Max Lucado Daily: TRY DEFIANT JOY
My friend Rob cried freely telling his story about his young son’s challenging life. Daniel was born with a double cleft palate, dramatically disfiguring his face. He had surgery, but the evidence remains, so people constantly notice and occasionally make remarks. Daniel, however, is unfazed. He just tells people God made him this way so what’s the big deal?
He was named student of the week, and so was asked to bring something to show his classmates for show and tell. Daniel told his mom he wanted to take the pictures that showed his face prior to the surgery. His mom was concerned. “Won’t that make you feel a bit funny?” she asked. But Daniel insisted, “Oh, no, I want everyone to see what God did for me!” Try Daniel’s defiant joy and see what happens. God has handed you a cup of blessings. Sweeten it with a heaping spoonful of gratitude!
Isaiah 59
Look! Listen!
God’s arm is not amputated—he can still save.
God’s ears are not stopped up—he can still hear.
There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in you.
Your wrongheaded lives caused the split between you and God.
Your sins got between you so that he doesn’t hear.
Your hands are drenched in blood,
your fingers dripping with guilt,
Your lips smeared with lies,
your tongue swollen from muttering obscenities.
No one speaks up for the right,
no one deals fairly.
They trust in illusion, they tell lies,
they get pregnant with mischief and have sin-babies.
They hatch snake eggs and weave spider webs.
Eat an egg and die; break an egg and get a snake!
The spider webs are no good for shirts or shawls.
No one can wear these weavings!
They weave wickedness,
they hatch violence.
They compete in the race to do evil
and run to be the first to murder.
They plan and plot evil, think and breathe evil,
and leave a trail of wrecked lives behind them.
They know nothing about peace
and less than nothing about justice.
They make tortuously twisted roads.
No peace for the wretch who walks down those roads!
9-11 Which means that we’re a far cry from fair dealing,
and we’re not even close to right living.
We long for light but sink into darkness,
long for brightness but stumble through the night.
Like the blind, we inch along a wall,
groping eyeless in the dark.
We shuffle our way in broad daylight,
like the dead, but somehow walking.
We’re no better off than bears, groaning,
and no worse off than doves, moaning.
We look for justice—not a sign of it;
for salvation—not so much as a hint.
12-15 Our wrongdoings pile up before you, God,
our sins stand up and accuse us.
Our wrongdoings stare us down;
we know in detail what we’ve done:
Mocking and denying God,
not following our God,
Spreading false rumors, inciting sedition,
pregnant with lies, muttering malice.
Justice is beaten back,
Righteousness is banished to the sidelines,
Truth staggers down the street,
Honesty is nowhere to be found,
Good is missing in action.
Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed.
15-19 God looked and saw evil looming on the horizon—
so much evil and no sign of Justice.
He couldn’t believe what he saw:
not a soul around to correct this awful situation.
So he did it himself, took on the work of Salvation,
fueled by his own Righteousness.
He dressed in Righteousness, put it on like a suit of armor,
with Salvation on his head like a helmet,
Put on Judgment like an overcoat,
and threw a cloak of Passion across his shoulders.
He’ll make everyone pay for what they’ve done:
fury for his foes, just deserts for his enemies.
Even the far-off islands will get paid off in full.
In the west they’ll fear the name of God,
in the east they’ll fear the glory of God,
For he’ll arrive like a river in flood stage,
whipped to a torrent by the wind of God.
20 “I’ll arrive in Zion as Redeemer,
to those in Jacob who leave their sins.”
God’s Decree.
21 “As for me,” God says, “this is my covenant with them: My Spirit that I’ve placed upon you and the words that I’ve given you to speak, they’re not going to leave your mouths nor the mouths of your children nor the mouths of your grandchildren. You will keep repeating these words and won’t ever stop.” God’s orders.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 48:5–11, 17
Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;
from of old your ears have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
you were called a rebel from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.
10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?
I will not yield my glory to another.
17 This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
Insight
Isaiah, prophet to the people of Judah from 740–685 bc, warned that God would discipline them for their idolatrous unfaithfulness. He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple and their seventy-year exile in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6–7; also Jeremiah 25:11) some 100 years before it happened. Isaiah also prophesied that God would bring His people back, restore them, and bless them. In Isaiah 48, Isaiah emphasized that whatever God purposed, He would bring to pass (vv. 3–6). This promise of return and restoration was not because they were deserving, but “for [his] own name’s sake” (vv. 8–9). God’s intention was to refine them, not to destroy them completely. And as the covenant-keeping God, He wouldn’t renege on His promise of restoration and thus defame His reputation (vv. 9–11).
Perspectives from Above
I will not yield my glory to another. Isaiah 48:11
When Peter Welch was a young boy in the 1970s, using a metal detector was only a hobby. But since 1990, he’s been leading people from around the world on metal-detecting excursions. They’ve made thousands of discoveries—swords, ancient jewelry, coins. Using “Google Earth,” a computer program based on satellite imagery, they look for patterns in the landscape on farmland in the United Kingdom. It shows them where roads, buildings, and other structures may have been centuries ago. Peter says, “To have a perspective from above opens a whole new world.”
God’s people in Isaiah’s day needed “a perspective from above.” They prided themselves on being His people yet were disobedient and refused to give up their idols. God had another perspective. Despite their rebellion, He would rescue them from captivity to Babylon. Why? “For my own sake, . . . I will not yield my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). God’s perspective from above is that life is for His glory and purpose—not ours. Our attention is to be given to Him and His plans and to pointing others to praise Him too.
Having God’s glory as our own life’s perspective opens a whole new world. Only He knows what we will discover about Him and what He has for us. God will teach us what is good for us and lead us along the paths we should follow (v. 17). By: Anne Cetas
Reflect & Pray
What can you praise God for today? How might you go about having God increase in your life and you decrease?
God, I want my life to be about You and not myself. Teach me and change me.
To learn about obtaining a biblical worldview, visit bit.ly/2lBDstL.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Getting There (1)
Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28
Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really want to get there? I can right now. The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.
Have you ever come to Jesus? Look at the stubbornness of your heart. You would rather do anything than this one simple childlike thing— “Come to Me.” If you really want to experience ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.
Jesus Christ makes Himself the test to determine your genuineness. Look how He used the word come. At the most unexpected moments in your life there is this whisper of the Lord— “Come to Me,” and you are immediately drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus changes everything. Be “foolish” enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him.
“…and I will give you rest”— that is, “I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm.” He is not saying, “I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep.” But, in essence, He is saying, “I will get you out of bed— out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and out of your condition of being half dead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity.” Yet we become so weak and pitiful and talk about “suffering” the will of the Lord! Where is the majestic vitality and the power of the Son of God in that?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
Bible in a Year: Ezra 1-2; John 19:23-42
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Happy Kind of Mad - #8719
Our daughter was gone for the morning and a friend had come to babysit our two grandsons. That was a brave lady! Actually, she had a relatively problem-free, crisis-free morning, except for one time when she just had to reprimand our three-year-old angel. Being a firstborn, he was very sensitive to being corrected. His later comment indicated that he had clearly recorded what was a very gentle reprimand - the kind you do with a smile on your face, not a snarl. When Mom returned and asked our little guy how his morning was with "Miss Wilma," he invented a new phrase to describe her correction. He said, "Miss Wilma got mad at me; she got happy mad."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Happy Kind of Mad."
I found the idea of being "happy mad" intriguing. And, in fact, the Bible actually describes a kind of "mad" that God considers, more or less, the "happy" kind. It's the kind that doesn't tear down the person on the other end.
God's description of "righteous" anger is really realistic and helpful, especially in Ephesians 4:25-27, which is our word for today from the Word of God. Here's what it says, "Laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."
Apparently, it's possible to be angry with someone and deal with it in a way that isn't sinful. Let's call it "happy mad" as my grandson said. Sadly, we do a whole lot of sinning when we're angry. So we all need to know how to "be angry and yet not sin" as it says here. Righteous anger first has to be truthful, not exaggerated. "Speak truth," the Bible says. No exaggeration, no inflation, no stretching, no embellishing the truth to make your point. Stick to the facts.
Secondly, righteous anger needs to be kind and not cruel. Two verses later we're told, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building others up..." (Ephesians 4:29) - nothing that will tear the other person down. God is calling us to express our frustration and anger in a way that you attack the issue; you don't attack the person.
So I'm not going to resort to calling you a name...to belittling you. It means saying something like this: "What you said makes me feel like my feelings don't matter," instead of saying, "You don't give a rip about how I feel, do you?" One sticks to the facts about how I'm feeling; the other one attacks you and accuses you.
One other characteristic of righteous anger according to Ephesians 4 is it's short-lived, not stored up. "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." No day should ever end with you still being angry. When you store it, it grows and deepens and turns into hard feelings and bitterness. All that can be avoided if you never "let the sun go down on your anger." Otherwise you develop what the Bible calls in Hebrews 12:15, "A root of bitterness, that one day grows up and defiles many" and it says, "can cost you the benefit at that moment of the grace of God."
God knows we're going to get angry, but He has spelled out a way for us to deal with it that doesn't leave scars, doesn't leave walls and doesn't leave regrets. Be honest, be kind, and get right to it. If there's such a thing as "happy mad," I guess that's what it's like.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Romans 11:1-18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THANK GOD FOR THE NIGHT
God notices the grateful heart. He took a praise-singing shepherd boy and made him a king. There’s no hint of God getting out of sorts if we aren’t thankful, but there is evidence that we’re affected by our own ingratitude. What of the disastrous days? The nights I can’t sleep and the hours I can’t rest? Are we still grateful then? Jesus was.
The Bible records, “On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). It’s not often you see the words betrayed and thanks in the same sentence, much less in the same heart. In the midst of the darkest night of the human soul, Jesus found a way to give thanks. Anyone can thank God for the light. Jesus teaches us to thank God for the night. And He says to us, “you’ll get through this,” and we will.
Romans 11:1-18
Does this mean, then, that God is so fed up with Israel that he’ll have nothing more to do with them? Hardly. Remember that I, the one writing these things, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham out of the tribe of Benjamin. You can’t get much more Semitic than that! So we’re not talking about repudiation. God has been too long involved with Israel, has too much invested, to simply wash his hands of them.
2-6 Do you remember that time Elijah was agonizing over this same Israel and cried out in prayer?
God, they murdered your prophets,
They trashed your altars;
I’m the only one left and now they’re after me!
And do you remember God’s answer?
I still have seven thousand who haven’t quit,
Seven thousand who are loyal to the finish.
It’s the same today. There’s a fiercely loyal minority still—not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They’re holding on, not because of what they think they’re going to get out of it, but because they’re convinced of God’s grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.
7-10 And then what happened? Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on her own, pursuing her own self-interest, she didn’t succeed. The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy. The “self-interest Israel” became thick-skinned toward God. Moses and Isaiah both commented on this:
Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways,
God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears,
Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors,
and they’re there to this day.
David was upset about the same thing:
I hope they get sick eating self-serving meals,
break a leg walking their self-serving ways.
I hope they go blind staring in their mirrors,
get ulcers from playing at god.
11-12 The next question is, “Are they down for the count? Are they out of this for good?” And the answer is a clear-cut No. Ironically when they walked out, they left the door open and the outsiders walked in. But the next thing you know, the Jews were starting to wonder if perhaps they had walked out on a good thing. Now, if their leaving triggered this worldwide coming of non-Jewish outsiders to God’s kingdom, just imagine the effect of their coming back! What a homecoming!
13-15 But I don’t want to go on about them. It’s you, the outsiders, that I’m concerned with now. Because my personal assignment is focused on the so-called outsiders, I make as much of this as I can when I’m among my Israelite kin, the so-called insiders, hoping they’ll realize what they’re missing and want to get in on what God is doing. If their falling out initiated this worldwide coming together, their recovery is going to set off something even better: mass homecoming! If the first thing the Jews did, even though it was wrong for them, turned out for your good, just think what’s going to happen when they get it right!
16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Peter 3:13–18
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats[a]; do not be frightened.”[b] 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 3:14 Or fear what they fear
1 Peter 3:14 Isaiah 8:12
Insight
Peter’s question in 1 Peter 3:13, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” is clearly rhetorical. He knows there are times when we will be harmed for doing what’s right. The apostle’s knowledge of such suffering was firsthand; he’d been jailed and beaten from the early days of the church (Acts 5:40; 12:3–4). In fact, Peter would eventually be killed for serving Christ (John 21:19; 2 Peter 1:13–14).
So Peter’s encouragement is no mere pontification. Rather, it’s from his own platform of suffering that he tells a constantly threatened church, “If you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:14). And it’s in the context of suffering that Peter urges us to be ready to explain our reasons for following Jesus. Understanding this—and remembering His sufferings (v. 18)—deepens our resolve to share God’s truth in love.
“God Stuff”
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15
Most of Mike’s co-workers knew little about Christianity, nor did they seem to care. But they knew he cared. One day near the Easter season, someone casually mentioned that they’d heard Easter had something to do with Passover and wondered what the connection was. “Hey, Mike!” he said. “You know about this God stuff. What’s Passover?”
So Mike explained how God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He told them about the ten plagues, including the death of the firstborn in every household. He explained how the death angel “passed over” the houses whose doorframes were covered by the blood of a sacrificed lamb. Then he shared how Jesus was later crucified at the Passover season as the once-and-for-all sacrificial Lamb. Suddenly Mike realized, Hey, I’m witnessing!
Peter the disciple gave advice to a church in a culture that didn’t know about God. He said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).
Because Mike had been open about his faith, he got the chance to share that faith naturally, and he could do so with “gentleness and respect” (v. 15).
We can too. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can explain in simple terms what matters most in life—that “stuff” about God. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How do you feel when someone wants to discuss matters of faith with you? Why does Peter add that we are to share our faith “with gentleness and respect”?
Father, help me be ready to explain the hope and purpose You can bring to life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
And After That What’s Next To Do?
…seek, and you will find… —Luke 11:9
Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss…” (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss”; that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “…seek, and you will find….” Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? “…seek, [focus,] and you will find….”
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.
“…knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God…” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands…” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “…purify your hearts…” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament…” (James 4:9). Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves…” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “…to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 34-36; John 19:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
More Of Us Than Ever - #8718
Okay, do the math! At one point in time, we had one grandchild. I couldn't believe my wife was old enough to be a grandmother! Can you believe that? Well, you know what? Within a matter of years, that one became nine grandchildren!
That's nothin'. In that same period of time, a billion more people joined us on this planet. And you know what? Our "global village" keeps changing the population sign, and we're getting close to eight billion!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More Of Us Than Ever."
Not just eight billion people; eight billion souls. Mark 8:6, tells us that according to Jesus, each one of them is worth more than "the whole world". And according to the Bible, each one of them will ultimately spend forever in heaven or hell. And 150,000 of them will slip into eternity today, tomorrow, and the next day; every single day. I don't know about you, but I find this more than breathtaking.
And the orders of Jesus remain unchanged. Here's our word for today from the Word of God in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." Yeah everyone! Each of those almost eight billion humans deserves a chance to know that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son" (John 3:16) to take their hell; to give them His heaven.
So, with more souls born today, the stakes just get higher. The Final Orders (AKA, the Great Commission) just got more urgent. The Great Commission is greater than ever.
But as the number of lost souls grows exponentially, something strange is happening. Many Western churches are cutting back their missionary budgets, sometimes to spend more on themselves. The percentage of believers' income given to God's work is declining, and the percentage of that which goes to reaching a lost world is shamefully small.
Missionaries who are ready to take that Good News to some needy place in the world can't go yet. It's taking them like three years to find the support to go. And when some Christian young people tell their Christian parents they're sensing God's call to world missions, their parents are telling them to "do something more secure and just give to missionaries." You know, we want our kids to do something important, right? Don't tell God that. His Son was a missionary.
With nearly a billion more people to reach with each decade, how can we possibly be content to do it in the ways we've always done it? I mean, there's an unprecedented people explosion. We have within our reach an unprecedented communications explosion at the same time. Through technologies like the Internet, social networks like Facebook, mobile systems like iPads and smartphones, and in some parts of the world, the still powerful "old school" technologies of radio and television are prominent. Does this population explosion leave us any choice but to do, as Paul said, use "all possible means" (1 Corinthians 9:22) to give every soul at least one chance at Jesus? One chance to live. To capture the most powerful delivery systems in history to deliver the most powerful message in the world!
Look, if Jesus wept over a city that was lost (Luke 19:41), how must He weep over a world that is lost, with more lost souls than ever before? As world evangelist, D. L. Moody, said: "The Master's heart is pierced with unutterable grief...not over the world's iniquity, but the church's indifference." Forget about the church's indifference; what about yours and mine?
Exponential growth of souls on this planet is not just some fleeting headline; it is a mandate for every one of us who belongs to Jesus Christ. All of us, each of us, to pray differently, give differently, even plan our future differently.
We certainly cannot explain to God "business as usual" because God so loved the world.
God notices the grateful heart. He took a praise-singing shepherd boy and made him a king. There’s no hint of God getting out of sorts if we aren’t thankful, but there is evidence that we’re affected by our own ingratitude. What of the disastrous days? The nights I can’t sleep and the hours I can’t rest? Are we still grateful then? Jesus was.
The Bible records, “On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). It’s not often you see the words betrayed and thanks in the same sentence, much less in the same heart. In the midst of the darkest night of the human soul, Jesus found a way to give thanks. Anyone can thank God for the light. Jesus teaches us to thank God for the night. And He says to us, “you’ll get through this,” and we will.
Romans 11:1-18
Does this mean, then, that God is so fed up with Israel that he’ll have nothing more to do with them? Hardly. Remember that I, the one writing these things, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham out of the tribe of Benjamin. You can’t get much more Semitic than that! So we’re not talking about repudiation. God has been too long involved with Israel, has too much invested, to simply wash his hands of them.
2-6 Do you remember that time Elijah was agonizing over this same Israel and cried out in prayer?
God, they murdered your prophets,
They trashed your altars;
I’m the only one left and now they’re after me!
And do you remember God’s answer?
I still have seven thousand who haven’t quit,
Seven thousand who are loyal to the finish.
It’s the same today. There’s a fiercely loyal minority still—not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They’re holding on, not because of what they think they’re going to get out of it, but because they’re convinced of God’s grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.
7-10 And then what happened? Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on her own, pursuing her own self-interest, she didn’t succeed. The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy. The “self-interest Israel” became thick-skinned toward God. Moses and Isaiah both commented on this:
Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways,
God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears,
Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors,
and they’re there to this day.
David was upset about the same thing:
I hope they get sick eating self-serving meals,
break a leg walking their self-serving ways.
I hope they go blind staring in their mirrors,
get ulcers from playing at god.
11-12 The next question is, “Are they down for the count? Are they out of this for good?” And the answer is a clear-cut No. Ironically when they walked out, they left the door open and the outsiders walked in. But the next thing you know, the Jews were starting to wonder if perhaps they had walked out on a good thing. Now, if their leaving triggered this worldwide coming of non-Jewish outsiders to God’s kingdom, just imagine the effect of their coming back! What a homecoming!
13-15 But I don’t want to go on about them. It’s you, the outsiders, that I’m concerned with now. Because my personal assignment is focused on the so-called outsiders, I make as much of this as I can when I’m among my Israelite kin, the so-called insiders, hoping they’ll realize what they’re missing and want to get in on what God is doing. If their falling out initiated this worldwide coming together, their recovery is going to set off something even better: mass homecoming! If the first thing the Jews did, even though it was wrong for them, turned out for your good, just think what’s going to happen when they get it right!
16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Peter 3:13–18
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats[a]; do not be frightened.”[b] 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 3:14 Or fear what they fear
1 Peter 3:14 Isaiah 8:12
Insight
Peter’s question in 1 Peter 3:13, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” is clearly rhetorical. He knows there are times when we will be harmed for doing what’s right. The apostle’s knowledge of such suffering was firsthand; he’d been jailed and beaten from the early days of the church (Acts 5:40; 12:3–4). In fact, Peter would eventually be killed for serving Christ (John 21:19; 2 Peter 1:13–14).
So Peter’s encouragement is no mere pontification. Rather, it’s from his own platform of suffering that he tells a constantly threatened church, “If you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed” (1 Peter 3:14). And it’s in the context of suffering that Peter urges us to be ready to explain our reasons for following Jesus. Understanding this—and remembering His sufferings (v. 18)—deepens our resolve to share God’s truth in love.
“God Stuff”
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15
Most of Mike’s co-workers knew little about Christianity, nor did they seem to care. But they knew he cared. One day near the Easter season, someone casually mentioned that they’d heard Easter had something to do with Passover and wondered what the connection was. “Hey, Mike!” he said. “You know about this God stuff. What’s Passover?”
So Mike explained how God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He told them about the ten plagues, including the death of the firstborn in every household. He explained how the death angel “passed over” the houses whose doorframes were covered by the blood of a sacrificed lamb. Then he shared how Jesus was later crucified at the Passover season as the once-and-for-all sacrificial Lamb. Suddenly Mike realized, Hey, I’m witnessing!
Peter the disciple gave advice to a church in a culture that didn’t know about God. He said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).
Because Mike had been open about his faith, he got the chance to share that faith naturally, and he could do so with “gentleness and respect” (v. 15).
We can too. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can explain in simple terms what matters most in life—that “stuff” about God. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
How do you feel when someone wants to discuss matters of faith with you? Why does Peter add that we are to share our faith “with gentleness and respect”?
Father, help me be ready to explain the hope and purpose You can bring to life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
And After That What’s Next To Do?
…seek, and you will find… —Luke 11:9
Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss…” (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss”; that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “…seek, and you will find….” Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? “…seek, [focus,] and you will find….”
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.
“…knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God…” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands…” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “…purify your hearts…” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament…” (James 4:9). Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves…” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “…to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 34-36; John 19:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
More Of Us Than Ever - #8718
Okay, do the math! At one point in time, we had one grandchild. I couldn't believe my wife was old enough to be a grandmother! Can you believe that? Well, you know what? Within a matter of years, that one became nine grandchildren!
That's nothin'. In that same period of time, a billion more people joined us on this planet. And you know what? Our "global village" keeps changing the population sign, and we're getting close to eight billion!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More Of Us Than Ever."
Not just eight billion people; eight billion souls. Mark 8:6, tells us that according to Jesus, each one of them is worth more than "the whole world". And according to the Bible, each one of them will ultimately spend forever in heaven or hell. And 150,000 of them will slip into eternity today, tomorrow, and the next day; every single day. I don't know about you, but I find this more than breathtaking.
And the orders of Jesus remain unchanged. Here's our word for today from the Word of God in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." Yeah everyone! Each of those almost eight billion humans deserves a chance to know that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son" (John 3:16) to take their hell; to give them His heaven.
So, with more souls born today, the stakes just get higher. The Final Orders (AKA, the Great Commission) just got more urgent. The Great Commission is greater than ever.
But as the number of lost souls grows exponentially, something strange is happening. Many Western churches are cutting back their missionary budgets, sometimes to spend more on themselves. The percentage of believers' income given to God's work is declining, and the percentage of that which goes to reaching a lost world is shamefully small.
Missionaries who are ready to take that Good News to some needy place in the world can't go yet. It's taking them like three years to find the support to go. And when some Christian young people tell their Christian parents they're sensing God's call to world missions, their parents are telling them to "do something more secure and just give to missionaries." You know, we want our kids to do something important, right? Don't tell God that. His Son was a missionary.
With nearly a billion more people to reach with each decade, how can we possibly be content to do it in the ways we've always done it? I mean, there's an unprecedented people explosion. We have within our reach an unprecedented communications explosion at the same time. Through technologies like the Internet, social networks like Facebook, mobile systems like iPads and smartphones, and in some parts of the world, the still powerful "old school" technologies of radio and television are prominent. Does this population explosion leave us any choice but to do, as Paul said, use "all possible means" (1 Corinthians 9:22) to give every soul at least one chance at Jesus? One chance to live. To capture the most powerful delivery systems in history to deliver the most powerful message in the world!
Look, if Jesus wept over a city that was lost (Luke 19:41), how must He weep over a world that is lost, with more lost souls than ever before? As world evangelist, D. L. Moody, said: "The Master's heart is pierced with unutterable grief...not over the world's iniquity, but the church's indifference." Forget about the church's indifference; what about yours and mine?
Exponential growth of souls on this planet is not just some fleeting headline; it is a mandate for every one of us who belongs to Jesus Christ. All of us, each of us, to pray differently, give differently, even plan our future differently.
We certainly cannot explain to God "business as usual" because God so loved the world.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Isaiah 58, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PURSUE GRATITUDE
If you feel the world owes you something, brace yourself — you’ll never get reimbursed. Henry Ward Beecher said, “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” The sky’s never blue enough, the steak isn’t cooked enough, the universe isn’t good enough to deserve a human being like you.
Pursue gratitude. The grateful heart is like a magnet, sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude. Thank you, God. Your lungs inhale and exhale 11,000 liters of air every day. Thank you, God. For the jam on the toast and the milk on the cereal and the blanket that calms us and the joke that softens us and the warm sun that reminds us of God’s love. Gratitude leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what morning sun does to valley mist: it burns it up. Thank you, God.
Isaiah 58
“Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5 “Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 149:1–5
Praise the Lord.[a]
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
Footnotes:
Psalm 149:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 9
Insight
Biblical scholars aren’t certain when Psalm 149 was written or how it was used in worship, but one possibility is that it originated for use in an annual celebration of Israel’s God (YHWH, the Lord) enthroned as the King of the universe (see v. 2). Psalm 149 is the fourth of five psalms (Psalm 146–150) that begin and end with the phrase “Praise the Lord.” In a way, these five psalms function as a conclusion or summary of the entire book of Psalms, ending on a resounding note of praise for God’s deliverance and presence with His people.
Our Reason for Joy
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Psalm 149:2
When the school year began, fourteen-year-old C.J. would hop off the bus every afternoon and dance down his driveway. His mom recorded and shared videos of C.J.’s after-school boogie time. He danced because he enjoyed life and “making people happy” with every move. One day, two garbage collectors took time out of their busy work schedule to stomp, spin, and sway with the young boy who inspires others to dance with him. This trio demonstrates the power of sincere and infectious joy.
The writer of Psalm 149 describes the original source of enduring and unconditional joy—God. The psalmist encourages God’s people to join together and “sing to the Lord a new song” (v. 1). He invites Israel to “rejoice in their Maker” and “be glad in their King” (v. 2). He calls us to worship Him with dancing and music (vv. 1–3). Why? Because “the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory” (v. 4).
Our adoring Father created us and sustains the universe. He delights in us just because we’re His beloved children. He designed us, knows us, and invites us into a personal relationship with Him. What an honor! Our loving and living God is our reason for everlasting joy. We can rejoice in the gift of His constant presence and be grateful for every day our Maker has given us. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
Why does knowing God delights in us encourage joy in all circumstances? How can you express your joy in the Lord throughout the day?
Thanks for loving us, delighting in us, and knowing us, God.
To learn more about what the Christian faith teaches about God, visit bit.ly/2k0FNyf.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Then What’s Next To Do?
Everyone who asks receives… —Luke 11:10
Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.
“Everyone who asks receives….” This does not mean that you will not get if you do not ask, but it means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (seeMatthew 5:45). To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mentally, morally, and with spiritual understanding, that these things come from God.
“If any of you lacks wisdom….” If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality— do not put the blinders of reason on again. The word ask actually means “beg.” Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest. Yet we will never receive if we ask with a certain result in mind, because we are asking out of our lust, not out of our poverty. A pauper does not ask out of any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg— blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 32-33; John 18:19-40
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Turning Hopeless to Hope - #8717
You might look at these 50 Native American and First Nations young people from 30 different tribes and you may not see anything miraculous until you hear their stories. Like the young man who buried 14 friends and loved ones and got lost in a haze of drugs and suicidal thinking. The young woman raped by a trusted loved one and sexually abused by others. The young woman who felt reduced to nothing by a father who said, "You're a worthless mistake." She was crushed by her mother's suicide, and her father offered her a rope and said, "Why don't you just go out and do what your mother did."
But it's a bus full of these very kinds of young people who I've seen God use to do what virtually no one has been able to do; to bring hundreds of Native young people to choose Jesus Christ. And over the years I've seen them lead thousands to Christ and probably make missions history. When they pour out their stories, virtually everybody listens. And these are young people who, for the most part, listen to no one. But they'll listen to these young men and women.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turning Hopeless to Hope."
See, these weren't hopeless stories. We call them Hope Stories! Because of a Savior named Jesus, who has done what He promised He would do for broken people. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 61:1-3, and it may have your name on it today. He tells us, "(I will) bind up the brokenhearted, comfort all those who mourn, provide for those who grieve, bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."
So, that "worthless" girl, who was told by a hateful father, "you need a man to take care of you." Well, I've heard her proclaim, "My Dad was right. I do need a man to take care of me, and I found one. His name is Jesus Christ, and He loved me enough to die for me." And it is her pain that gives her credentials - or the "crud-entials," I call it, to be an unarguable proof of the power of a living Jesus.
But that's not unique to devastated but rescued Native young people. Why, it's the experience of any broken person who brings the whole stinking mess of their life; all the pieces, the sinning they've done, all the sinning done against them and lays it all at the feet of Jesus.
Because the Bible says that "He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:3, 5). Oh, He knows grief!
He knows pain! He knows the price of sin on a level no human has ever experienced. And because of that, He has for 2,000 years invited hurting, broken sinners like me, and maybe like you, to find in Him the healing, the forgiveness, the love, and the heaven that only He can give.
And often it is our brokenness and it is our pain that makes us realize that no one on earth can fix us. And it causes us for the first time in our life, to reach out for a nail-pierced hand that belongs to Jesus, His arms open wide to receive you into His love this very day.
I would encourage you where you are now to bring all the pieces, all the sin, all the pain, all the brokenness and lay it at His feet. And grab Him with both hands and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours, because nobody loves me like You do." I'd love to help you know for sure that you've begun your relationship with Him. I've tried to do that at our website, and I'd encourage you to check it out today. It's ANewStory.com. Maybe it's where your new story will begin.
See, it's Jesus and Jesus alone who can make the worst things that ever happened to you a door to hope for a lot of other broken people. I know. I've seen it with my own eyes.
If you feel the world owes you something, brace yourself — you’ll never get reimbursed. Henry Ward Beecher said, “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” The sky’s never blue enough, the steak isn’t cooked enough, the universe isn’t good enough to deserve a human being like you.
Pursue gratitude. The grateful heart is like a magnet, sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude. Thank you, God. Your lungs inhale and exhale 11,000 liters of air every day. Thank you, God. For the jam on the toast and the milk on the cereal and the blanket that calms us and the joke that softens us and the warm sun that reminds us of God’s love. Gratitude leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what morning sun does to valley mist: it burns it up. Thank you, God.
Isaiah 58
“Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5 “Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 149:1–5
Praise the Lord.[a]
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
Footnotes:
Psalm 149:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 9
Insight
Biblical scholars aren’t certain when Psalm 149 was written or how it was used in worship, but one possibility is that it originated for use in an annual celebration of Israel’s God (YHWH, the Lord) enthroned as the King of the universe (see v. 2). Psalm 149 is the fourth of five psalms (Psalm 146–150) that begin and end with the phrase “Praise the Lord.” In a way, these five psalms function as a conclusion or summary of the entire book of Psalms, ending on a resounding note of praise for God’s deliverance and presence with His people.
Our Reason for Joy
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Psalm 149:2
When the school year began, fourteen-year-old C.J. would hop off the bus every afternoon and dance down his driveway. His mom recorded and shared videos of C.J.’s after-school boogie time. He danced because he enjoyed life and “making people happy” with every move. One day, two garbage collectors took time out of their busy work schedule to stomp, spin, and sway with the young boy who inspires others to dance with him. This trio demonstrates the power of sincere and infectious joy.
The writer of Psalm 149 describes the original source of enduring and unconditional joy—God. The psalmist encourages God’s people to join together and “sing to the Lord a new song” (v. 1). He invites Israel to “rejoice in their Maker” and “be glad in their King” (v. 2). He calls us to worship Him with dancing and music (vv. 1–3). Why? Because “the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory” (v. 4).
Our adoring Father created us and sustains the universe. He delights in us just because we’re His beloved children. He designed us, knows us, and invites us into a personal relationship with Him. What an honor! Our loving and living God is our reason for everlasting joy. We can rejoice in the gift of His constant presence and be grateful for every day our Maker has given us. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
Why does knowing God delights in us encourage joy in all circumstances? How can you express your joy in the Lord throughout the day?
Thanks for loving us, delighting in us, and knowing us, God.
To learn more about what the Christian faith teaches about God, visit bit.ly/2k0FNyf.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Then What’s Next To Do?
Everyone who asks receives… —Luke 11:10
Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.
“Everyone who asks receives….” This does not mean that you will not get if you do not ask, but it means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (seeMatthew 5:45). To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mentally, morally, and with spiritual understanding, that these things come from God.
“If any of you lacks wisdom….” If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality— do not put the blinders of reason on again. The word ask actually means “beg.” Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest. Yet we will never receive if we ask with a certain result in mind, because we are asking out of our lust, not out of our poverty. A pauper does not ask out of any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg— blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 32-33; John 18:19-40
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Turning Hopeless to Hope - #8717
You might look at these 50 Native American and First Nations young people from 30 different tribes and you may not see anything miraculous until you hear their stories. Like the young man who buried 14 friends and loved ones and got lost in a haze of drugs and suicidal thinking. The young woman raped by a trusted loved one and sexually abused by others. The young woman who felt reduced to nothing by a father who said, "You're a worthless mistake." She was crushed by her mother's suicide, and her father offered her a rope and said, "Why don't you just go out and do what your mother did."
But it's a bus full of these very kinds of young people who I've seen God use to do what virtually no one has been able to do; to bring hundreds of Native young people to choose Jesus Christ. And over the years I've seen them lead thousands to Christ and probably make missions history. When they pour out their stories, virtually everybody listens. And these are young people who, for the most part, listen to no one. But they'll listen to these young men and women.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turning Hopeless to Hope."
See, these weren't hopeless stories. We call them Hope Stories! Because of a Savior named Jesus, who has done what He promised He would do for broken people. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 61:1-3, and it may have your name on it today. He tells us, "(I will) bind up the brokenhearted, comfort all those who mourn, provide for those who grieve, bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."
So, that "worthless" girl, who was told by a hateful father, "you need a man to take care of you." Well, I've heard her proclaim, "My Dad was right. I do need a man to take care of me, and I found one. His name is Jesus Christ, and He loved me enough to die for me." And it is her pain that gives her credentials - or the "crud-entials," I call it, to be an unarguable proof of the power of a living Jesus.
But that's not unique to devastated but rescued Native young people. Why, it's the experience of any broken person who brings the whole stinking mess of their life; all the pieces, the sinning they've done, all the sinning done against them and lays it all at the feet of Jesus.
Because the Bible says that "He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:3, 5). Oh, He knows grief!
He knows pain! He knows the price of sin on a level no human has ever experienced. And because of that, He has for 2,000 years invited hurting, broken sinners like me, and maybe like you, to find in Him the healing, the forgiveness, the love, and the heaven that only He can give.
And often it is our brokenness and it is our pain that makes us realize that no one on earth can fix us. And it causes us for the first time in our life, to reach out for a nail-pierced hand that belongs to Jesus, His arms open wide to receive you into His love this very day.
I would encourage you where you are now to bring all the pieces, all the sin, all the pain, all the brokenness and lay it at His feet. And grab Him with both hands and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours, because nobody loves me like You do." I'd love to help you know for sure that you've begun your relationship with Him. I've tried to do that at our website, and I'd encourage you to check it out today. It's ANewStory.com. Maybe it's where your new story will begin.
See, it's Jesus and Jesus alone who can make the worst things that ever happened to you a door to hope for a lot of other broken people. I know. I've seen it with my own eyes.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Isaiah 57, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHAT THE GRATEFUL HEART SEES
Some things were not made to co-exist. Long-tailed cats and rocking chairs? Bad combination. Bulls in a china closet? Not a good idea. Blessings and bitterness? That’s the mixture that doesn’t go over well with God. Perhaps you’ve sampled it?
Gratitude doesn’t come naturally. Self-pity does. Belly aches do. Yet they do not mix well with the kindness we’ve been given. I attended a banquet where a soldier was presented with the gift of a free house. He nearly fell over with gratitude. He hugged the guitar player in the band, the woman on the front row. He thanked the waiter, the other soldiers. He even thanked me and I didn’t do anything. Shouldn’t we be equally thankful? John 14:2 says Jesus is building a house for us. Our deed of ownership is every bit as certain as that of the soldier! The grateful heart sees every day as a gift.
Isaiah 57
“Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5 “Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Philippians 2:1–11
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes:
Philippians 2:6 Or in the form of
Philippians 2:7 Or the form
Insight
Many scholars believe that Philippians 2:6–11 is an example of one of the earliest Christian hymns. Several things contribute to that theory. According to The New Bible Commentary, these verses can be divided into six stanzas formed by three lines each. Additionally, the stanzas read in a very rhythmic and musical way. While not the only place in the New Testament where we see possible ancient hymns, this apparent song describing Jesus speaks deeply into the condition of the Philippian church where there was self-seeking and self-advancement that needed correcting (see 2:3–4; 4:2–3).
Truly Humble, Truly Great
[Christ Jesus] made himself nothing. Philippians 2:7
As the American Revolution concluded with England’s improbable surrender, many politicians and military leaders maneuvered to make General George Washington a new monarch. The world watched, wondering if Washington would stick to his ideals of freedom and liberty when absolute power was within his grasp. England’s King George III saw another reality, however. He was convinced that if Washington resisted the power pull and returned to his Virginia farm, he would be “the greatest man in the world.” The king knew that the greatness evidenced in resisting the allure to power is a sign of true nobility and significance.
Paul knew this same truth and encouraged us to follow Christ’s humble way. Even though Jesus was “in very nature God,” he “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Philippians 2:6). Instead, He surrendered His power, became “a servant” and “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” (vv. 7–8). The One who held all power surrendered every bit of it for the sake of love.
And yet, in the ultimate reversal, God exalted Christ from a criminal’s cross “to the highest place” (v. 9). Jesus, who could demand our praise or force us to be obedient, laid down His power in a breathtaking act that won our worship and devotion. Through absolute humility, Jesus demonstrated true greatness, turning the world upside down. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
How does the depth of Jesus’ humility surprise you? How does His humility force you to reconsider your definition of greatness?
Thank You, Jesus, that in Your most destitute and (seemingly) disgraceful moment, You demonstrated Your true power and greatness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 08, 2020
What’s Next To Do?
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. —John 13:17
Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.
When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.
The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…” (John 7:17).
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
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 30-31; John 18:1-18
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 08, 2020
Human Kindling - #8716
Okay, if you had been my next door neighbor, you could have pointed over to the yard and said, "Look at that grown man gathering sticks." Excuse me; I don't have the kind of a boring life where I just go around gathering sticks all the time. It's for a purpose. We put all those sticks into this kindling box in the garage, and then we happen to like having a fire in our fireplace. And I learned that the basic old Boy Scout law that you've got to have kindling to get a fire going. It's true!
Now, sometimes you want a fire, and sometimes you don't want a fire - it wouldn't be good, then, to just use the kindling. For example, if you want to go to bed; you want the fire to die, so you don't put kindling on it for heaven's sake. Sometimes it's August - it's 95 degrees outside. You probably don't want to put wood on your fire. Then there are those tragic fires you hear about, the kind of fires that burn what you love. Maybe there are fires around you like that and they're getting just too hot to handle.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Human Kindling."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about human fires and human kindling, and it's in Proverbs 26:21. A lot of great wisdom and insight here about human relationships all through the book of Proverbs! Here's what it says: "As charcoal is to embers and wood is to fire..." Oh, hey! There are my sticks from the kindling box. "...so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife." Well, there it is - human kindling.
It talks here about charcoal, it talks about wood. We know what embers are all about. That's a dying campfire. Well, you know, they're fueled by charcoal. Fire is fueled by wood. And there are people, apparently, who are usually without meaning to be, human kindling. You say, "Hey, I know one of those! Yeah, I'll tell you, I know this guy; he's one of those quarrelsome men. Every time he comes in the temperature goes up."
Whoa! Whoa! Let's look in the mirror. Consider yourself. Think of some of the conflict, the tension, and the controversy around your life. Does it seem that oftentimes when there's a conflict or an argument it's often about you? When there's tension in your family, does it seem like somehow it's usually when you're around? Maybe you've noticed that around you there's sort of this tense, overheated atmosphere. Things get negative and critical and complaining when you're around. You say, "Well, I'm tired of being in the middle of so many arguments, and controversy, and heat, and tugging and pulling.
Could it be that you're fueling some of it? Maybe without even realizing it, your stubbornness, your unwillingness to change is kindling to the fire in your relationships. Or could it be that, well, like you can never be wrong? Or you're insistent on your way. Or you always find out what's wrong with somebody and you seldom or ever tell them what's right with them. Maybe there's something you say that antagonizes those people around you. Maybe there's a harshness, an edginess that's developed in you and you're not able to see it, or maybe you've been manipulating people with guilt, always to get your way.
You say, "Well, I don't want to be that. Good! Because hasn't there been enough fire? It doesn't need any more kindling. Maybe it's time to say, "Lord, help me to see what I am helping to cause the conflict, the tension, the stress, the brokenness in our family, in my relationships.
This would be a good day to pray, "Dear Lord, I don't want to be wood on the fires around me anymore. I'd like to be water to help put them out."
Some things were not made to co-exist. Long-tailed cats and rocking chairs? Bad combination. Bulls in a china closet? Not a good idea. Blessings and bitterness? That’s the mixture that doesn’t go over well with God. Perhaps you’ve sampled it?
Gratitude doesn’t come naturally. Self-pity does. Belly aches do. Yet they do not mix well with the kindness we’ve been given. I attended a banquet where a soldier was presented with the gift of a free house. He nearly fell over with gratitude. He hugged the guitar player in the band, the woman on the front row. He thanked the waiter, the other soldiers. He even thanked me and I didn’t do anything. Shouldn’t we be equally thankful? John 14:2 says Jesus is building a house for us. Our deed of ownership is every bit as certain as that of the soldier! The grateful heart sees every day as a gift.
Isaiah 57
“Shout! A full-throated shout!
Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5 “Well, here’s why:
“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Philippians 2:1–11
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes:
Philippians 2:6 Or in the form of
Philippians 2:7 Or the form
Insight
Many scholars believe that Philippians 2:6–11 is an example of one of the earliest Christian hymns. Several things contribute to that theory. According to The New Bible Commentary, these verses can be divided into six stanzas formed by three lines each. Additionally, the stanzas read in a very rhythmic and musical way. While not the only place in the New Testament where we see possible ancient hymns, this apparent song describing Jesus speaks deeply into the condition of the Philippian church where there was self-seeking and self-advancement that needed correcting (see 2:3–4; 4:2–3).
Truly Humble, Truly Great
[Christ Jesus] made himself nothing. Philippians 2:7
As the American Revolution concluded with England’s improbable surrender, many politicians and military leaders maneuvered to make General George Washington a new monarch. The world watched, wondering if Washington would stick to his ideals of freedom and liberty when absolute power was within his grasp. England’s King George III saw another reality, however. He was convinced that if Washington resisted the power pull and returned to his Virginia farm, he would be “the greatest man in the world.” The king knew that the greatness evidenced in resisting the allure to power is a sign of true nobility and significance.
Paul knew this same truth and encouraged us to follow Christ’s humble way. Even though Jesus was “in very nature God,” he “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Philippians 2:6). Instead, He surrendered His power, became “a servant” and “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” (vv. 7–8). The One who held all power surrendered every bit of it for the sake of love.
And yet, in the ultimate reversal, God exalted Christ from a criminal’s cross “to the highest place” (v. 9). Jesus, who could demand our praise or force us to be obedient, laid down His power in a breathtaking act that won our worship and devotion. Through absolute humility, Jesus demonstrated true greatness, turning the world upside down. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
How does the depth of Jesus’ humility surprise you? How does His humility force you to reconsider your definition of greatness?
Thank You, Jesus, that in Your most destitute and (seemingly) disgraceful moment, You demonstrated Your true power and greatness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 08, 2020
What’s Next To Do?
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. —John 13:17
Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.
When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.
The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…” (John 7:17).
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
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 30-31; John 18:1-18
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 08, 2020
Human Kindling - #8716
Okay, if you had been my next door neighbor, you could have pointed over to the yard and said, "Look at that grown man gathering sticks." Excuse me; I don't have the kind of a boring life where I just go around gathering sticks all the time. It's for a purpose. We put all those sticks into this kindling box in the garage, and then we happen to like having a fire in our fireplace. And I learned that the basic old Boy Scout law that you've got to have kindling to get a fire going. It's true!
Now, sometimes you want a fire, and sometimes you don't want a fire - it wouldn't be good, then, to just use the kindling. For example, if you want to go to bed; you want the fire to die, so you don't put kindling on it for heaven's sake. Sometimes it's August - it's 95 degrees outside. You probably don't want to put wood on your fire. Then there are those tragic fires you hear about, the kind of fires that burn what you love. Maybe there are fires around you like that and they're getting just too hot to handle.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Human Kindling."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about human fires and human kindling, and it's in Proverbs 26:21. A lot of great wisdom and insight here about human relationships all through the book of Proverbs! Here's what it says: "As charcoal is to embers and wood is to fire..." Oh, hey! There are my sticks from the kindling box. "...so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife." Well, there it is - human kindling.
It talks here about charcoal, it talks about wood. We know what embers are all about. That's a dying campfire. Well, you know, they're fueled by charcoal. Fire is fueled by wood. And there are people, apparently, who are usually without meaning to be, human kindling. You say, "Hey, I know one of those! Yeah, I'll tell you, I know this guy; he's one of those quarrelsome men. Every time he comes in the temperature goes up."
Whoa! Whoa! Let's look in the mirror. Consider yourself. Think of some of the conflict, the tension, and the controversy around your life. Does it seem that oftentimes when there's a conflict or an argument it's often about you? When there's tension in your family, does it seem like somehow it's usually when you're around? Maybe you've noticed that around you there's sort of this tense, overheated atmosphere. Things get negative and critical and complaining when you're around. You say, "Well, I'm tired of being in the middle of so many arguments, and controversy, and heat, and tugging and pulling.
Could it be that you're fueling some of it? Maybe without even realizing it, your stubbornness, your unwillingness to change is kindling to the fire in your relationships. Or could it be that, well, like you can never be wrong? Or you're insistent on your way. Or you always find out what's wrong with somebody and you seldom or ever tell them what's right with them. Maybe there's something you say that antagonizes those people around you. Maybe there's a harshness, an edginess that's developed in you and you're not able to see it, or maybe you've been manipulating people with guilt, always to get your way.
You say, "Well, I don't want to be that. Good! Because hasn't there been enough fire? It doesn't need any more kindling. Maybe it's time to say, "Lord, help me to see what I am helping to cause the conflict, the tension, the stress, the brokenness in our family, in my relationships.
This would be a good day to pray, "Dear Lord, I don't want to be wood on the fires around me anymore. I'd like to be water to help put them out."
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Isaiah 57, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Do it God’s Way
In the game of golf, logic says, “Don’t go for the green.” Golf 101 says, “Don’t go for the green.” But I say, “Give me my driver, I’m going for the green!” Golf reveals a lot about a person. I don’t need advice—whack! I can handle this myself—clang!
Can you relate? We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way and forget the best way. Forget God’s way. Too much stubbornness. Too much independence. Too much self-reliance. All I needed to do was apologize, but I had to argue. All I needed to do was listen, but I had to open my big mouth. All I needed to do was be patient, but I had to take control. All I had to do was give it to God, but I tried to fix it myself.
Scripture says, “Do it God’s way.” Experience says, “Do it God’s way.” And every so often, we do! We might even make the green.
From Traveling Light
Isaiah 57
Meanwhile, right-living people die
and no one gives them a thought.
God-fearing people are carted off
and no one even notices.
The right-living people are out of their misery,
they’re finally at rest.
They lived well and with dignity
and now they’re finally at peace.
3-10 “But you, children of a witch, come here!
Sons of a slut, daughters of a whore.
What business do you have taunting,
sneering, and sticking out your tongue?
Do you have any idea what wretches you’ve turned out to be?
A race of rebels, a generation of liars.
You satisfy your lust any place you find some shade
and fornicate at whim.
You kill your children at any convenient spot—
any cave or crevasse will do.
You take stones from the creek
and set up your sex-and-religion shrines.
You’ve chosen your fate.
Your worship will be your doom.
You’ve climbed a high mountain
to practice your foul sex-and-death religion.
Behind closed doors
you assemble your precious gods and goddesses.
Deserting me, you’ve gone all out, stripped down
and made your bed your place of worship.
You’ve climbed into bed with the ‘sacred’ whores
and loved every minute of it,
adoring every curve of their naked bodies.
You anoint your king-god with ointments
and lavish perfumes on yourselves.
You send scouts to search out the latest in religion,
send them all the way to hell and back.
You wear yourselves out trying the new and the different,
and never see what a waste it all is.
You’ve always found strength for the latest fad,
never got tired of trying new religions.
11-13 “Who talked you into the pursuit of this nonsense,
leaving me high and dry,
forgetting you ever knew me?
Because I don’t yell and make a scene
do you think I don’t exist?
I’ll go over, detail by detail, all your ‘righteous’ attempts at religion,
and expose the absurdity of it all.
Go ahead, cry for help to your collection of no-gods:
A good wind will blow them away.
They’re smoke, nothing but smoke.
“But anyone who runs to me for help
will inherit the land,
will end up owning my holy mountain!”
14 Someone says: “Build, build! Make a road!
Clear the way, remove the rocks
from the road my people will travel.”
15-21 A Message from the high and towering God,
who lives in Eternity,
whose name is Holy:
“I live in the high and holy places,
but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed,
And what I do is put new spirit in them,
get them up and on their feet again.
For I’m not going to haul people into court endlessly,
I’m not going to be angry forever.
Otherwise, people would lose heart.
These souls I created would tire out and give up.
I was angry, good and angry, because of Israel’s sins.
I struck him hard and turned away in anger,
while he kept at his stubborn, willful ways.
When I looked again and saw what he was doing,
I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him,
creating a new language of praise for the mourners.
Peace to the far-off, peace to the near-at-hand,” says God—
“and yes, I will heal them.
But the wicked are storm-battered seas
that can’t quiet down.
The waves stir up garbage and mud.
There’s no peace,” God says, “for the wicked.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, June 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 10:30–37
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Footnotes:
Luke 10:35 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
Insight
The question-and-answer session in Luke 10:25–37 was initiated by an “expert in the law” (vv. 25, 37). In some translations this term is rendered lawyer and comes from the Greek word nomikos (“pertaining to legal matters”). The focus was the law of Moses. The law experts were also known as “scribes” or “teachers of the law”; they occupied positions of authority (Matthew 23:2) and were thereby respected. These religious scholars, the theologians of that day, were the preservers, interpreters, and judges in matters of the law. Early in Luke’s gospel, when Jesus was twelve years old, He became separated from His parents for three days. They found Him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers, interacting with them and confounding these experts (Luke 2:46). Later in Jesus’ life those of this guild were ripe for His rebuke (11:45–54).
In Need of Rescue
A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Luke 10:33
A teenager named Aldi was working alone on a fishing hut anchored about 125 kilometers (about 78 miles) off Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island when heavy winds knocked the hut off its mooring and sent it out to sea. For forty-nine days, Aldi drifted in the ocean. Every time he spotted a ship, he turned on his lamp to try and get the sailors’ attention, only to be disappointed. About ten ships passed the malnourished teen before he was rescued.
Jesus told a parable to an “expert in the law” (Luke 10:25) about someone who needed to be rescued. Two men—a priest and a Levite—saw an injured man as they were traveling. But rather than help him, both “passed by on the other side” (vv. 31–32). We aren’t told why. Both were religious men and would have been familiar with God’s law to love their neighbor (Leviticus 19:17–18). They may have thought it was too dangerous. Or perhaps they didn’t want to break Jewish laws about touching dead bodies, making them ceremonially unclean and unable to serve in the temple. In contrast, a Samaritan—who was despised by the Jews—acted nobly. He saw the man in need and selflessly took care of him.
Jesus wrapped up His teaching with the command that His followers should “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). May God give us the willingness to risk reaching out in love to help others. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
Who has Jesus put in your path that needs your help? How can you put your love into action today?
God, open my eyes to the needs around me and give me Your heart of compassion for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 07, 2020
The Greatest Source of Power
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do… —John 14:13
Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.
However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 28-29; John 17
In the game of golf, logic says, “Don’t go for the green.” Golf 101 says, “Don’t go for the green.” But I say, “Give me my driver, I’m going for the green!” Golf reveals a lot about a person. I don’t need advice—whack! I can handle this myself—clang!
Can you relate? We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way and forget the best way. Forget God’s way. Too much stubbornness. Too much independence. Too much self-reliance. All I needed to do was apologize, but I had to argue. All I needed to do was listen, but I had to open my big mouth. All I needed to do was be patient, but I had to take control. All I had to do was give it to God, but I tried to fix it myself.
Scripture says, “Do it God’s way.” Experience says, “Do it God’s way.” And every so often, we do! We might even make the green.
From Traveling Light
Isaiah 57
Meanwhile, right-living people die
and no one gives them a thought.
God-fearing people are carted off
and no one even notices.
The right-living people are out of their misery,
they’re finally at rest.
They lived well and with dignity
and now they’re finally at peace.
3-10 “But you, children of a witch, come here!
Sons of a slut, daughters of a whore.
What business do you have taunting,
sneering, and sticking out your tongue?
Do you have any idea what wretches you’ve turned out to be?
A race of rebels, a generation of liars.
You satisfy your lust any place you find some shade
and fornicate at whim.
You kill your children at any convenient spot—
any cave or crevasse will do.
You take stones from the creek
and set up your sex-and-religion shrines.
You’ve chosen your fate.
Your worship will be your doom.
You’ve climbed a high mountain
to practice your foul sex-and-death religion.
Behind closed doors
you assemble your precious gods and goddesses.
Deserting me, you’ve gone all out, stripped down
and made your bed your place of worship.
You’ve climbed into bed with the ‘sacred’ whores
and loved every minute of it,
adoring every curve of their naked bodies.
You anoint your king-god with ointments
and lavish perfumes on yourselves.
You send scouts to search out the latest in religion,
send them all the way to hell and back.
You wear yourselves out trying the new and the different,
and never see what a waste it all is.
You’ve always found strength for the latest fad,
never got tired of trying new religions.
11-13 “Who talked you into the pursuit of this nonsense,
leaving me high and dry,
forgetting you ever knew me?
Because I don’t yell and make a scene
do you think I don’t exist?
I’ll go over, detail by detail, all your ‘righteous’ attempts at religion,
and expose the absurdity of it all.
Go ahead, cry for help to your collection of no-gods:
A good wind will blow them away.
They’re smoke, nothing but smoke.
“But anyone who runs to me for help
will inherit the land,
will end up owning my holy mountain!”
14 Someone says: “Build, build! Make a road!
Clear the way, remove the rocks
from the road my people will travel.”
15-21 A Message from the high and towering God,
who lives in Eternity,
whose name is Holy:
“I live in the high and holy places,
but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed,
And what I do is put new spirit in them,
get them up and on their feet again.
For I’m not going to haul people into court endlessly,
I’m not going to be angry forever.
Otherwise, people would lose heart.
These souls I created would tire out and give up.
I was angry, good and angry, because of Israel’s sins.
I struck him hard and turned away in anger,
while he kept at his stubborn, willful ways.
When I looked again and saw what he was doing,
I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him,
creating a new language of praise for the mourners.
Peace to the far-off, peace to the near-at-hand,” says God—
“and yes, I will heal them.
But the wicked are storm-battered seas
that can’t quiet down.
The waves stir up garbage and mud.
There’s no peace,” God says, “for the wicked.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, June 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 10:30–37
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Footnotes:
Luke 10:35 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
Insight
The question-and-answer session in Luke 10:25–37 was initiated by an “expert in the law” (vv. 25, 37). In some translations this term is rendered lawyer and comes from the Greek word nomikos (“pertaining to legal matters”). The focus was the law of Moses. The law experts were also known as “scribes” or “teachers of the law”; they occupied positions of authority (Matthew 23:2) and were thereby respected. These religious scholars, the theologians of that day, were the preservers, interpreters, and judges in matters of the law. Early in Luke’s gospel, when Jesus was twelve years old, He became separated from His parents for three days. They found Him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers, interacting with them and confounding these experts (Luke 2:46). Later in Jesus’ life those of this guild were ripe for His rebuke (11:45–54).
In Need of Rescue
A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Luke 10:33
A teenager named Aldi was working alone on a fishing hut anchored about 125 kilometers (about 78 miles) off Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island when heavy winds knocked the hut off its mooring and sent it out to sea. For forty-nine days, Aldi drifted in the ocean. Every time he spotted a ship, he turned on his lamp to try and get the sailors’ attention, only to be disappointed. About ten ships passed the malnourished teen before he was rescued.
Jesus told a parable to an “expert in the law” (Luke 10:25) about someone who needed to be rescued. Two men—a priest and a Levite—saw an injured man as they were traveling. But rather than help him, both “passed by on the other side” (vv. 31–32). We aren’t told why. Both were religious men and would have been familiar with God’s law to love their neighbor (Leviticus 19:17–18). They may have thought it was too dangerous. Or perhaps they didn’t want to break Jewish laws about touching dead bodies, making them ceremonially unclean and unable to serve in the temple. In contrast, a Samaritan—who was despised by the Jews—acted nobly. He saw the man in need and selflessly took care of him.
Jesus wrapped up His teaching with the command that His followers should “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). May God give us the willingness to risk reaching out in love to help others. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
Who has Jesus put in your path that needs your help? How can you put your love into action today?
God, open my eyes to the needs around me and give me Your heart of compassion for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 07, 2020
The Greatest Source of Power
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do… —John 14:13
Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.
However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 28-29; John 17
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Isaiah 56 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
A D-Day Prayer by Franklin D. Roosevelt June 6, 1944:"In this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:…"
Max Lucado Daily: A Human Being
One night I was on baby duty and Jenna’s breathing slowed. I leaned my ear onto her mouth to see if she was alive. And when she burbled and panted, so did I. That’s when a tsunami of sobriety washed over me. We are in charge of a human being!
I don’t care how tough you are. You may be a Navy SEAL who skydives behind enemy lines. It doesn’t matter. Every parent melts the moment he or she feels the full force of parenthood. How did I get myself into this? Moms have thirty-six weeks of reminders elbowing around inside them. Dads, our kick in the gut comes later… but it does come. And for me it came years ago in the midnight quiet of an apartment living room—as I held a human being in my arms!
From Dad Time
Isaiah 56
God’s Message:
“Guard my common good:
Do what’s right and do it in the right way,
For salvation is just around the corner,
my setting-things-right is about to go into action.
How blessed are you who enter into these things,
you men and women who embrace them,
Who keep Sabbath and don’t defile it,
who watch your step and don’t do anything evil!
Make sure no outsider who now follows God
ever has occasion to say, ‘God put me in second-class.
I don’t really belong.’
And make sure no physically mutilated person
is ever made to think, ‘I’m damaged goods.
I don’t really belong.’”
4-5 For God says:
“To the mutilated who keep my Sabbaths
and choose what delights me
and keep a firm grip on my covenant,
I’ll provide them an honored place
in my family and within my city,
even more honored than that of sons and daughters.
I’ll confer permanent honors on them
that will never be revoked.
6-8 “And as for the outsiders who now follow me,
working for me, loving my name,
and wanting to be my servants—
All who keep Sabbath and don’t defile it,
holding fast to my covenant—
I’ll bring them to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
They’ll be welcome to worship the same as the ‘insiders,’
to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to my altar.
Oh yes, my house of worship
will be known as a house of prayer for all people.”
The Decree of the Master, God himself,
who gathers in the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather others also,
gather them in with those already gathered.”
9-12 A call to the savage beasts: Come on the run.
Come, devour, beast barbarians!
For Israel’s watchmen are blind, the whole lot of them.
They have no idea what’s going on.
They’re dogs without sense enough to bark,
lazy dogs, dreaming in the sun—
But hungry dogs, they do know how to eat,
voracious dogs, with never enough.
And these are Israel’s shepherds!
They know nothing, understand nothing.
They all look after themselves,
grabbing whatever’s not nailed down.
“Come,” they say, “let’s have a party.
Let’s go out and get drunk!”
And tomorrow, more of the same:
“Let’s live it up!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, June 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 19:1–10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Insight
Jericho, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, is located in the Jordan Valley with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. In the Old Testament, it’s referred to as the “City of Palms” (Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 3:13). It’s best known as the first city taken by the invading Israelites (Joshua 2, 6). After its conquest, Joshua placed a curse on anyone who might rebuild it (6:26). About 500 years later, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt the city at the cost of his two sons (1 Kings 16:34), a fulfillment of this curse.
The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10) takes place in New Testament Jericho, also known as Herodian Jericho. This site was built by King Herod more than a mile south of the Old Testament site. Modern-day Jericho is built on a site about a mile east of Herodian Jericho.
Found on the Edges
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10
In the middle of the crowd at a motorcycle demonstration where riders performed breathtaking tricks, I found myself needing to stand on my tiptoes to see. Glancing around, I noticed three children perched in a nearby tree, apparently because they also couldn’t get to the front of the crowd to see the action.
Watching the kids peer out from their lofty location, I couldn’t help but think of Zacchaeus, who Luke identifies as a wealthy tax collector (Luke 19:2). Jews often viewed tax collectors as traitors for working for the Roman government collecting taxes from fellow Israelites, as well as frequently demanding additional money to pad their personal bank accounts. So Zacchaeus was likely shunned from his community.
As Jesus passed through Jericho, Zacchaeus longed to see Him but was unable to see over the crowd. So, perhaps feeling both desperate and lonely, he climbed into a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse (vv. 3–4). And it was there, on the outskirts of the crowd, that Jesus searched him out and announced His intention to be a guest at his home (v. 5).
Zacchaeus’ story reminds us that Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost,” offering His friendship and the gift of salvation (vv. 9–10). Even if we feel on the edges of our communities, pushed to the “back of the crowd,” we can be assured that, even there, Jesus finds us. By: Lisa M. Samra
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced feelings of being pushed aside by friends or family? In the midst of loneliness, how has Jesus found you and invited you to spend time with Him?
Jesus, thank You for never simply walking by when I’m hurting but stopping to invite me into friendship with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 06, 2020
“Work Out” What God “Works in” You
…work out your own salvation…for it is God who works in you… —Philippians 2:12-13
Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.
The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 25-27; John 16
Max Lucado Daily: A Human Being
One night I was on baby duty and Jenna’s breathing slowed. I leaned my ear onto her mouth to see if she was alive. And when she burbled and panted, so did I. That’s when a tsunami of sobriety washed over me. We are in charge of a human being!
I don’t care how tough you are. You may be a Navy SEAL who skydives behind enemy lines. It doesn’t matter. Every parent melts the moment he or she feels the full force of parenthood. How did I get myself into this? Moms have thirty-six weeks of reminders elbowing around inside them. Dads, our kick in the gut comes later… but it does come. And for me it came years ago in the midnight quiet of an apartment living room—as I held a human being in my arms!
From Dad Time
Isaiah 56
God’s Message:
“Guard my common good:
Do what’s right and do it in the right way,
For salvation is just around the corner,
my setting-things-right is about to go into action.
How blessed are you who enter into these things,
you men and women who embrace them,
Who keep Sabbath and don’t defile it,
who watch your step and don’t do anything evil!
Make sure no outsider who now follows God
ever has occasion to say, ‘God put me in second-class.
I don’t really belong.’
And make sure no physically mutilated person
is ever made to think, ‘I’m damaged goods.
I don’t really belong.’”
4-5 For God says:
“To the mutilated who keep my Sabbaths
and choose what delights me
and keep a firm grip on my covenant,
I’ll provide them an honored place
in my family and within my city,
even more honored than that of sons and daughters.
I’ll confer permanent honors on them
that will never be revoked.
6-8 “And as for the outsiders who now follow me,
working for me, loving my name,
and wanting to be my servants—
All who keep Sabbath and don’t defile it,
holding fast to my covenant—
I’ll bring them to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
They’ll be welcome to worship the same as the ‘insiders,’
to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to my altar.
Oh yes, my house of worship
will be known as a house of prayer for all people.”
The Decree of the Master, God himself,
who gathers in the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather others also,
gather them in with those already gathered.”
9-12 A call to the savage beasts: Come on the run.
Come, devour, beast barbarians!
For Israel’s watchmen are blind, the whole lot of them.
They have no idea what’s going on.
They’re dogs without sense enough to bark,
lazy dogs, dreaming in the sun—
But hungry dogs, they do know how to eat,
voracious dogs, with never enough.
And these are Israel’s shepherds!
They know nothing, understand nothing.
They all look after themselves,
grabbing whatever’s not nailed down.
“Come,” they say, “let’s have a party.
Let’s go out and get drunk!”
And tomorrow, more of the same:
“Let’s live it up!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, June 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 19:1–10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Insight
Jericho, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, is located in the Jordan Valley with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. In the Old Testament, it’s referred to as the “City of Palms” (Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 3:13). It’s best known as the first city taken by the invading Israelites (Joshua 2, 6). After its conquest, Joshua placed a curse on anyone who might rebuild it (6:26). About 500 years later, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt the city at the cost of his two sons (1 Kings 16:34), a fulfillment of this curse.
The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10) takes place in New Testament Jericho, also known as Herodian Jericho. This site was built by King Herod more than a mile south of the Old Testament site. Modern-day Jericho is built on a site about a mile east of Herodian Jericho.
Found on the Edges
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10
In the middle of the crowd at a motorcycle demonstration where riders performed breathtaking tricks, I found myself needing to stand on my tiptoes to see. Glancing around, I noticed three children perched in a nearby tree, apparently because they also couldn’t get to the front of the crowd to see the action.
Watching the kids peer out from their lofty location, I couldn’t help but think of Zacchaeus, who Luke identifies as a wealthy tax collector (Luke 19:2). Jews often viewed tax collectors as traitors for working for the Roman government collecting taxes from fellow Israelites, as well as frequently demanding additional money to pad their personal bank accounts. So Zacchaeus was likely shunned from his community.
As Jesus passed through Jericho, Zacchaeus longed to see Him but was unable to see over the crowd. So, perhaps feeling both desperate and lonely, he climbed into a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse (vv. 3–4). And it was there, on the outskirts of the crowd, that Jesus searched him out and announced His intention to be a guest at his home (v. 5).
Zacchaeus’ story reminds us that Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost,” offering His friendship and the gift of salvation (vv. 9–10). Even if we feel on the edges of our communities, pushed to the “back of the crowd,” we can be assured that, even there, Jesus finds us. By: Lisa M. Samra
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced feelings of being pushed aside by friends or family? In the midst of loneliness, how has Jesus found you and invited you to spend time with Him?
Jesus, thank You for never simply walking by when I’m hurting but stopping to invite me into friendship with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 06, 2020
“Work Out” What God “Works in” You
…work out your own salvation…for it is God who works in you… —Philippians 2:12-13
Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.
The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 25-27; John 16
Friday, June 5, 2020
Romans 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: LET GOD FINISH HIS WORK
Suppose I invited you to experience the day of your dreams. Twenty-four hours on an island paradise with your favorite people, food, and activities. The only stipulation? You’ll need to begin the day with one millisecond of distress. Would you accept my offer? I think you would. A moment is nothing compared to twenty-four hours. Compared to eternity, what is seventy, eighty, ninety years? A finger snap compared to heaven.
We point to our sick child, crutches, or famine. “This makes no sense!” Yet of all of his creation, how much have we seen? Of all his work, how much do we understand? A doorway peephole. What if God’s answer to the question of suffering requires more megabytes than our puny minds have been given? Let God finish his work. The forecast is simple. We have some good days, we have some bad days, but God is in all days.
Romans 10
Believe me, friends, all I want for Israel is what’s best for Israel: salvation, nothing less. I want it with all my heart and pray to God for it all the time. I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don’t seem to realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation is God’s business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it.
4-10 The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story—no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here,
as near as the tongue in your mouth,
as close as the heart in your chest.
It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
11-13 Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!
Grand processions of people
telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.
18-21 But haven’t there been plenty of opportunities for Israel to listen and understand what’s going on? Plenty, I’d say.
Preachers’ voices have gone ’round the world,
Their message to earth’s seven seas.
So the big question is, Why didn’t Israel understand that she had no corner on this message? Moses had it right when he predicted,
When you see God reach out to those
you consider your inferiors—outsiders!—
you’ll become insanely jealous.
When you see God reach out to people
you think are religiously stupid,
you’ll throw temper tantrums.
Isaiah dared to speak out these words of God:
People found and welcomed me
who never so much as looked for me.
And I found and welcomed people
who had never even asked about me.
Then he capped it with a damning indictment:
Day after day after day,
I beckoned Israel with open arms,
And got nothing for my trouble
but cold shoulders and icy stares.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 1:2–5, 12–21
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Footnotes:
James 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Insight
James begins his letter to dislocated and troubled followers of Jesus by urging them to ask for wisdom in living as His followers (1:5, 19–22). But how will they recognize such divine help? After briefly discussing a series of difficult relational challenges, James describes a wisdom grounded in humility rather than self-centeredness (3:13–16). Wisdom from God is peace-loving, considerate, willing to listen, full of mercy and goodness, and without prejudice or hypocrisy (v. 17).
Useful Temptation
Humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.James 1:21
Fifteenth-century monk Thomas à Kempis, in the beloved classic The Imitation of Christ, offers a perspective on temptation that might be a bit surprising. Instead of focusing on the pain and difficulties temptation can lead to, he writes, “[temptations] are useful because they can make us humble, they can cleanse us, and they can teach us.” Kempis explains, “The key to victory is true humility and patience; in them we overcome the enemy.”
Humility and patience. How different my walk with Christ would be if that were how I naturally responded to temptation! More often, I react with shame, frustration, and impatient attempts to get rid of the struggle.
But, as we learn from James 1, the temptations and trials we face don’t have to be without purpose or merely a threat we endure. Although giving in to temptation can bring heartbreak and devastation (vv. 13–15), when we turn to God with humble hearts seeking His wisdom and grace, we find He “gives generously to all without finding fault” (v. 5). Through His power in us, our trials and struggles to resist sin build perseverance, “so that [we] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4).
As we trust in Jesus, there’s no reason to live in fear. As God’s dearly loved children, we can find peace as we rest in His loving arms even as we face temptation. By: Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
How might an attitude of humility and patience change how you respond to a current temptation or struggle? How is it freeing?
Jesus, I’m saddened when I realize how often I try to face life’s temptations and struggles on my own—as if I’m self-sufficient, as if I don’t need You. Thank You for Your unending love and patience with me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 05, 2020
God’s Assurance
He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 23-24; John 15
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 05, 2020
Mayor in the Flames - #8715
If you're a mayor, you're used to taking the heat, of course, but not the flames. Several years ago there was a story that was pretty amazing. It came from Newark, N. J. where Cory Booker was Mayor, and what he did to save his next door neighbor.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mayor in the Flames."
Mayor Booker arrived home at his apartment to find one of his security detail knocking on the door of the building next door to warn them the second floor was on fire. The officer managed to get two women and a man out of the building. But one of the women told the mayor and his security men that her daughter, Zina, was still upstairs.
With his officers literally holding his belt and trying to physically restrain him, the mayor got loose and he ran into that burning building. Upstairs, Booker encountered a kitchen engulfed in flames. He said later, "Just as I was looking down, finding somewhere to breathe, I heard her."
He followed her voice as he heard explosions and he saw "sparks flying everywhere." When he reached the room where she was, it was totally in flames. Well, he picked her up over his shoulder, carried her as these burning embers were falling down from the ceiling, burning her back and burning his hand.
Meanwhile, the security officers were pretty sure their mayor wasn't coming out alive, and Booker was thinking the same thing actually. He said, "Every time I breathed in, I felt a blackness. We were fighting for our lives." The mayor told reporters, "I had a conversation with God I never had before." Amazingly, Booker made it out with the woman he'd rescued, collapsed on the ground, just coughing violently.
Needless to say, the news accounts hailed the mayor's incredible bravery. But his take was a little different. He said, "I didn't feel bravery. I felt terror." Which raises the question, "Why did he run right into those flames?" Well, his answer was right to the point. He said, "If I didn't go in, this lady's going to die." Afraid of what might happen to him if he went in for the rescue, but more afraid of what might happen to her if he didn't.
And then there's me, ordered by the Lord, along with all of His children, in our word for today from the Word of God, to "snatch others from the fire and save them" and to "rescue those being led away to death." That's Jude 23 and Proverbs 24:11. But too often, afraid of what might happen to me if I try to tell them about Jesus, and letting that decide what I do: Staying silent, holding back, leaving them in their deadly situation.
When I've asked groups of believers what keeps them from talking to folks about our Jesus, I get the same answer almost in unison. "Fear." "Fear of what?" Well, the answers are pretty predictable. "They might reject me," "They might not like me," "I might mess it up." The fears that silence us have one thing in common. They're all about me; what might happen to me.
But rescue is all about them. "If I don't go in, they're going to die." Unfortunately, we can't actually see the horrific spiritual danger our friends and neighbors and coworkers are in, unless we ask Jesus to help us see what He sees. Those people you see day after day are, in the Bible's words, "lost" (Luke 19:10), "perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15), "without hope and without God" (Ephesians 2:12). And ultimately, it says in 2 Thessalonians, they will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" unless someone goes in for the rescue and tells them that Jesus loves them so much He took all of that hell so they would never have to.
If the mayor had waited for the rescue professionals to do it, that woman would have died. Had he let his fears decide, had he waited for someone who could do it better, if he'd said, "It's not up to me," a life would have been lost. He knew what I can't afford to forget - the life in danger is in the hands of the person who's where they are. That means there's a list of people in my world for whom I'm their best hope of rescue, because the Good News of Jesus isn't just beliefs to share. It's life-or-death information.
I don't think I'm ever going to lose the fear. But courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the disregard of it because a life is at stake. Spiritual rescue is possible because of the love of one Man - Jesus. Who didn't just risk His life for you and me; He gave His life. And He stands ready to rescue you from a spiritual death penalty you can't escape any other way.
You can find out more about that at our website, ANewStory.com. And you know what could happen? You could change your eternal destination this very day.
Suppose I invited you to experience the day of your dreams. Twenty-four hours on an island paradise with your favorite people, food, and activities. The only stipulation? You’ll need to begin the day with one millisecond of distress. Would you accept my offer? I think you would. A moment is nothing compared to twenty-four hours. Compared to eternity, what is seventy, eighty, ninety years? A finger snap compared to heaven.
We point to our sick child, crutches, or famine. “This makes no sense!” Yet of all of his creation, how much have we seen? Of all his work, how much do we understand? A doorway peephole. What if God’s answer to the question of suffering requires more megabytes than our puny minds have been given? Let God finish his work. The forecast is simple. We have some good days, we have some bad days, but God is in all days.
Romans 10
Believe me, friends, all I want for Israel is what’s best for Israel: salvation, nothing less. I want it with all my heart and pray to God for it all the time. I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don’t seem to realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation is God’s business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it.
4-10 The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story—no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here,
as near as the tongue in your mouth,
as close as the heart in your chest.
It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
11-13 Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!
Grand processions of people
telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.
18-21 But haven’t there been plenty of opportunities for Israel to listen and understand what’s going on? Plenty, I’d say.
Preachers’ voices have gone ’round the world,
Their message to earth’s seven seas.
So the big question is, Why didn’t Israel understand that she had no corner on this message? Moses had it right when he predicted,
When you see God reach out to those
you consider your inferiors—outsiders!—
you’ll become insanely jealous.
When you see God reach out to people
you think are religiously stupid,
you’ll throw temper tantrums.
Isaiah dared to speak out these words of God:
People found and welcomed me
who never so much as looked for me.
And I found and welcomed people
who had never even asked about me.
Then he capped it with a damning indictment:
Day after day after day,
I beckoned Israel with open arms,
And got nothing for my trouble
but cold shoulders and icy stares.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 1:2–5, 12–21
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Footnotes:
James 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Insight
James begins his letter to dislocated and troubled followers of Jesus by urging them to ask for wisdom in living as His followers (1:5, 19–22). But how will they recognize such divine help? After briefly discussing a series of difficult relational challenges, James describes a wisdom grounded in humility rather than self-centeredness (3:13–16). Wisdom from God is peace-loving, considerate, willing to listen, full of mercy and goodness, and without prejudice or hypocrisy (v. 17).
Useful Temptation
Humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.James 1:21
Fifteenth-century monk Thomas à Kempis, in the beloved classic The Imitation of Christ, offers a perspective on temptation that might be a bit surprising. Instead of focusing on the pain and difficulties temptation can lead to, he writes, “[temptations] are useful because they can make us humble, they can cleanse us, and they can teach us.” Kempis explains, “The key to victory is true humility and patience; in them we overcome the enemy.”
Humility and patience. How different my walk with Christ would be if that were how I naturally responded to temptation! More often, I react with shame, frustration, and impatient attempts to get rid of the struggle.
But, as we learn from James 1, the temptations and trials we face don’t have to be without purpose or merely a threat we endure. Although giving in to temptation can bring heartbreak and devastation (vv. 13–15), when we turn to God with humble hearts seeking His wisdom and grace, we find He “gives generously to all without finding fault” (v. 5). Through His power in us, our trials and struggles to resist sin build perseverance, “so that [we] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4).
As we trust in Jesus, there’s no reason to live in fear. As God’s dearly loved children, we can find peace as we rest in His loving arms even as we face temptation. By: Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
How might an attitude of humility and patience change how you respond to a current temptation or struggle? How is it freeing?
Jesus, I’m saddened when I realize how often I try to face life’s temptations and struggles on my own—as if I’m self-sufficient, as if I don’t need You. Thank You for Your unending love and patience with me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 05, 2020
God’s Assurance
He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6
My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.
What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”
Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 23-24; John 15
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 05, 2020
Mayor in the Flames - #8715
If you're a mayor, you're used to taking the heat, of course, but not the flames. Several years ago there was a story that was pretty amazing. It came from Newark, N. J. where Cory Booker was Mayor, and what he did to save his next door neighbor.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mayor in the Flames."
Mayor Booker arrived home at his apartment to find one of his security detail knocking on the door of the building next door to warn them the second floor was on fire. The officer managed to get two women and a man out of the building. But one of the women told the mayor and his security men that her daughter, Zina, was still upstairs.
With his officers literally holding his belt and trying to physically restrain him, the mayor got loose and he ran into that burning building. Upstairs, Booker encountered a kitchen engulfed in flames. He said later, "Just as I was looking down, finding somewhere to breathe, I heard her."
He followed her voice as he heard explosions and he saw "sparks flying everywhere." When he reached the room where she was, it was totally in flames. Well, he picked her up over his shoulder, carried her as these burning embers were falling down from the ceiling, burning her back and burning his hand.
Meanwhile, the security officers were pretty sure their mayor wasn't coming out alive, and Booker was thinking the same thing actually. He said, "Every time I breathed in, I felt a blackness. We were fighting for our lives." The mayor told reporters, "I had a conversation with God I never had before." Amazingly, Booker made it out with the woman he'd rescued, collapsed on the ground, just coughing violently.
Needless to say, the news accounts hailed the mayor's incredible bravery. But his take was a little different. He said, "I didn't feel bravery. I felt terror." Which raises the question, "Why did he run right into those flames?" Well, his answer was right to the point. He said, "If I didn't go in, this lady's going to die." Afraid of what might happen to him if he went in for the rescue, but more afraid of what might happen to her if he didn't.
And then there's me, ordered by the Lord, along with all of His children, in our word for today from the Word of God, to "snatch others from the fire and save them" and to "rescue those being led away to death." That's Jude 23 and Proverbs 24:11. But too often, afraid of what might happen to me if I try to tell them about Jesus, and letting that decide what I do: Staying silent, holding back, leaving them in their deadly situation.
When I've asked groups of believers what keeps them from talking to folks about our Jesus, I get the same answer almost in unison. "Fear." "Fear of what?" Well, the answers are pretty predictable. "They might reject me," "They might not like me," "I might mess it up." The fears that silence us have one thing in common. They're all about me; what might happen to me.
But rescue is all about them. "If I don't go in, they're going to die." Unfortunately, we can't actually see the horrific spiritual danger our friends and neighbors and coworkers are in, unless we ask Jesus to help us see what He sees. Those people you see day after day are, in the Bible's words, "lost" (Luke 19:10), "perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15), "without hope and without God" (Ephesians 2:12). And ultimately, it says in 2 Thessalonians, they will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" unless someone goes in for the rescue and tells them that Jesus loves them so much He took all of that hell so they would never have to.
If the mayor had waited for the rescue professionals to do it, that woman would have died. Had he let his fears decide, had he waited for someone who could do it better, if he'd said, "It's not up to me," a life would have been lost. He knew what I can't afford to forget - the life in danger is in the hands of the person who's where they are. That means there's a list of people in my world for whom I'm their best hope of rescue, because the Good News of Jesus isn't just beliefs to share. It's life-or-death information.
I don't think I'm ever going to lose the fear. But courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the disregard of it because a life is at stake. Spiritual rescue is possible because of the love of one Man - Jesus. Who didn't just risk His life for you and me; He gave His life. And He stands ready to rescue you from a spiritual death penalty you can't escape any other way.
You can find out more about that at our website, ANewStory.com. And you know what could happen? You could change your eternal destination this very day.
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Isaiah 55, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S DEFINITIVE ANSWER
At some point we all stand at this intersection and ask this question: Is God good when the outcome is not? The definitive answer to the goodness of God comes in the person of Jesus Christ. He’s the only picture of God ever taken. He pressed his fingers into the sore of the leper. He inclined his ear to the cry of the hungry. He didn’t retreat at the sight of pain, just the opposite. Cruel accusations of jealous men? Jesus knows their sting.
Is it possible that the wonder of heaven will make the most difficult life a good bargain? This was Paul’s opinion. He said, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Your pain won’t last forever, my friend, but you will. And whatever we go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. You’ll get through this! God is good, even when the outcome is difficult.
Isaiah 55
“Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless?
Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”
6-7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,
pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
8-11 “I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.
12-13 “So you’ll go out in joy,
you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
living and lasting evidence of God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 04, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 14:8–14
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.Insight
Philip, recruited by Jesus Himself (John 1:43), was one of the very first disciples. In the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—Philip is always paired with Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14). In John’s gospel, however, Bartholomew isn’t mentioned and Nathanael (who isn’t mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels) is listed instead. Many scholars believe that Bartholomew is probably the same person as Nathanael, whom Philip recruited (John 1:45–48).
In John 14:8–14, when the disciples are gathered in the upper room, Philip responds to a question from Thomas asked in verse 5. The fact that Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father indicates that, although one of the first disciples, Philip hadn’t really understood the heart and mission of Jesus—to make visible the unseen God (see 1:18). No wonder Jesus gave Philip a gentle rebuke for his misguided request; it had already been fulfilled during their many months together.
My Father’s Child
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9
They looked down at the faded photograph, then up at me, then over at my father, then back at me, then back at my father. Their eyes were as wide as the proverbial saucers. “Dad, you look just like Papa when he was young!” My father and I grinned because this was something we’d known for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that my children came to the same realization. While my father and I are different people, in a very real sense to see me is to see my father as a younger man: tall, lanky frame; full head of dark hair; prominent nose; and rather large ears. No, I am not my father, but I am most definitely my father’s son.
A follower of Jesus named Philip once asked, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). And while it wasn’t the first time Jesus had indicated as much, His response was still cause for pause: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). Unlike the physical resemblances between my father and me, what Jesus says here is revolutionary: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (v. 10). His very essence and character were the same as His Father’s.
In that moment Jesus was being straightforward with His beloved disciples and us: If you want to know what God is like, look at Me. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
What are some of the characteristics of Jesus (and the Father) that resonate strongly with you, and why? How has He been molding your character?
Jesus, when things seem overwhelming, remind me that to see You is to see the Father. Help me keep my eyes fixed on You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 04, 2020
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 04, 2020
Removing a Mountain, Making a Road - #8714
The Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri are known for their rocks. They make for some hard farming, some beautiful views, and some challenging road building. Like this one stretch of highway from Branson, Missouri, to Springfield, Missouri, that they widened. As you slowed down through those construction zones, there were some pretty impressive changes that were taking place. Some places were nothing but solid-rock mountain, but somehow they managed to blast away at those mountains and they literally made a road where a mountain used to be!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Removing a Mountain, Making a Road."
Now if human engineers can do that, don't you think God can? In fact, God's mountain-moving ability may be your only hope right now.
Let's remember the miracle Jesus promised to us, as recorded in our word for today from the Word of God. In Mark 11:23, He says, "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Obviously, it's not the power of your word that removes mountains; it's the power of God. The words immediately preceding these dramatic promises are these: "Have faith in God."
But we have a God who does remove mountains that appear as if they could never be moved - in answer to the faith-believing prayers of His children. This might be one of those times when the only way there's going to be a road for you is if God blows away the mountain that stands in the way. But you can ask Him, you can trust Him to do just that, within the boundaries of His perfect will of course.
Our mountains don't usually come in the form of some huge rock formations. For you, what blocks the way might be a person whose heart is hard; whose heart needs a miraculous change. God does those. According to Proverbs 21:1, "The heart of the king is in His hand." Maybe your mountain is seemingly impossible financial obstacles.
That's the kind our ministry has faced a number of times, and we were facing that as it became clear that God wanted us to build our own headquarters to better carry out His orders. We didn't have one dollar in a building fund. We had no reserves and no clear idea of where an amount like that would come from. But in less than a year, there was the headquarters, totally debt-free. There was this mountain, and then by God's power and grace, there was a road.
Maybe it's going to take a change of leadership in order for there to be a way, a miraculous recovery, or seemingly impossible breakthroughs. But God does all of those. God's allowed you to run up against this mountain so you would run to the end of you. All our lives, we underestimate and under trust the God we have. There's way too much of us and way too little of God. And then there it is - that massive mountain looming in the way, so huge there's nothing you can do to move it. There's nothing any human solution can do to move it.
Well, praise God! You what? Yeah, praise God! You've just reached the end of you and possibly you are at the beginning of unleashing your Lord as never before. I love the promise in Ephesians 3:20, "He is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine according to the power that works in us." I call that a 320 in Ephesians 3:20.
Looking at that mountain, you'd have to say, "No way." But looking at your all-powerful God, don't you ever say, "No way." He blows away mountains and makes a road where you could have never dreamed there would be one, and then you know what? He gets all the glory!
At some point we all stand at this intersection and ask this question: Is God good when the outcome is not? The definitive answer to the goodness of God comes in the person of Jesus Christ. He’s the only picture of God ever taken. He pressed his fingers into the sore of the leper. He inclined his ear to the cry of the hungry. He didn’t retreat at the sight of pain, just the opposite. Cruel accusations of jealous men? Jesus knows their sting.
Is it possible that the wonder of heaven will make the most difficult life a good bargain? This was Paul’s opinion. He said, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Your pain won’t last forever, my friend, but you will. And whatever we go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. You’ll get through this! God is good, even when the outcome is difficult.
Isaiah 55
“Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless?
Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”
6-7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,
pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
8-11 “I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.
12-13 “So you’ll go out in joy,
you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
living and lasting evidence of God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 04, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 14:8–14
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.Insight
Philip, recruited by Jesus Himself (John 1:43), was one of the very first disciples. In the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—Philip is always paired with Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14). In John’s gospel, however, Bartholomew isn’t mentioned and Nathanael (who isn’t mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels) is listed instead. Many scholars believe that Bartholomew is probably the same person as Nathanael, whom Philip recruited (John 1:45–48).
In John 14:8–14, when the disciples are gathered in the upper room, Philip responds to a question from Thomas asked in verse 5. The fact that Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father indicates that, although one of the first disciples, Philip hadn’t really understood the heart and mission of Jesus—to make visible the unseen God (see 1:18). No wonder Jesus gave Philip a gentle rebuke for his misguided request; it had already been fulfilled during their many months together.
My Father’s Child
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9
They looked down at the faded photograph, then up at me, then over at my father, then back at me, then back at my father. Their eyes were as wide as the proverbial saucers. “Dad, you look just like Papa when he was young!” My father and I grinned because this was something we’d known for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that my children came to the same realization. While my father and I are different people, in a very real sense to see me is to see my father as a younger man: tall, lanky frame; full head of dark hair; prominent nose; and rather large ears. No, I am not my father, but I am most definitely my father’s son.
A follower of Jesus named Philip once asked, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). And while it wasn’t the first time Jesus had indicated as much, His response was still cause for pause: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). Unlike the physical resemblances between my father and me, what Jesus says here is revolutionary: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (v. 10). His very essence and character were the same as His Father’s.
In that moment Jesus was being straightforward with His beloved disciples and us: If you want to know what God is like, look at Me. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
What are some of the characteristics of Jesus (and the Father) that resonate strongly with you, and why? How has He been molding your character?
Jesus, when things seem overwhelming, remind me that to see You is to see the Father. Help me keep my eyes fixed on You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 04, 2020
The Never-forsaking God
He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5
What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.
“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 04, 2020
Removing a Mountain, Making a Road - #8714
The Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri are known for their rocks. They make for some hard farming, some beautiful views, and some challenging road building. Like this one stretch of highway from Branson, Missouri, to Springfield, Missouri, that they widened. As you slowed down through those construction zones, there were some pretty impressive changes that were taking place. Some places were nothing but solid-rock mountain, but somehow they managed to blast away at those mountains and they literally made a road where a mountain used to be!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Removing a Mountain, Making a Road."
Now if human engineers can do that, don't you think God can? In fact, God's mountain-moving ability may be your only hope right now.
Let's remember the miracle Jesus promised to us, as recorded in our word for today from the Word of God. In Mark 11:23, He says, "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Obviously, it's not the power of your word that removes mountains; it's the power of God. The words immediately preceding these dramatic promises are these: "Have faith in God."
But we have a God who does remove mountains that appear as if they could never be moved - in answer to the faith-believing prayers of His children. This might be one of those times when the only way there's going to be a road for you is if God blows away the mountain that stands in the way. But you can ask Him, you can trust Him to do just that, within the boundaries of His perfect will of course.
Our mountains don't usually come in the form of some huge rock formations. For you, what blocks the way might be a person whose heart is hard; whose heart needs a miraculous change. God does those. According to Proverbs 21:1, "The heart of the king is in His hand." Maybe your mountain is seemingly impossible financial obstacles.
That's the kind our ministry has faced a number of times, and we were facing that as it became clear that God wanted us to build our own headquarters to better carry out His orders. We didn't have one dollar in a building fund. We had no reserves and no clear idea of where an amount like that would come from. But in less than a year, there was the headquarters, totally debt-free. There was this mountain, and then by God's power and grace, there was a road.
Maybe it's going to take a change of leadership in order for there to be a way, a miraculous recovery, or seemingly impossible breakthroughs. But God does all of those. God's allowed you to run up against this mountain so you would run to the end of you. All our lives, we underestimate and under trust the God we have. There's way too much of us and way too little of God. And then there it is - that massive mountain looming in the way, so huge there's nothing you can do to move it. There's nothing any human solution can do to move it.
Well, praise God! You what? Yeah, praise God! You've just reached the end of you and possibly you are at the beginning of unleashing your Lord as never before. I love the promise in Ephesians 3:20, "He is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine according to the power that works in us." I call that a 320 in Ephesians 3:20.
Looking at that mountain, you'd have to say, "No way." But looking at your all-powerful God, don't you ever say, "No way." He blows away mountains and makes a road where you could have never dreamed there would be one, and then you know what? He gets all the glory!
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