on the throne of the kingdom! And that’s not all: The king’s servants have come to give their blessing to our master King David saying, ‘God make Solomon’s name even more honored than yours, and make his rule greater than yours!’ On his deathbed the king worshiped God and prayed, ‘Blessed be God, Israel’s God, who has provided a successor to my throne, and I’ve lived to see it!’”
49-50 Panicked, Adonijah’s guests got out of there, scattering every which way. But Adonijah himself, afraid for his life because of Solomon, fled to the sanctuary and grabbed the horns of the Altar.
51 Solomon was told, “Adonijah, fearful of King Solomon, has taken sanctuary and seized the horns of the Altar and is saying, ‘I’m not leaving until King Solomon promises that he won’t kill me.’”
52-53 Solomon then said, “If he proves to be a man of honor, not a hair of his head will be hurt; but if there is evil in him, he’ll die.” Solomon summoned him and they brought him from the Altar. Adonijah came and bowed down, honoring the king. Solomon dismissed him, “Go home.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Jeremiah 2:13, 20–22
“Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see!
Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can’t be!”
God’s Decree.
“My people have committed a compound sin:
they’ve walked out on me, the fountain
Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—
cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.
Jeremiah 2:20-22 The Message (MSG)
20-22 “A long time ago you broke out of the harness.
You shook off all restraints.
You said, ‘I will not serve!’
and off you went,
Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,
like a common whore.
You were a select vine when I planted you
from completely reliable stock.
And look how you’ve turned out—
a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.
Scrub, using the strongest soaps.
Scour your skin raw.
The sin-grease won’t come out. I can’t stand to even look at you!”
God’s Decree, the Master’s Decree.
Insight
There are several different words for sin in Scripture, each with its own meaning. In today’s reading, Jeremiah uses a word which means “bad” or “evil” and is often used to denote something that has a negative effect. However, while definitions give us a technical understanding of what sin is, they often fail to paint an adequate image of its reality.
In today’s passage, Jeremiah uses four metaphors to describe the detestable nature of Israel’s sin against God—digging cisterns (v. 13), breaking yoke and bonds (v. 20), prostitution (v. 20), and a wild vine (v. 21). When we describe sin as just “missing the mark” (it was a good shot but not perfect), it’s easier to justify. But the image of prostitution to describe our sin is more difficult to gloss over. Jeremiah says Israel’s actions were so heinous that no matter how they tried to clean themselves, their guilt remained.
Washed Clean
The blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
I couldn’t believe it. A blue gel pen had hidden itself in the folds of my white towels and survived the washing machine, only to explode in the dryer. Ugly blue stains were everywhere. My white towels were ruined. No amount of bleach would be able to remove the dark stains.
As I reluctantly consigned the towels to the rag pile, I was reminded of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah’s lament describing the damaging effects of sin. By rejecting God and turning to idols (Jeremiah 2:13), Jeremiah declared that the people of Israel had caused a permanent stain in their relationship with God: “‘Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord” (v. 22). They were powerless to undo the damage they’d done.
On our own, it is impossible to remove the stain of our sin. But Jesus has done what we could not. Through the power of His death and resurrection, He “purifies [believers] from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Even when it’s hard to believe, cling to this beautiful truth: there’s no damage from sin that Jesus can’t totally remove. God is willing and ready to wash away the effects of sin for anyone willing to return to Him (v. 9). Through Christ, we can live each day in freedom and hope. By Lisa M. Samra
Today's Reflection
Where do you go with your guilt? How might you live differently today knowing that Jesus’s death has the power to completely remove the guilt and “stain” of your sin?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 21, 2019
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
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
John 18:1-18 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God's Translator
When he walked this earth, Jesus was so in sync with the Father that he could say in John 14:11, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." It was if he heard a voice that was missing.
Remember when everyone was distraught about Lazarus's illness? Jesus wasn't. Rather than hurry to his friend's bedside, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God." Jesus had unbroken communion with his Father. It was as if Jesus could hear what no one else could. How could a relationship be more intimate?
Do you suppose the Father desires the same for us? Absolutely! God desires the same abiding intimacy with you that he had with his Son. Paul says in Romans 8:29 that we have been "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son."
From Just Like Jesus
John 18:1-18
Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.
2-4 Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus and his disciples went there often. So Judas led the way to the garden, and the Roman soldiers and police sent by the high priests and Pharisees followed. They arrived there with lanterns and torches and swords. Jesus, knowing by now everything that was coming down on him, went out and met them. He said, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
5-6 He said, “That’s me.” The soldiers recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb.
7 Jesus asked again, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8-9 “I told you,” said Jesus, “that’s me. I’m the one. So if it’s me you’re after, let these others go.” (This validated the words in his prayer, “I didn’t lose one of those you gave.”)
10 Just then Simon Peter, who was carrying a sword, pulled it from its sheath and struck the Chief Priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. Malchus was the servant’s name.
11 Jesus ordered Peter, “Put back your sword. Do you think for a minute I’m not going to drink this cup the Father gave me?”
12-14 Then the Roman soldiers under their commander, joined by the Jewish police, seized Jesus and tied him up. They took him first to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the Chief Priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.
15-16 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was known to the Chief Priest, and so he went in with Jesus to the Chief Priest’s courtyard. Peter had to stay outside. Then the other disciple went out, spoke to the doorkeeper, and got Peter in.
17 The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “Aren’t you one of this man’s disciples?”
He said, “No, I’m not.”
18 The servants and police had made a fire because of the cold and were huddled there warming themselves. Peter stood with them, trying to get warm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:2 Samuel 12:1–14
and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
5-6 David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
7-12 “You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
13-14 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God.”
Nathan pronounced, “Yes, but that’s not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won’t die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die.”
Insight
Nathan’s confrontation of David’s adultery, conspiracy to commit murder, and cover-up recorded in 2 Samuel 12 could have been withheld by the historians of Israel. But the record of David’s crimes remains in our Bibles as evidence of the credibility of a Book that doesn’t hide the moral failures of its heroes, while assuring us of God’s readiness to forgive without suspending the consequences of our wrongs.
Who Is That?
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin.” 2 Samuel 12:13
When a man installed a security camera outside his house, he checked the video feature to ensure that the system was working. He was alarmed to see a broad-shouldered figure in dark clothing wandering around his yard. He watched intently to see what the man would do. The interloper seemed familiar, however. Finally he realized he wasn’t watching a stranger roam his property, but a recording of himself in his own backyard!
What might we see if we could step out of our skin and observe ourselves in certain situations? When David’s heart was hardened and he needed an outside perspective—a godly perspective—on his involvement with Bathsheba, God sent Nathan to the rescue (2 Samuel 12).
Nathan told David a story about a rich man who robbed a poor man of his only lamb. Though the rich man owned herds of animals, he slaughtered the poor man’s lone sheep and made it into a meal. When Nathan revealed that the story illustrated David’s actions, David saw how he had harmed Uriah. Nathan explained the consequences, but more important he assured David, “The Lord has taken away your sin” (v. 13).
If God reveals sin in our lives, His ultimate purpose isn’t to condemn us, but to restore us and to help us reconcile with those we’ve hurt. Repentance clears the way for renewed closeness with God through the power of His forgiveness and grace. By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Today's Reflection
What sin(s) do you need to bring to God today in repentance? How does His grace encourage you to come before Him in honesty?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 20, 2019
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
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L
When he walked this earth, Jesus was so in sync with the Father that he could say in John 14:11, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." It was if he heard a voice that was missing.
Remember when everyone was distraught about Lazarus's illness? Jesus wasn't. Rather than hurry to his friend's bedside, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God." Jesus had unbroken communion with his Father. It was as if Jesus could hear what no one else could. How could a relationship be more intimate?
Do you suppose the Father desires the same for us? Absolutely! God desires the same abiding intimacy with you that he had with his Son. Paul says in Romans 8:29 that we have been "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son."
From Just Like Jesus
John 18:1-18
Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.
2-4 Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus and his disciples went there often. So Judas led the way to the garden, and the Roman soldiers and police sent by the high priests and Pharisees followed. They arrived there with lanterns and torches and swords. Jesus, knowing by now everything that was coming down on him, went out and met them. He said, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
5-6 He said, “That’s me.” The soldiers recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb.
7 Jesus asked again, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8-9 “I told you,” said Jesus, “that’s me. I’m the one. So if it’s me you’re after, let these others go.” (This validated the words in his prayer, “I didn’t lose one of those you gave.”)
10 Just then Simon Peter, who was carrying a sword, pulled it from its sheath and struck the Chief Priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. Malchus was the servant’s name.
11 Jesus ordered Peter, “Put back your sword. Do you think for a minute I’m not going to drink this cup the Father gave me?”
12-14 Then the Roman soldiers under their commander, joined by the Jewish police, seized Jesus and tied him up. They took him first to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the Chief Priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.
15-16 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was known to the Chief Priest, and so he went in with Jesus to the Chief Priest’s courtyard. Peter had to stay outside. Then the other disciple went out, spoke to the doorkeeper, and got Peter in.
17 The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “Aren’t you one of this man’s disciples?”
He said, “No, I’m not.”
18 The servants and police had made a fire because of the cold and were huddled there warming themselves. Peter stood with them, trying to get warm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:2 Samuel 12:1–14
and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
5-6 David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
7-12 “You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
13-14 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God.”
Nathan pronounced, “Yes, but that’s not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won’t die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die.”
Insight
Nathan’s confrontation of David’s adultery, conspiracy to commit murder, and cover-up recorded in 2 Samuel 12 could have been withheld by the historians of Israel. But the record of David’s crimes remains in our Bibles as evidence of the credibility of a Book that doesn’t hide the moral failures of its heroes, while assuring us of God’s readiness to forgive without suspending the consequences of our wrongs.
Who Is That?
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin.” 2 Samuel 12:13
When a man installed a security camera outside his house, he checked the video feature to ensure that the system was working. He was alarmed to see a broad-shouldered figure in dark clothing wandering around his yard. He watched intently to see what the man would do. The interloper seemed familiar, however. Finally he realized he wasn’t watching a stranger roam his property, but a recording of himself in his own backyard!
What might we see if we could step out of our skin and observe ourselves in certain situations? When David’s heart was hardened and he needed an outside perspective—a godly perspective—on his involvement with Bathsheba, God sent Nathan to the rescue (2 Samuel 12).
Nathan told David a story about a rich man who robbed a poor man of his only lamb. Though the rich man owned herds of animals, he slaughtered the poor man’s lone sheep and made it into a meal. When Nathan revealed that the story illustrated David’s actions, David saw how he had harmed Uriah. Nathan explained the consequences, but more important he assured David, “The Lord has taken away your sin” (v. 13).
If God reveals sin in our lives, His ultimate purpose isn’t to condemn us, but to restore us and to help us reconcile with those we’ve hurt. Repentance clears the way for renewed closeness with God through the power of His forgiveness and grace. By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Today's Reflection
What sin(s) do you need to bring to God today in repentance? How does His grace encourage you to come before Him in honesty?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 20, 2019
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
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L
Friday, April 19, 2019
Psalm 145, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: DON’T CRY
Jesus and his disciples stop as the funeral procession passes by. The widow at the back of the procession is burying her only son. Tonight she will make dinner for one and conversation with none.
When Jesus sees the mother, his heart begins to break, and he tells her, “Don’t cry.” The pallbearers stop marching, and Jesus turns his attention to the dead boy and calmly says, “Young man, come back to life again.” Gray-pale cheeks blush. The dead man sits up.
Luke’s description of what happens next is captivating. “Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Jesus must have smiled as the two embraced. Stunned, the crowd breaks into cheers and applause. And someone proclaims the undeniable, “God has come to help his people” (Luke 7:15-16).
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 145
David’s Praise
145 I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!
and I’ll bless your name into eternity.
2 I’ll bless you every day,
and keep it up from now to eternity.
3 God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
There are no boundaries to his greatness.
4 Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
5 Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
I compose songs on your wonders.
6 Your marvelous doings are headline news;
I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.
7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.
8 God is all mercy and grace—
not quick to anger, is rich in love.
9 God is good to one and all;
everything he does is suffused with grace.
10-11 Creation and creatures applaud you, God;
your holy people bless you.
They talk about the glories of your rule,
they exclaim over your splendor,
12 Letting the world know of your power for good,
the lavish splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal;
you never get voted out of office.
God always does what he says,
and is gracious in everything he does.
14 God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.
15 All eyes are on you, expectant;
you give them their meals on time.
16 Generous to a fault,
you lavish your favor on all creatures.
17 Everything God does is right—
the trademark on all his works is love.
18 God’s there, listening for all who pray,
for all who pray and mean it.
19 He does what’s best for those who fear him—
hears them call out, and saves them.
20 God sticks by all who love him,
but it’s all over for those who don’t.
21 My mouth is filled with God’s praise.
Let everything living bless him,
bless his holy name from now to eternity!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 19, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Hebrews 10:10–23
The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old “law plan” wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:
You don’t want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar
that whet your appetite.
So I said, “I’m here to do it your way, O God,
the way it’s described in your Book.”
When he said, “You don’t want sacrifices and offerings,” he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, “I’m here to do it your way,” he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God’s way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
11-18 Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:
This new plan I’m making with Israel
isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.”
He concludes,
I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.
22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Insight
Jesus’s ministry as priest in Hebrews is prominent, first referenced in Hebrews 1:3: “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Chapter 13 also includes this theme: “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering . . . . And so Jesus also suffered . . . to make the people holy through his own blood” (vv. 11–12).
The Torn Veil
We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. Hebrews 10:19–20
It was a dark and somber day in the outskirts of Jerusalem. On a hill just outside the city walls, a Man who’d been attracting crowds of eager followers for the past three years hung in disgrace and pain on a rough wooden cross. Mourners wept and wailed in sorrow. The light of the sun no longer brightened the afternoon sky. And the intense suffering of the Man on the cross ended when He cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” (Matthew 27:50; John 19:30).
At that very moment, another sound came from the great temple across town—the sound of ripping fabric. Miraculously, without human intervention, the huge, thick veil that separated the outer temple from the holy of holies tore in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).
That torn curtain symbolized the reality of the cross: a new way was now open to God! Jesus, the Man on the cross, had shed His blood as the last sacrifice—the one true and sufficient sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10)—which allows all who believe in Him to enjoy forgiveness and enter into a relationship with God (Romans 5:6–11).
Amidst the darkness of that original Good Friday, we received the best news ever—Jesus opened a way for us to be saved from our sins and to experience fellowship with God forever (Hebrews 10:19–22). Thank God for the message of the torn veil! By Dave Branon
Today's Reflection
How has the reality of what happened on Good Friday brought you from darkness to light? What does it mean for you to experience a relationship with God?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 19, 2019
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
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 19, 2019
The Battle for Your Life - #8420
A listener shared a story with me that's just too powerful not to share with you. A man named George Thomas was a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning, he got up to speak and he set a rusty, bent-up old bird cage next to the pulpit. You could tell by people's faces that the pastor had some explaining to do. He said, "Well, I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me, swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little birds who were shivering with cold and fear. So I asked the boy, "What you got there?" He said, "Just some old birds." The pastor then asked, "What are you going to do with them?" The boy said, "Well, I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. Then I'm gonna have a real good time." The pastor pointed out that the boy would soon get tired of those birds and he said, "What are you going to do with them then?" "Oh, I've got some cats," the boy said. "They like birds." What happened next is what puts you and me into this picture.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Battle for Your Life."
The pastor had a question for the boy who had nothing but hurtful plans for those little birds. "How much do you want for them, son?" The boy couldn't believe it. These were just plain old field birds who weren't very pretty and they couldn't sing. When the pastor pressed his question, the boy finally answered, "Uh, ten dollars?" The pastor reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill, and the boy took his money and ran off.
The pastor picked up the cage, he gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. He opened the cage door, softly tapped the bars to persuade the birds to come out, and you know what happened. He set them free.
Now the folks at church understood at this point why there was an empty cage on the pulpit. Then the pastor began to tell a story of a conversation between Jesus and Satan, who had just come from his victory with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil was boasting, "Yes, sir, I just caught me a world full of people down there. I set me a trap and they fell for the bait. Got 'em all!" Jesus asked him, "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm gonna have some fun with them," Satan replied. "I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hurt and hate each other, and how to get hooked on habits that will destroy them. I'm going to teach them to deceive each other, abuse each other, and even kill each other."
When Jesus asked what he would do when he was done with them, Satan said, "Oh, I'll kill them." "How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked. The devil said, "You don't want them. They'll just spit on you. They'll just curse you. They'll kill you!" Jesus asked again, "How much?" Satan sneered, "All your tears and all your blood!" "Done!" Jesus said, and then He paid the price. Now our word for today from the Word of God in John 10:10, "The thief (that's Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
This very day the life-taker, the devil himself, is trying to hold onto you. He wants to keep you away from Jesus until your last heartbeat, and then you'll be his forever. But the Life-Giver, Jesus Christ, is fighting for your soul this very moment where you are. He paid the price for your sin on the cross. And now you are in the middle of a tug-of-war on which your eternity depends - Satan trying to keep you on his path to kill you, and Jesus inviting you to give yourself to Him so He can give you life. They won't decide whether you go to heaven or hell though - you will.
You want to belong to this Jesus? I mean, nobody has ever loved you like He does. No one has the power to walk out of his grave and give eternal life but Him. Go to our website, please. Many people have gone there and found there the assurance that they belong to Jesus Christ from that day on. It's ANewStory.com.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been unlocking that cage door of sin and letting its captives go free. He's waiting to do that for you this very day, this Good Friday.
Jesus and his disciples stop as the funeral procession passes by. The widow at the back of the procession is burying her only son. Tonight she will make dinner for one and conversation with none.
When Jesus sees the mother, his heart begins to break, and he tells her, “Don’t cry.” The pallbearers stop marching, and Jesus turns his attention to the dead boy and calmly says, “Young man, come back to life again.” Gray-pale cheeks blush. The dead man sits up.
Luke’s description of what happens next is captivating. “Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Jesus must have smiled as the two embraced. Stunned, the crowd breaks into cheers and applause. And someone proclaims the undeniable, “God has come to help his people” (Luke 7:15-16).
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 145
David’s Praise
145 I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!
and I’ll bless your name into eternity.
2 I’ll bless you every day,
and keep it up from now to eternity.
3 God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
There are no boundaries to his greatness.
4 Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
5 Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
I compose songs on your wonders.
6 Your marvelous doings are headline news;
I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.
7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.
8 God is all mercy and grace—
not quick to anger, is rich in love.
9 God is good to one and all;
everything he does is suffused with grace.
10-11 Creation and creatures applaud you, God;
your holy people bless you.
They talk about the glories of your rule,
they exclaim over your splendor,
12 Letting the world know of your power for good,
the lavish splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal;
you never get voted out of office.
God always does what he says,
and is gracious in everything he does.
14 God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.
15 All eyes are on you, expectant;
you give them their meals on time.
16 Generous to a fault,
you lavish your favor on all creatures.
17 Everything God does is right—
the trademark on all his works is love.
18 God’s there, listening for all who pray,
for all who pray and mean it.
19 He does what’s best for those who fear him—
hears them call out, and saves them.
20 God sticks by all who love him,
but it’s all over for those who don’t.
21 My mouth is filled with God’s praise.
Let everything living bless him,
bless his holy name from now to eternity!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 19, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Hebrews 10:10–23
The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old “law plan” wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:
You don’t want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar
that whet your appetite.
So I said, “I’m here to do it your way, O God,
the way it’s described in your Book.”
When he said, “You don’t want sacrifices and offerings,” he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, “I’m here to do it your way,” he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God’s way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
11-18 Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:
This new plan I’m making with Israel
isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.”
He concludes,
I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.
22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Insight
Jesus’s ministry as priest in Hebrews is prominent, first referenced in Hebrews 1:3: “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Chapter 13 also includes this theme: “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering . . . . And so Jesus also suffered . . . to make the people holy through his own blood” (vv. 11–12).
The Torn Veil
We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. Hebrews 10:19–20
It was a dark and somber day in the outskirts of Jerusalem. On a hill just outside the city walls, a Man who’d been attracting crowds of eager followers for the past three years hung in disgrace and pain on a rough wooden cross. Mourners wept and wailed in sorrow. The light of the sun no longer brightened the afternoon sky. And the intense suffering of the Man on the cross ended when He cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” (Matthew 27:50; John 19:30).
At that very moment, another sound came from the great temple across town—the sound of ripping fabric. Miraculously, without human intervention, the huge, thick veil that separated the outer temple from the holy of holies tore in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).
That torn curtain symbolized the reality of the cross: a new way was now open to God! Jesus, the Man on the cross, had shed His blood as the last sacrifice—the one true and sufficient sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10)—which allows all who believe in Him to enjoy forgiveness and enter into a relationship with God (Romans 5:6–11).
Amidst the darkness of that original Good Friday, we received the best news ever—Jesus opened a way for us to be saved from our sins and to experience fellowship with God forever (Hebrews 10:19–22). Thank God for the message of the torn veil! By Dave Branon
Today's Reflection
How has the reality of what happened on Good Friday brought you from darkness to light? What does it mean for you to experience a relationship with God?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 19, 2019
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
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 19, 2019
The Battle for Your Life - #8420
A listener shared a story with me that's just too powerful not to share with you. A man named George Thomas was a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning, he got up to speak and he set a rusty, bent-up old bird cage next to the pulpit. You could tell by people's faces that the pastor had some explaining to do. He said, "Well, I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me, swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little birds who were shivering with cold and fear. So I asked the boy, "What you got there?" He said, "Just some old birds." The pastor then asked, "What are you going to do with them?" The boy said, "Well, I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. Then I'm gonna have a real good time." The pastor pointed out that the boy would soon get tired of those birds and he said, "What are you going to do with them then?" "Oh, I've got some cats," the boy said. "They like birds." What happened next is what puts you and me into this picture.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Battle for Your Life."
The pastor had a question for the boy who had nothing but hurtful plans for those little birds. "How much do you want for them, son?" The boy couldn't believe it. These were just plain old field birds who weren't very pretty and they couldn't sing. When the pastor pressed his question, the boy finally answered, "Uh, ten dollars?" The pastor reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill, and the boy took his money and ran off.
The pastor picked up the cage, he gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. He opened the cage door, softly tapped the bars to persuade the birds to come out, and you know what happened. He set them free.
Now the folks at church understood at this point why there was an empty cage on the pulpit. Then the pastor began to tell a story of a conversation between Jesus and Satan, who had just come from his victory with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil was boasting, "Yes, sir, I just caught me a world full of people down there. I set me a trap and they fell for the bait. Got 'em all!" Jesus asked him, "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm gonna have some fun with them," Satan replied. "I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hurt and hate each other, and how to get hooked on habits that will destroy them. I'm going to teach them to deceive each other, abuse each other, and even kill each other."
When Jesus asked what he would do when he was done with them, Satan said, "Oh, I'll kill them." "How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked. The devil said, "You don't want them. They'll just spit on you. They'll just curse you. They'll kill you!" Jesus asked again, "How much?" Satan sneered, "All your tears and all your blood!" "Done!" Jesus said, and then He paid the price. Now our word for today from the Word of God in John 10:10, "The thief (that's Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
This very day the life-taker, the devil himself, is trying to hold onto you. He wants to keep you away from Jesus until your last heartbeat, and then you'll be his forever. But the Life-Giver, Jesus Christ, is fighting for your soul this very moment where you are. He paid the price for your sin on the cross. And now you are in the middle of a tug-of-war on which your eternity depends - Satan trying to keep you on his path to kill you, and Jesus inviting you to give yourself to Him so He can give you life. They won't decide whether you go to heaven or hell though - you will.
You want to belong to this Jesus? I mean, nobody has ever loved you like He does. No one has the power to walk out of his grave and give eternal life but Him. Go to our website, please. Many people have gone there and found there the assurance that they belong to Jesus Christ from that day on. It's ANewStory.com.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been unlocking that cage door of sin and letting its captives go free. He's waiting to do that for you this very day, this Good Friday.
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Psalm 144, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD VS. DEATH
Death is the bully on the block of life. “Your time is coming,” he taunts. Oh, we try to prove him wrong. We jog. We diet. But we know that we will only, at best, postpone it. That is why you should never face him alone. That is why you need a big brother.
Take heart from these words, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-16).
Yes, the Christian can face the bully nose to nose and claim the promise that echoed in the empty tomb. My death is not final!
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 144
A David Psalm
144 1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain,
who trains me to fight fair and well.
He’s the bedrock on which I stand,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight,
The high crag where I run for dear life,
while he lays my enemies low.
3-4 I wonder why you care, God—
why do you bother with us at all?
All we are is a puff of air;
we’re like shadows in a campfire.
5-8 Step down out of heaven, God;
ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.
Hurl your lightnings in every direction;
shoot your arrows this way and that.
Reach all the way from sky to sea:
pull me out of the ocean of hate,
out of the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
who shake your hand
then knife you in the back.
9-10 O God, let me sing a new song to you,
let me play it on a twelve-string guitar—
A song to the God who saved the king,
the God who rescued David, his servant.
11 Rescue me from the enemy sword,
release me from the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
who shake your hand
then knife you in the back.
12-14 Make our sons in their prime
like sturdy oak trees,
Our daughters as shapely and bright
as fields of wildflowers.
Fill our barns with great harvest,
fill our fields with huge flocks;
Protect us from invasion and exile—
eliminate the crime in our streets.
15 How blessed the people who have all this!
How blessed the people who have God for God!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 23:32–46
Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.
33 When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
34-35 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”
36-37 The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”
38 Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”
40-41 But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
43 He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”
44-46 By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in your hands!” Then he breathed his last.
Insight
Jesus’s death forever changed those present. One of the two criminals who had been crucified alongside Him said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:39–43). The centurion tasked with executing Him exclaimed, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).
In the Moment
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life . . . . No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. John 10:17–18
The ambulance door was about to close—with me on the inside. Outside, my son was on the phone to my wife. From my concussed fog, I called his name. As he recalls the moment, I slowly said, “Tell your mom I love her very much.”
Apparently I thought this might be goodbye, and I wanted those to be my parting words. In the moment, that’s what mattered most to me.
As Jesus endured His darkest moment, He didn’t merely tell us He loved us; He showed it in specific ways. He showed it to the mocking soldiers who had just nailed Him to a cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He gave hope to a criminal crucified with Him: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Nearing the end, He looked at His mother. “Here is your son,” He said to her, and to His close friend John He said, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26–27). Then, as His life slipped from Him, Jesus’s last act of love was to trust His Father: “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Jesus purposefully chose the cross in order to show His obedience to His Father—and the depth of His love for us. To the very end, He showed us His relentless love. By Tim Gustafson
Today's Reflection
What matters most to you? How do love and obedience fit together?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Readiness
God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold. Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Goodbye, Ordinary! - #8419
I was more of a Superman and Batman fan. I never really got into Spider-Man. But when the blockbuster Spider-Man movie came out, the first one, a lot of people did get into Spider-Man. And you know what? There have been a couple more movies since then, they've got more than a couple now. I'm still not tremendously interested in this web-spinning, skyscraper-climbing, crime-fighting guy in the spider suit, but I am interested in something he said in the first movie about him. Peter Parker, yeah you probably know this as the bookish teenager who gets bitten by a radioactive spider one day. (You never know when that's going to happen to you.) And he begins to discover that he has suddenly developed some amazing spiderish capabilities. (All right, look, I'm reporting the story, I didn't write it. Okay?) Now, it dawns on him that he can't just use these abilities for himself. He has to use them to make a difference. Here's the great line. Here's what he says. I like it: "For me, living an ordinary life is no longer an option." Oh, that's good!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Goodbye, Ordinary!"
An ordinary guy who suddenly realizes he has some extraordinary powers available to him, and he realizes he can't settle for ordinary anymore. Well, hello, is that a picture of any man or woman in whom Jesus Christ lives! I mean, this is the Jesus who blew the doors off His grave on Easter morning, who has conquered death, the most powerful force on earth - the force that has stopped every man except one man. And the day you gave yourself to this Jesus, He moved into your life to stay with all His resurrection power.
That's what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, our word for today from the Word of God. "Christ's love compels us...He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." So what's supposed to be the practical result of Good Friday and Easter? That you stop living for yourself, you stop settling for small and ordinary, and you start living a life worthy of Jesus' Good Friday love and His resurrection power.
How can anyone in whom this death-conquering Christ lives ever settle for ordinary again? Paul expressed his lifelong passion in this way: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection..." (Philippians 3:10). Exploring, unleashing, experiencing the awesome power of the Jesus who lives in you!
Maybe you're like so many believers I've met in recent years. You've got this unexplainable restlessness inside. It's saying, "There's got to be something more than this." It's saying, "I want to make a greater difference with the rest of my life than I've made until now." Well, you know what? It's God who's made you restless. He wants you to realize that power that you got when you got Jesus. He wants you to give yourself to a mission far larger than your little kingdom, your little comfort zone.
Those chains that have bound you for so long; you don't have to settle for those anymore. Jesus Christ has resurrection power to set you free! So start to live like it. If you'll commit yourself to resurrection living, you can confront those monsters from your past finally; the ones that have haunted you and even defined you for way too long. You can face those fears you have. You can move beyond that bitterness. You can throw yourself into doing some things that will last forever! You have resurrection power, man!
Tell Jesus you're tired of business as usual; that you've been settling for a life that's just way too small, that's only as big as you can make it. Then sell out to His plans, sell out to His power. We stand by Jesus at the empty tomb that He blew away and we say, "For me, living an ordinary life is no longer an option!"
Death is the bully on the block of life. “Your time is coming,” he taunts. Oh, we try to prove him wrong. We jog. We diet. But we know that we will only, at best, postpone it. That is why you should never face him alone. That is why you need a big brother.
Take heart from these words, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-16).
Yes, the Christian can face the bully nose to nose and claim the promise that echoed in the empty tomb. My death is not final!
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 144
A David Psalm
144 1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain,
who trains me to fight fair and well.
He’s the bedrock on which I stand,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight,
The high crag where I run for dear life,
while he lays my enemies low.
3-4 I wonder why you care, God—
why do you bother with us at all?
All we are is a puff of air;
we’re like shadows in a campfire.
5-8 Step down out of heaven, God;
ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.
Hurl your lightnings in every direction;
shoot your arrows this way and that.
Reach all the way from sky to sea:
pull me out of the ocean of hate,
out of the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
who shake your hand
then knife you in the back.
9-10 O God, let me sing a new song to you,
let me play it on a twelve-string guitar—
A song to the God who saved the king,
the God who rescued David, his servant.
11 Rescue me from the enemy sword,
release me from the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
who shake your hand
then knife you in the back.
12-14 Make our sons in their prime
like sturdy oak trees,
Our daughters as shapely and bright
as fields of wildflowers.
Fill our barns with great harvest,
fill our fields with huge flocks;
Protect us from invasion and exile—
eliminate the crime in our streets.
15 How blessed the people who have all this!
How blessed the people who have God for God!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 23:32–46
Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.
33 When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
34-35 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”
36-37 The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”
38 Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”
40-41 But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
43 He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”
44-46 By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in your hands!” Then he breathed his last.
Insight
Jesus’s death forever changed those present. One of the two criminals who had been crucified alongside Him said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:39–43). The centurion tasked with executing Him exclaimed, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).
In the Moment
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life . . . . No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. John 10:17–18
The ambulance door was about to close—with me on the inside. Outside, my son was on the phone to my wife. From my concussed fog, I called his name. As he recalls the moment, I slowly said, “Tell your mom I love her very much.”
Apparently I thought this might be goodbye, and I wanted those to be my parting words. In the moment, that’s what mattered most to me.
As Jesus endured His darkest moment, He didn’t merely tell us He loved us; He showed it in specific ways. He showed it to the mocking soldiers who had just nailed Him to a cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He gave hope to a criminal crucified with Him: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Nearing the end, He looked at His mother. “Here is your son,” He said to her, and to His close friend John He said, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26–27). Then, as His life slipped from Him, Jesus’s last act of love was to trust His Father: “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Jesus purposefully chose the cross in order to show His obedience to His Father—and the depth of His love for us. To the very end, He showed us His relentless love. By Tim Gustafson
Today's Reflection
What matters most to you? How do love and obedience fit together?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Readiness
God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold. Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Goodbye, Ordinary! - #8419
I was more of a Superman and Batman fan. I never really got into Spider-Man. But when the blockbuster Spider-Man movie came out, the first one, a lot of people did get into Spider-Man. And you know what? There have been a couple more movies since then, they've got more than a couple now. I'm still not tremendously interested in this web-spinning, skyscraper-climbing, crime-fighting guy in the spider suit, but I am interested in something he said in the first movie about him. Peter Parker, yeah you probably know this as the bookish teenager who gets bitten by a radioactive spider one day. (You never know when that's going to happen to you.) And he begins to discover that he has suddenly developed some amazing spiderish capabilities. (All right, look, I'm reporting the story, I didn't write it. Okay?) Now, it dawns on him that he can't just use these abilities for himself. He has to use them to make a difference. Here's the great line. Here's what he says. I like it: "For me, living an ordinary life is no longer an option." Oh, that's good!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Goodbye, Ordinary!"
An ordinary guy who suddenly realizes he has some extraordinary powers available to him, and he realizes he can't settle for ordinary anymore. Well, hello, is that a picture of any man or woman in whom Jesus Christ lives! I mean, this is the Jesus who blew the doors off His grave on Easter morning, who has conquered death, the most powerful force on earth - the force that has stopped every man except one man. And the day you gave yourself to this Jesus, He moved into your life to stay with all His resurrection power.
That's what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, our word for today from the Word of God. "Christ's love compels us...He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." So what's supposed to be the practical result of Good Friday and Easter? That you stop living for yourself, you stop settling for small and ordinary, and you start living a life worthy of Jesus' Good Friday love and His resurrection power.
How can anyone in whom this death-conquering Christ lives ever settle for ordinary again? Paul expressed his lifelong passion in this way: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection..." (Philippians 3:10). Exploring, unleashing, experiencing the awesome power of the Jesus who lives in you!
Maybe you're like so many believers I've met in recent years. You've got this unexplainable restlessness inside. It's saying, "There's got to be something more than this." It's saying, "I want to make a greater difference with the rest of my life than I've made until now." Well, you know what? It's God who's made you restless. He wants you to realize that power that you got when you got Jesus. He wants you to give yourself to a mission far larger than your little kingdom, your little comfort zone.
Those chains that have bound you for so long; you don't have to settle for those anymore. Jesus Christ has resurrection power to set you free! So start to live like it. If you'll commit yourself to resurrection living, you can confront those monsters from your past finally; the ones that have haunted you and even defined you for way too long. You can face those fears you have. You can move beyond that bitterness. You can throw yourself into doing some things that will last forever! You have resurrection power, man!
Tell Jesus you're tired of business as usual; that you've been settling for a life that's just way too small, that's only as big as you can make it. Then sell out to His plans, sell out to His power. We stand by Jesus at the empty tomb that He blew away and we say, "For me, living an ordinary life is no longer an option!"
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Psalm 143 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: AN ELEVENTH HOUR GIFT
“We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done one thing wrong.” These words were spoken on Skull’s hill by a thief. After a life of crime, he’s reached the bottom—a crossbeam and three spikes. He begins to wonder who Jesus might be, and he hears the whisper, “Father, forgive them.”
When the other criminal hurls an accusation at Jesus, this thief defends him. His statement includes facts that anyone needs to recognize to come to Jesus. We are guilty and he is innocent. He is not on that cross for his sins. He is there for ours. And Jesus performs the greatest miracle of the cross—the miracle of forgiveness. “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” A sin-soaked criminal is received by a blood-stained Savior. Such is the definition of grace.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 143
A David Psalm
143 1-2 Listen to this prayer of mine, God;
pay attention to what I’m asking.
Answer me—you’re famous for your answers!
Do what’s right for me.
But don’t, please don’t, haul me into court;
not a person alive would be acquitted there.
3-6 The enemy hunted me down;
he kicked me and stomped me within an inch of my life.
He put me in a black hole,
buried me like a corpse in that dungeon.
I sat there in despair, my spirit draining away,
my heart heavy, like lead.
I remembered the old days,
went over all you’ve done, pondered the ways you’ve worked,
Stretched out my hands to you,
as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.
7-10 Hurry with your answer, God!
I’m nearly at the end of my rope.
Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!
That would be certain death.
If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,
I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.
Point out the road I must travel;
I’m all ears, all eyes before you.
Save me from my enemies, God—
you’re my only hope!
Teach me how to live to please you,
because you’re my God.
Lead me by your blessed Spirit
into cleared and level pastureland.
11-12 Keep up your reputation, God—give me life!
In your justice, get me out of this trouble!
In your great love, vanquish my enemies;
make a clean sweep of those who harass me.
And why? Because I’m your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 103:13–22
God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
ready and able to fly at his bidding,
quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
everything and everyone made by God.
And you, O my soul, bless God!
Insight
In Psalm 103 David celebrates God’s compassion. Comparing the love of God to the love of a father, he writes that the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. David doesn’t mean that God is merciful to those who are afraid of Him, as though God were watching to make sure everyone “toes the line.” Instead, “fear” in this sense is both a proper understanding of and attitude toward someone worthy of respect. God shows His love to those who fear Him, to those who understand and worship Him in reverence.
We might tend to think it’s our fear that garners God’s compassion. However, David, in poetic expression, tells us that compassion originates with God. Far from being a response to our recognition of who He is, it’s God’s response to who we are—dust. God has compassion on us because we are nothing but dust.
Flourishing Like a Flower
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field. Psalm 103:15
My youngest grandson is only two months old, yet every time I see him I notice little changes. Recently, as I cooed to him, he looked up at me and smiled! And suddenly I began crying. Perhaps it was joy mixed with remembering my own children’s first smiles, which I witnessed so long ago, and yet it feels like just yesterday. Some moments are like that—inexplicable.
In Psalm 103, David penned a poetic song that praised God while also reflecting on how quickly the joyful moments of our lives pass by: “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone” (vv. 15–16).
But despite acknowledging the brevity of life, David describes the flower as flourishing, or thriving. Although each individual flower blossoms and blooms swiftly, its fragrance and color and beauty bring great joy in the moment. And even though an individual flower can be quickly forgotten—“its place remembers it no more” (v. 16)—by contrast we have the assurance that “from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him” (v. 17).
We, like flowers, can rejoice and flourish in the moment; but we can also celebrate the truth that the moments of our lives are never truly forgotten. God holds every detail of our lives, and His everlasting love is with His children forever! By Alyson Kieda
Today's Reflection
In what way can you flourish in this moment? How can you bring joy to another?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
All or Nothing?
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Survivors to the Rescue - #8418
Each season in the U.S. seems to bring its beauty and its unique dangers. In the spring, think tornado, for example. In the summer and fall, some of us know what the word hurricane is all about. In the mountains in winter, it's important to be aware that that season's snowy beauty may also bring with it the danger of deadly avalanches. Every winter, we hear about some people who lose their lives as these massive chunks of snow suddenly break loose and roar down the mountain. But every once in a while, we hear about lives being saved. I remember a few years ago, the rescuers were there not long after an avalanche, and they immediately started digging for survivors. In minutes, they pulled out one skier who was not only grateful to be saved, but in remarkably good shape for what he had been through. And the news reported that after that man was rescued, he didn't just head for a warm place to recover. He actually joined the rescuers, working side by side with them to save other lives. And they did!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Survivors to the Rescue."
A person is saved from a deadly situation and they instinctively go back to help save someone else. That's exactly how lives are saved eternally. The rescued are supposed to turn around and be the rescuers. When they're not, they make it out, but they leave others to perish. It's not supposed to be that way.
If someone rescued you spiritually by telling you about Jesus Christ, then the eight words in our word for today from the Word of God are personal orders from God to you. Jude verse 23, simply says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them." The implication; you got snatched from the fire, now go back and get someone else.
That was instinctive for Andrew the day he met Christ. The Bible says, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah'...and he brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42). And Simon, of course, became the great leader of the apostles, Simon Peter.
My guess is that when you first discovered the love of Jesus for yourself, you had that Andrew instinct. You knew you had found something you could not keep to yourself. You may not have done the best job of explaining Jesus at that point, but you just knew that people you cared about had to have the same chance you had. That's how the rescue work of Jesus has gone on for 2,000 years - rescued people become rescuers of others.
But as time has gone by, have you become content to just find a warm spiritual spot among other people who are already headed for heaven. You believe the beliefs, you give the money, you're at the meetings, and you live as if the reason you were rescued is to enjoy the fellowship of the others who've been rescued? No, you were rescued to rescue.
Oh, we have our excuses for our silence about our Savior. "I'm afraid, I'm inadequate, I'm imperfect, I don't know enough, I might mess it up." Well, look at who Jesus used to bring an entire Samaritan village to Him - a woman with the worst reputation in town, a woman who had just met Jesus, but she knew enough to say, "Come see a Man" (John 4:29). "Come on, check out Jesus." If Christ could use her to be His ambassador to her tribe, He can surely use you to be His ambassador to yours. They'll listen to you because you walk the same trail they do - much more than they might listen to some "professional rescuer" who comes from outside their world. You're in their world with them.
Hundreds of people were rescued from the sinking Titanic by being in lifeboats. But those same people refused to turn those lifeboats around to rescue the people who were in the lifejackets in the water, even though a lot of lifeboats were half empty. And 328 people died. You know why? Because the people who had been rescued did nothing about the people who were dying all around them.
There are too many people like that in the lifeboat "Jesus." Please don't be one of them. Turn your lifeboat around and commit the rest of your life to pulling as many people in as you can.
“We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done one thing wrong.” These words were spoken on Skull’s hill by a thief. After a life of crime, he’s reached the bottom—a crossbeam and three spikes. He begins to wonder who Jesus might be, and he hears the whisper, “Father, forgive them.”
When the other criminal hurls an accusation at Jesus, this thief defends him. His statement includes facts that anyone needs to recognize to come to Jesus. We are guilty and he is innocent. He is not on that cross for his sins. He is there for ours. And Jesus performs the greatest miracle of the cross—the miracle of forgiveness. “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” A sin-soaked criminal is received by a blood-stained Savior. Such is the definition of grace.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 143
A David Psalm
143 1-2 Listen to this prayer of mine, God;
pay attention to what I’m asking.
Answer me—you’re famous for your answers!
Do what’s right for me.
But don’t, please don’t, haul me into court;
not a person alive would be acquitted there.
3-6 The enemy hunted me down;
he kicked me and stomped me within an inch of my life.
He put me in a black hole,
buried me like a corpse in that dungeon.
I sat there in despair, my spirit draining away,
my heart heavy, like lead.
I remembered the old days,
went over all you’ve done, pondered the ways you’ve worked,
Stretched out my hands to you,
as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.
7-10 Hurry with your answer, God!
I’m nearly at the end of my rope.
Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!
That would be certain death.
If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,
I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.
Point out the road I must travel;
I’m all ears, all eyes before you.
Save me from my enemies, God—
you’re my only hope!
Teach me how to live to please you,
because you’re my God.
Lead me by your blessed Spirit
into cleared and level pastureland.
11-12 Keep up your reputation, God—give me life!
In your justice, get me out of this trouble!
In your great love, vanquish my enemies;
make a clean sweep of those who harass me.
And why? Because I’m your servant.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 103:13–22
God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
ready and able to fly at his bidding,
quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
everything and everyone made by God.
And you, O my soul, bless God!
Insight
In Psalm 103 David celebrates God’s compassion. Comparing the love of God to the love of a father, he writes that the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. David doesn’t mean that God is merciful to those who are afraid of Him, as though God were watching to make sure everyone “toes the line.” Instead, “fear” in this sense is both a proper understanding of and attitude toward someone worthy of respect. God shows His love to those who fear Him, to those who understand and worship Him in reverence.
We might tend to think it’s our fear that garners God’s compassion. However, David, in poetic expression, tells us that compassion originates with God. Far from being a response to our recognition of who He is, it’s God’s response to who we are—dust. God has compassion on us because we are nothing but dust.
Flourishing Like a Flower
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field. Psalm 103:15
My youngest grandson is only two months old, yet every time I see him I notice little changes. Recently, as I cooed to him, he looked up at me and smiled! And suddenly I began crying. Perhaps it was joy mixed with remembering my own children’s first smiles, which I witnessed so long ago, and yet it feels like just yesterday. Some moments are like that—inexplicable.
In Psalm 103, David penned a poetic song that praised God while also reflecting on how quickly the joyful moments of our lives pass by: “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone” (vv. 15–16).
But despite acknowledging the brevity of life, David describes the flower as flourishing, or thriving. Although each individual flower blossoms and blooms swiftly, its fragrance and color and beauty bring great joy in the moment. And even though an individual flower can be quickly forgotten—“its place remembers it no more” (v. 16)—by contrast we have the assurance that “from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him” (v. 17).
We, like flowers, can rejoice and flourish in the moment; but we can also celebrate the truth that the moments of our lives are never truly forgotten. God holds every detail of our lives, and His everlasting love is with His children forever! By Alyson Kieda
Today's Reflection
In what way can you flourish in this moment? How can you bring joy to another?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
All or Nothing?
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Survivors to the Rescue - #8418
Each season in the U.S. seems to bring its beauty and its unique dangers. In the spring, think tornado, for example. In the summer and fall, some of us know what the word hurricane is all about. In the mountains in winter, it's important to be aware that that season's snowy beauty may also bring with it the danger of deadly avalanches. Every winter, we hear about some people who lose their lives as these massive chunks of snow suddenly break loose and roar down the mountain. But every once in a while, we hear about lives being saved. I remember a few years ago, the rescuers were there not long after an avalanche, and they immediately started digging for survivors. In minutes, they pulled out one skier who was not only grateful to be saved, but in remarkably good shape for what he had been through. And the news reported that after that man was rescued, he didn't just head for a warm place to recover. He actually joined the rescuers, working side by side with them to save other lives. And they did!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Survivors to the Rescue."
A person is saved from a deadly situation and they instinctively go back to help save someone else. That's exactly how lives are saved eternally. The rescued are supposed to turn around and be the rescuers. When they're not, they make it out, but they leave others to perish. It's not supposed to be that way.
If someone rescued you spiritually by telling you about Jesus Christ, then the eight words in our word for today from the Word of God are personal orders from God to you. Jude verse 23, simply says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them." The implication; you got snatched from the fire, now go back and get someone else.
That was instinctive for Andrew the day he met Christ. The Bible says, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah'...and he brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42). And Simon, of course, became the great leader of the apostles, Simon Peter.
My guess is that when you first discovered the love of Jesus for yourself, you had that Andrew instinct. You knew you had found something you could not keep to yourself. You may not have done the best job of explaining Jesus at that point, but you just knew that people you cared about had to have the same chance you had. That's how the rescue work of Jesus has gone on for 2,000 years - rescued people become rescuers of others.
But as time has gone by, have you become content to just find a warm spiritual spot among other people who are already headed for heaven. You believe the beliefs, you give the money, you're at the meetings, and you live as if the reason you were rescued is to enjoy the fellowship of the others who've been rescued? No, you were rescued to rescue.
Oh, we have our excuses for our silence about our Savior. "I'm afraid, I'm inadequate, I'm imperfect, I don't know enough, I might mess it up." Well, look at who Jesus used to bring an entire Samaritan village to Him - a woman with the worst reputation in town, a woman who had just met Jesus, but she knew enough to say, "Come see a Man" (John 4:29). "Come on, check out Jesus." If Christ could use her to be His ambassador to her tribe, He can surely use you to be His ambassador to yours. They'll listen to you because you walk the same trail they do - much more than they might listen to some "professional rescuer" who comes from outside their world. You're in their world with them.
Hundreds of people were rescued from the sinking Titanic by being in lifeboats. But those same people refused to turn those lifeboats around to rescue the people who were in the lifejackets in the water, even though a lot of lifeboats were half empty. And 328 people died. You know why? Because the people who had been rescued did nothing about the people who were dying all around them.
There are too many people like that in the lifeboat "Jesus." Please don't be one of them. Turn your lifeboat around and commit the rest of your life to pulling as many people in as you can.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
John 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: YOU CAN COME HOME
What do you do when your failures suck the sandy foundation of your future out from under you? Well, you can blame the world. Failure invites finger pointing and buck passing. You are the victim, and the world is your enemy. A second option is to continue playing the games. We are masters of the masquerade. And, well with time, the real self is forgotten.
Or you can do what the prodigal son did. You can come home. When Jesus told this parable of the loving father, I wonder, did he use his hands? Later he stretched his hands as open as he could. He forced his arms so wide apart that it hurt. And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, he had them nailed open. They still are my friend.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
John 17
Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
6-12 I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23 I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.
24-26 Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Genesis 1:1–21
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.
6-8 God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Two.
9-10 God spoke: “Separate!
Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Three.
14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
And there it was.
16-19 God made two big lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Four.
20-23 God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Five.
Insight
The book of Genesis describes God’s creative work: first the heavens, the earth, and the seas; followed by all forms of life—birds, fish, animals, and humans (Genesis 1:1–27). Scientists estimate there may be two million to fifty million different kinds of animal species today, with less than two million having been named. These statistics are mind-boggling and evidence of our creative, powerful God.
Celebrating Creativity
God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures.” Genesis 1:20
A rarely seen jellyfish waltzed with the currents, four thousand feet deep in the ocean near Baja, California. Its body shone with fluorescent shades of blue, purple, and pink, bright against the backdrop of black water. Elegant tentacles waved gracefully with each pulsing of its bell-shaped hood. As I watched the amazing footage of the Halitrephes maasi jellyfish on the National Geographic video, I reflected on how God chose the specific design of this beautiful, gelatinous creature. He also fashioned the other 2,000 types of jellyfish that scientists have identified as of October 2017.
Though we acknowledge God as Creator, do we slow down long enough to truly consider the profound truth revealed in the first chapter of the Bible? Our amazing God brought forth light and life into the creatively diverse world He crafted with the power of His word. He designed “the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems” (Genesis 1:21). Scientists have discovered only a fraction of the wondrous creatures the Lord created in the beginning.
God also intentionally sculpted each person in the world, giving purpose to every day of our lives before we drew our first breaths (Psalm 139:13–16). As we celebrate the Lord’s creativity, we can also rejoice over the many ways He helps us imagine and create with Him and for His glory. By Xochitl Dixon
Today's Reflection
What creative gifts has God given to you? How might you use them for His glory?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
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
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Right Words, Wrong Heart - #8417
Today he's a respected Christian professional in our community. But legend has it that he had a strong streak of mischief in him when he was a boy, and maybe even now. An older friend from their church told me that when this man was four, his pastor came up to him at a football game and sat down next to him. And the pastor said, "Well, Mark, what have you been doing with yourself lately?" To which Mark replied with a smile, "Would you believe praying?" To which his pastor replied, "No, Mark, I wouldn't believe it." Smart pastor.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Right Words, Wrong Heart."
It doesn't take long to learn the right church answers, does it? Man, we know what to say. A four-year-old boy can do it! And many of us have been around a lot longer than that and we know the words to say. The danger is you can really fool yourself spiritually, just because you know all the right words, you go to all the right meetings, and you do all the right things. Tragically, a full Christian vocabulary can mask a dangerously empty heart.
Jesus actually talked about that in our word for today from the Word of God in Mark 7:6. He said of some deeply religious people, "These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." And you can be sure that getting into heaven will be based on what's in your heart, not on your lips. Your eternal rewards from Jesus will also be based on what's in your heart, not your lips. Remember, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at," the Bible says. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
We called some Native American Christian friends of ours a while back whose daughter has been struggling with some serious moral issues and life issues. The daughter was willing to talk with my wife, but only in her mother's words, "after she puts her coat on." Now that expression was new to us. Our friend explained that sometimes Native Americans use that expression to describe saying what you think the other person wants to hear.
Well a lot of church folks "put their coat on" regularly when they're in a Christian setting. After all, you can pretty much learn the vocabulary of Christianity in about a month, and that will be enough to get you through with most Christians for the rest of your life. It's not enough to get you through with God.
It's wise to stand back every once in a while and ask, "How much of my Christianity is really about Christ and how much is a mask, a role I'm playing, human expectations I'm trying to fulfill? How much of it is just my church?" If there's been more than one you, the Christian and then the other guys, maybe you're tired of playing charades spiritually, you're tired of the performance, you're tired of the mask. It's time to say, "Jesus, I've been saying all the right words, but You know how hollow it all really is and now so do I. I just want to have You. I want to know You for real. I want this to be all about a Christ-relationship, not the Christian religion."
And if you've never really given yourself to Jesus, this could be the day you move from playing a role to the reality of actually knowing this awesome Savior. Don't you want that? If you're ready to begin this relationship for real, please tell Him that. That's the important thing. You could say, "Dear Jesus, I believe when You died on that cross, some of those sins you died for were my sins. You have paid my death penalty. You walked out of your grave under your own power. You're alive. You can give me eternal life and I turn from the running of my own life, and I place the rest of my life completely in Your hands." That's the new beginning right there.
At that moment you go from the role to the reality; from the religion to the relationship. At that moment, you don't just know about Jesus, you know Him. At that moment, you're not just believing things about Jesus - you belong to Him.
You want to be sure you belong to Him? Listen, our website could really help you right now. Go to ANewStory.com. The words that really matter aren't the ones you say to men about Jesus, they're the ones you say to Jesus about being really His.
What do you do when your failures suck the sandy foundation of your future out from under you? Well, you can blame the world. Failure invites finger pointing and buck passing. You are the victim, and the world is your enemy. A second option is to continue playing the games. We are masters of the masquerade. And, well with time, the real self is forgotten.
Or you can do what the prodigal son did. You can come home. When Jesus told this parable of the loving father, I wonder, did he use his hands? Later he stretched his hands as open as he could. He forced his arms so wide apart that it hurt. And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, he had them nailed open. They still are my friend.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
John 17
Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
6-12 I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23 I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.
24-26 Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: Genesis 1:1–21
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.
6-8 God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Two.
9-10 God spoke: “Separate!
Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Three.
14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
And there it was.
16-19 God made two big lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Four.
20-23 God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Five.
Insight
The book of Genesis describes God’s creative work: first the heavens, the earth, and the seas; followed by all forms of life—birds, fish, animals, and humans (Genesis 1:1–27). Scientists estimate there may be two million to fifty million different kinds of animal species today, with less than two million having been named. These statistics are mind-boggling and evidence of our creative, powerful God.
Celebrating Creativity
God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures.” Genesis 1:20
A rarely seen jellyfish waltzed with the currents, four thousand feet deep in the ocean near Baja, California. Its body shone with fluorescent shades of blue, purple, and pink, bright against the backdrop of black water. Elegant tentacles waved gracefully with each pulsing of its bell-shaped hood. As I watched the amazing footage of the Halitrephes maasi jellyfish on the National Geographic video, I reflected on how God chose the specific design of this beautiful, gelatinous creature. He also fashioned the other 2,000 types of jellyfish that scientists have identified as of October 2017.
Though we acknowledge God as Creator, do we slow down long enough to truly consider the profound truth revealed in the first chapter of the Bible? Our amazing God brought forth light and life into the creatively diverse world He crafted with the power of His word. He designed “the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems” (Genesis 1:21). Scientists have discovered only a fraction of the wondrous creatures the Lord created in the beginning.
God also intentionally sculpted each person in the world, giving purpose to every day of our lives before we drew our first breaths (Psalm 139:13–16). As we celebrate the Lord’s creativity, we can also rejoice over the many ways He helps us imagine and create with Him and for His glory. By Xochitl Dixon
Today's Reflection
What creative gifts has God given to you? How might you use them for His glory?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
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
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Right Words, Wrong Heart - #8417
Today he's a respected Christian professional in our community. But legend has it that he had a strong streak of mischief in him when he was a boy, and maybe even now. An older friend from their church told me that when this man was four, his pastor came up to him at a football game and sat down next to him. And the pastor said, "Well, Mark, what have you been doing with yourself lately?" To which Mark replied with a smile, "Would you believe praying?" To which his pastor replied, "No, Mark, I wouldn't believe it." Smart pastor.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Right Words, Wrong Heart."
It doesn't take long to learn the right church answers, does it? Man, we know what to say. A four-year-old boy can do it! And many of us have been around a lot longer than that and we know the words to say. The danger is you can really fool yourself spiritually, just because you know all the right words, you go to all the right meetings, and you do all the right things. Tragically, a full Christian vocabulary can mask a dangerously empty heart.
Jesus actually talked about that in our word for today from the Word of God in Mark 7:6. He said of some deeply religious people, "These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." And you can be sure that getting into heaven will be based on what's in your heart, not on your lips. Your eternal rewards from Jesus will also be based on what's in your heart, not your lips. Remember, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at," the Bible says. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
We called some Native American Christian friends of ours a while back whose daughter has been struggling with some serious moral issues and life issues. The daughter was willing to talk with my wife, but only in her mother's words, "after she puts her coat on." Now that expression was new to us. Our friend explained that sometimes Native Americans use that expression to describe saying what you think the other person wants to hear.
Well a lot of church folks "put their coat on" regularly when they're in a Christian setting. After all, you can pretty much learn the vocabulary of Christianity in about a month, and that will be enough to get you through with most Christians for the rest of your life. It's not enough to get you through with God.
It's wise to stand back every once in a while and ask, "How much of my Christianity is really about Christ and how much is a mask, a role I'm playing, human expectations I'm trying to fulfill? How much of it is just my church?" If there's been more than one you, the Christian and then the other guys, maybe you're tired of playing charades spiritually, you're tired of the performance, you're tired of the mask. It's time to say, "Jesus, I've been saying all the right words, but You know how hollow it all really is and now so do I. I just want to have You. I want to know You for real. I want this to be all about a Christ-relationship, not the Christian religion."
And if you've never really given yourself to Jesus, this could be the day you move from playing a role to the reality of actually knowing this awesome Savior. Don't you want that? If you're ready to begin this relationship for real, please tell Him that. That's the important thing. You could say, "Dear Jesus, I believe when You died on that cross, some of those sins you died for were my sins. You have paid my death penalty. You walked out of your grave under your own power. You're alive. You can give me eternal life and I turn from the running of my own life, and I place the rest of my life completely in Your hands." That's the new beginning right there.
At that moment you go from the role to the reality; from the religion to the relationship. At that moment, you don't just know about Jesus, you know Him. At that moment, you're not just believing things about Jesus - you belong to Him.
You want to be sure you belong to Him? Listen, our website could really help you right now. Go to ANewStory.com. The words that really matter aren't the ones you say to men about Jesus, they're the ones you say to Jesus about being really His.
Monday, April 15, 2019
Psalm 141, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: BEHOLD THE REDEEMER FROM HEAVEN
For some, Jesus is the Rabbit’s Foot Redeemer—a good luck charm used to get you out of a jam. For many he’s an Aladdin’s Lamp Redeemer— Your wish is his command. For others, Jesus is a Game Show Redeemer— Let’s make a deal! Few demands; no challenges; and no need for sacrifice or commitment.
That’s not the Redeemer described in the New Testament. And that’s not the Redeemer seen by the frightened woman who was caught in the act of adultery. The leaders were going to stone her, but Jesus intervened. If we could somehow transport her to Calvary she would recognize his hands—hands that still hold no stones. She would recognize his voice, “Father, forgive them…” And she would recognize his eyes; the eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be. Behold! The Redeemer from Heaven.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 141
A David Psalm
141 1-2 God, come close. Come quickly!
Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing!
Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising;
my raised hands are my evening prayers.
3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God,
set a watch at the door of my lips.
Don’t let me so much as dream of evil
or thoughtlessly fall into bad company.
And these people who only do wrong—
don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk!
May the Just One set me straight,
may the Kind One correct me,
Don’t let sin anoint my head.
I’m praying hard against their evil ways!
Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff;
make them face the music.
Like a rock pulverized by a maul,
let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.
8-10 But God, dear Lord,
I only have eyes for you.
Since I’ve run for dear life to you,
take good care of me.
Protect me from their evil scheming,
from all their demonic subterfuge.
Let the wicked fall flat on their faces,
while I walk off without a scratch.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: John 15:9–17
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15 “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.
16 “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17 “But remember the root command: Love one another.
Insight
John 14–16 is often referred to as Jesus’s “Upper Room Discourse.” This would be His final teaching time with His disciples, and it’s wedged between His establishment of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22) and the coming passion events, triggered by prayer and betrayal in Gethsemane (John 18).
In John 15:9–13, some form of the word love appears eight times. This love refers to the love of the Father and Son, their love for us, and our love for one another. In verses 14–17, the word friend or friends appears twice—describing the revolutionary nature of our relationship with Christ. The point? Relationship is the product of love, and, as verse 17 affirms, our relationships with one another are to be characterized by mutual love rooted in His love for us.
The Marks of Friendship
You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14
As a little boy growing up in Ghana, I enjoyed holding my father’s hand and walking with him in crowded places. He was both my father and my friend, for holding hands in my culture is a mark of true friendship. Walking along, we would talk about a variety of subjects. Whenever I felt lonely, I found consolation with my father. How I valued our companionship!
The Lord Jesus called His followers friends, and He showed them the marks of His friendship. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you,” He said (John 15:9), even laying down His life for them (v. 13). He showed them His kingdom business (v. 15). He taught them everything God had given Him (v. 15). And He gave them opportunity to share in His mission (v. 16).
As our Companion for life, Jesus walks with us. He listens to our heartaches and our desires. When we’re lonely and downhearted, our Friend Jesus keeps company with us.
And our companionship with Jesus is tighter when we love each other and obey His commands (vv. 10, 17). As we obey His commands, we will bear “fruit that will last” (v. 16).
Walking through the crowded alleys and dangerous roadways of our troubled world, we can count on the Lord’s companionship. It’s a mark of His friendship. By Lawrence Darmani
Today's Reflection
What does it mean for you to be a friend of Jesus? How has He revealed His presence to you?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 15, 2019
The Failure To Pay Close Attention
The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.
Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.
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
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 15, 2019
Not Always Miracles - #8416
Few things in life are so depressing as a boy's long-uncleaned room. Sometimes you might not even want to ask them to clean it. It might be better just to torch it or hose it out like a monkey cage. I remember one time my wife and I wanted to say "I love you" to our boys in a special way. So while they were gone one Saturday, we literally attacked their room. We thought it would be a little easier to keep it clean if we would, this one time, make it clean. When we were done, it was a great place to be again, and when the boys walked into their room, they became believers in miracles. And we did make two things really clear to them. First, "We love you guys." Secondly, "Don't expect us to make this a habit."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not Always Miracles."
We intervened in that mess with a big "I love you" in the form of a room-cleaning "miracle." But most of the time, it wasn't going to get clean through a miracle. There's a lesson for us here in the ways of God in our everyday lives, believe it or not.
That lesson actually is exhibited in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 9:17. It's just a little P.S. to one of Jesus' greatest miracles - you know, the day He multiplied one lunch into lunches for over 5,000 people. His disciples had this awesome thrill of handing out that miracle and watching the food multiply before their eyes. Now notice this postscript to that miracle, "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over." Interestingly enough - 12 baskets - one for each of them.
Jesus demonstrated here that He can miraculously create a lunch. But what do you think the disciples ate the next few days? Did you ever think about that? Jesus could have kept doing miracle lunches for them, but He met their need through something much more day-to-day: the leftovers, taking good care of the resources they had - not wasting anything. The leftovers from the miracle lunch.
Miracles are special interventions, and God does them to dramatically show His love for us, like a dad cleaning his boys' room. But also like that dad, God doesn't do miracles all the time. God expects you and me, not only to pray for miracles, but to be good stewards of the everyday resources He gives us.
His provision often comes through our simply running our lives by His principles, to use everything we have wisely, to maintain what He's provided for you already, to plan wisely, to budget wisely, to stay out of debt, and to make things last. It's interesting that the Lord who extravagantly provided that miracle lunch is the same Lord who wanted the disciples not to waste anything that was left over. Maybe God operates on a principle similar to the one I heard in some management training one time: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."
Well, how are you doing using what God's already given you? How well are you doing caring for what God has already given you? We could pray for supernatural intervention, and often during our lives God will answer with one of His amazing miracles. But in between, He's watching how well you do with the baskets He's already supplied. He'll always see that you have what you need. It won't always be miracles, but it will always be there.
For some, Jesus is the Rabbit’s Foot Redeemer—a good luck charm used to get you out of a jam. For many he’s an Aladdin’s Lamp Redeemer— Your wish is his command. For others, Jesus is a Game Show Redeemer— Let’s make a deal! Few demands; no challenges; and no need for sacrifice or commitment.
That’s not the Redeemer described in the New Testament. And that’s not the Redeemer seen by the frightened woman who was caught in the act of adultery. The leaders were going to stone her, but Jesus intervened. If we could somehow transport her to Calvary she would recognize his hands—hands that still hold no stones. She would recognize his voice, “Father, forgive them…” And she would recognize his eyes; the eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be. Behold! The Redeemer from Heaven.
Read more Six Hours One Friday
Psalm 141
A David Psalm
141 1-2 God, come close. Come quickly!
Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing!
Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising;
my raised hands are my evening prayers.
3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God,
set a watch at the door of my lips.
Don’t let me so much as dream of evil
or thoughtlessly fall into bad company.
And these people who only do wrong—
don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk!
May the Just One set me straight,
may the Kind One correct me,
Don’t let sin anoint my head.
I’m praying hard against their evil ways!
Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff;
make them face the music.
Like a rock pulverized by a maul,
let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.
8-10 But God, dear Lord,
I only have eyes for you.
Since I’ve run for dear life to you,
take good care of me.
Protect me from their evil scheming,
from all their demonic subterfuge.
Let the wicked fall flat on their faces,
while I walk off without a scratch.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight: John 15:9–17
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15 “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.
16 “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17 “But remember the root command: Love one another.
Insight
John 14–16 is often referred to as Jesus’s “Upper Room Discourse.” This would be His final teaching time with His disciples, and it’s wedged between His establishment of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22) and the coming passion events, triggered by prayer and betrayal in Gethsemane (John 18).
In John 15:9–13, some form of the word love appears eight times. This love refers to the love of the Father and Son, their love for us, and our love for one another. In verses 14–17, the word friend or friends appears twice—describing the revolutionary nature of our relationship with Christ. The point? Relationship is the product of love, and, as verse 17 affirms, our relationships with one another are to be characterized by mutual love rooted in His love for us.
The Marks of Friendship
You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14
As a little boy growing up in Ghana, I enjoyed holding my father’s hand and walking with him in crowded places. He was both my father and my friend, for holding hands in my culture is a mark of true friendship. Walking along, we would talk about a variety of subjects. Whenever I felt lonely, I found consolation with my father. How I valued our companionship!
The Lord Jesus called His followers friends, and He showed them the marks of His friendship. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you,” He said (John 15:9), even laying down His life for them (v. 13). He showed them His kingdom business (v. 15). He taught them everything God had given Him (v. 15). And He gave them opportunity to share in His mission (v. 16).
As our Companion for life, Jesus walks with us. He listens to our heartaches and our desires. When we’re lonely and downhearted, our Friend Jesus keeps company with us.
And our companionship with Jesus is tighter when we love each other and obey His commands (vv. 10, 17). As we obey His commands, we will bear “fruit that will last” (v. 16).
Walking through the crowded alleys and dangerous roadways of our troubled world, we can count on the Lord’s companionship. It’s a mark of His friendship. By Lawrence Darmani
Today's Reflection
What does it mean for you to be a friend of Jesus? How has He revealed His presence to you?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 15, 2019
The Failure To Pay Close Attention
The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.
Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.
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
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 15, 2019
Not Always Miracles - #8416
Few things in life are so depressing as a boy's long-uncleaned room. Sometimes you might not even want to ask them to clean it. It might be better just to torch it or hose it out like a monkey cage. I remember one time my wife and I wanted to say "I love you" to our boys in a special way. So while they were gone one Saturday, we literally attacked their room. We thought it would be a little easier to keep it clean if we would, this one time, make it clean. When we were done, it was a great place to be again, and when the boys walked into their room, they became believers in miracles. And we did make two things really clear to them. First, "We love you guys." Secondly, "Don't expect us to make this a habit."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not Always Miracles."
We intervened in that mess with a big "I love you" in the form of a room-cleaning "miracle." But most of the time, it wasn't going to get clean through a miracle. There's a lesson for us here in the ways of God in our everyday lives, believe it or not.
That lesson actually is exhibited in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 9:17. It's just a little P.S. to one of Jesus' greatest miracles - you know, the day He multiplied one lunch into lunches for over 5,000 people. His disciples had this awesome thrill of handing out that miracle and watching the food multiply before their eyes. Now notice this postscript to that miracle, "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over." Interestingly enough - 12 baskets - one for each of them.
Jesus demonstrated here that He can miraculously create a lunch. But what do you think the disciples ate the next few days? Did you ever think about that? Jesus could have kept doing miracle lunches for them, but He met their need through something much more day-to-day: the leftovers, taking good care of the resources they had - not wasting anything. The leftovers from the miracle lunch.
Miracles are special interventions, and God does them to dramatically show His love for us, like a dad cleaning his boys' room. But also like that dad, God doesn't do miracles all the time. God expects you and me, not only to pray for miracles, but to be good stewards of the everyday resources He gives us.
His provision often comes through our simply running our lives by His principles, to use everything we have wisely, to maintain what He's provided for you already, to plan wisely, to budget wisely, to stay out of debt, and to make things last. It's interesting that the Lord who extravagantly provided that miracle lunch is the same Lord who wanted the disciples not to waste anything that was left over. Maybe God operates on a principle similar to the one I heard in some management training one time: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."
Well, how are you doing using what God's already given you? How well are you doing caring for what God has already given you? We could pray for supernatural intervention, and often during our lives God will answer with one of His amazing miracles. But in between, He's watching how well you do with the baskets He's already supplied. He'll always see that you have what you need. It won't always be miracles, but it will always be there.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Psalm 140, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Ears to Hear
Let he who has ears to hear, use them." Jesus said these words more than once. We're reminded that it's not just enough to have ears-it's necessary to use them.
Scripture has always placed a premium on hearing God's voice. "Happy are those who listen to me" is the promise of Proverbs 8:34. When John wrote to each of the seven churches in Revelation, they were addressed in the same manner: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." John 10:3-5 says, "The sheep recognize his voice…" They follow because they are familiar with the shepherd's voice.
Our ears, unlike our eyes, do not have lids. They are to remain open, but how easily they close. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing." How long has it been since you had your hearing checked?
From Just Like Jesus
Psalm 140
A David Psalm
140 1-5 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;
protect me from these vicious people.
All they do is think up new ways to be bad;
they spend their days plotting war games.
They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt,
speak venomous words that maim and kill.
God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones,
protect me from these vicious people;
Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up,
determined to bring me down.
These crooks invent traps to catch me
and do their best to incriminate me.
6-8 I prayed, “God, you’re my God!
Listen, God! Mercy!
God, my Lord, Strong Savior,
protect me when the fighting breaks out!
Don’t let the wicked have their way, God,
don’t give them an inch!”
9-11 These troublemakers all around me—
let them drown in their own verbal poison.
Let God pile hellfire on them,
let him bury them alive in crevasses!
These loudmouths—
don’t let them be taken seriously;
These savages—
let the Devil hunt them down!
12-13 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,
that you care for the rights of the poor.
And I know that the righteous personally thank you,
that good people are secure in your presence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 5:1–8
Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
Insight
The city of Jerusalem is approximately 2,500 feet above sea level and lies about thirty-three miles east of the Mediterranean Sea and fourteen miles west of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Like Rome, it’s a city built on hills. The Sheep Gate mentioned in John 5:2 was one of the gates that led into the ancient city of Jerusalem. It was located east of the Fish Gate near the pool of Bethesda and just a short distance from the modern St. Stephen’s Gate. The Sheep Gate was the section of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem repaired by “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests” under Nehemiah’s supervision (Nehemiah 3:1; around 445 bc). Other men and women worked together to rebuild the Fish Gate, Old Gate, Valley Gate, Dung Gate, Fountain Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, Inspection Gate, and the connecting walls (Nehemiah 3:2–32).
Hope Restored
When Jesus saw him lying there . . . , he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6
Does the sun rise in the east? Is the sky blue? Is the ocean salty? Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9? Okay, that last one you might only know if you’re a science geek or tend to dabble in trivia, but the other questions have an obvious answer: Yes. In fact, questions like these are usually mixed with a hint of sarcasm.
If we’re not careful, our modern—sometimes jaded—ears can hear a bit of sarcasm in Jesus’s question to an invalid: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6). The obvious answer would seem to be, “Are you kidding me?! I’ve been wanting help for thirty-eight years!” But there’s no sarcasm present, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Jesus’s voice is always filled with compassion, and His questions are always posed for our good.
Jesus knew the man wanted to get well. He also knew it had probably been a long time since anyone had made an offer to care. Before the divine miracle, Jesus’s intent was to restore in him a hope that had grown cold. He did this by asking a rather obvious question, and then giving ways to respond: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (v. 8). We’re like the invalid, each of us with places in our lives where hope has withered. He sees us and compassionately invites us to believe in hope again, to believe in Him. By John Blase
Today's Reflection
In what ways has your hope grown cold? How has Jesus revealed His compassion to you?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Inner Invincibility
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29
“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.
“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
Let he who has ears to hear, use them." Jesus said these words more than once. We're reminded that it's not just enough to have ears-it's necessary to use them.
Scripture has always placed a premium on hearing God's voice. "Happy are those who listen to me" is the promise of Proverbs 8:34. When John wrote to each of the seven churches in Revelation, they were addressed in the same manner: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." John 10:3-5 says, "The sheep recognize his voice…" They follow because they are familiar with the shepherd's voice.
Our ears, unlike our eyes, do not have lids. They are to remain open, but how easily they close. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing." How long has it been since you had your hearing checked?
From Just Like Jesus
Psalm 140
A David Psalm
140 1-5 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;
protect me from these vicious people.
All they do is think up new ways to be bad;
they spend their days plotting war games.
They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt,
speak venomous words that maim and kill.
God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones,
protect me from these vicious people;
Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up,
determined to bring me down.
These crooks invent traps to catch me
and do their best to incriminate me.
6-8 I prayed, “God, you’re my God!
Listen, God! Mercy!
God, my Lord, Strong Savior,
protect me when the fighting breaks out!
Don’t let the wicked have their way, God,
don’t give them an inch!”
9-11 These troublemakers all around me—
let them drown in their own verbal poison.
Let God pile hellfire on them,
let him bury them alive in crevasses!
These loudmouths—
don’t let them be taken seriously;
These savages—
let the Devil hunt them down!
12-13 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,
that you care for the rights of the poor.
And I know that the righteous personally thank you,
that good people are secure in your presence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 5:1–8
Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
Insight
The city of Jerusalem is approximately 2,500 feet above sea level and lies about thirty-three miles east of the Mediterranean Sea and fourteen miles west of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Like Rome, it’s a city built on hills. The Sheep Gate mentioned in John 5:2 was one of the gates that led into the ancient city of Jerusalem. It was located east of the Fish Gate near the pool of Bethesda and just a short distance from the modern St. Stephen’s Gate. The Sheep Gate was the section of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem repaired by “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests” under Nehemiah’s supervision (Nehemiah 3:1; around 445 bc). Other men and women worked together to rebuild the Fish Gate, Old Gate, Valley Gate, Dung Gate, Fountain Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, Inspection Gate, and the connecting walls (Nehemiah 3:2–32).
Hope Restored
When Jesus saw him lying there . . . , he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6
Does the sun rise in the east? Is the sky blue? Is the ocean salty? Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9? Okay, that last one you might only know if you’re a science geek or tend to dabble in trivia, but the other questions have an obvious answer: Yes. In fact, questions like these are usually mixed with a hint of sarcasm.
If we’re not careful, our modern—sometimes jaded—ears can hear a bit of sarcasm in Jesus’s question to an invalid: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6). The obvious answer would seem to be, “Are you kidding me?! I’ve been wanting help for thirty-eight years!” But there’s no sarcasm present, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Jesus’s voice is always filled with compassion, and His questions are always posed for our good.
Jesus knew the man wanted to get well. He also knew it had probably been a long time since anyone had made an offer to care. Before the divine miracle, Jesus’s intent was to restore in him a hope that had grown cold. He did this by asking a rather obvious question, and then giving ways to respond: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (v. 8). We’re like the invalid, each of us with places in our lives where hope has withered. He sees us and compassionately invites us to believe in hope again, to believe in Him. By John Blase
Today's Reflection
In what ways has your hope grown cold? How has Jesus revealed His compassion to you?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Inner Invincibility
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29
“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.
“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
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