Isaiah 66, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOUR BEST WEAPON AGAINST SATAN

Satan has no recourse to your personal testimony. So your best weapon against his attacks is a good memory!

Don’t forget a single one of God’s blessings. He forgives your sins—every one.  He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—and saves your life. He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence. Create a trophy room in your heart, place a memory on the shelf. Before you face a challenge, take a quick tour of God’s accomplishments. Look at all the paychecks he’s provided, all the blessings he’s given, all the prayers he’s answered.

Imitate the shepherd boy David. Before he fought Goliath, the giant, he remembered how God had helped him kill a lion and a bear. Face your future by recalling God’s victories!

From God is With You Every Day

Isaiah 66 1-2 God’s Message:

“Heaven’s my throne,

    earth is my footstool.

What sort of house could you build for me?

    What holiday spot reserve for me?

I made all this! I own all this!”

    God’s Decree.

“But there is something I’m looking for:

    a person simple and plain,

    reverently responsive to what I say.

3-4 

“Your acts of worship

    are acts of sin:

Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox

    is no different from murdering the neighbor;

Your offerings for worship,

    no different from dumping pig’s blood on the altar;

Your presentation of memorial gifts,

    no different from honoring a no-god idol.

You choose self-serving worship,

    you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!

Well, I choose to expose your nonsense

    and let you realize your worst fears,

Because when I invited you, you ignored me;

    when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.

You did the very things I exposed as evil,

    you chose what I hate.”

5 

But listen to what God has to say

    to you who reverently respond to his Word:

“Your own families hate you

    and turn you out because of me.

They taunt you, ‘Let us see God’s glory!

    If God’s so great, why aren’t you happy?’

But they’re the ones

    who are going to end up shamed.”

6 

Rumbles of thunder from the city!

    A voice out of the Temple!

God’s voice,

    handing out judgment to his enemies:

7-9 

“Before she went into labor,

    she had the baby.

Before the birth pangs hit,

    she delivered a son.

Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

    Has anyone seen anything like this?

A country born in a day?

    A nation born in a flash?

But Zion was barely in labor

    when she had her babies!

Do I open the womb

    and not deliver the baby?

Do I, the One who delivers babies,

    shut the womb?

10-11 

“Rejoice, Jerusalem,

    and all who love her, celebrate!

And all you who have shed tears over her,

    join in the happy singing.

You newborns can satisfy yourselves

    at her nurturing breasts.

Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill

    at her ample bosom.”

12-13 

God’s Message:

“I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river,

    the glory of nations like a river in flood.

You’ll nurse at her breasts,

    nestle in her bosom,

    and be bounced on her knees.

As a mother comforts her child,

    so I’ll comfort you.

    You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

14-16 

You’ll see all this and burst with joy

    —you’ll feel ten feet tall—

As it becomes apparent that God is on your side

    and against his enemies.

For God arrives like wildfire

    and his chariots like a tornado,

A furious outburst of anger,

    a rebuke fierce and fiery.

For it’s by fire that God brings judgment,

    a death sentence on the human race.

Many, oh so many,

    are under God’s sentence of death:

17 “All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together.” God’s Decree.

18-21 “I know everything they’ve ever done or thought. I’m going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They’ll come and see my glory. I’ll set up a station at the center. I’ll send the survivors of judgment all over the world: Spain and Africa, Turkey and Greece, and the far-off islands that have never heard of me, who know nothing of what I’ve done nor who I am. I’ll send them out as missionaries to preach my glory among the nations. They’ll return with all your long-lost brothers and sisters from all over the world. They’ll bring them back and offer them in living worship to God. They’ll bring them on horses and wagons and carts, on mules and camels, straight to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says God. “They’ll present them just as Israelites present their offerings in a ceremonial vessel in the Temple of God. I’ll even take some of them and make them priests and Levites,” says God.

22-23 

“For just as the new heavens and new earth

    that I am making will stand firm before me”

        —God’s Decree—

“So will your children

    and your reputation stand firm.

Month after month and week by week,

    everyone will come to worship me,” God says.

24 

“And then they’ll go out and look at what happened

    to those who rebelled against me. Corpses!

Maggots endlessly eating away on them,

    an endless supply of fuel for fires.

Everyone who sees what’s happened

    and smells the stench retches.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Luke 15:1-10

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Footnotes:

15:8 Greek ten drachmas. A drachma was the equivalent of a full day’s wage.

INSIGHT:

Jesus’ association with the outcasts of society (vv. 1-2) offended the self-righteous Pharisees and religious leaders who saw themselves as the only people fit to go to heaven. Their statement that “this man receives sinners and eats with them” (v. 2) was meant to be a scathing attack on His character, but it accurately affirmed what Jesus came to do (Matt. 9:10-13). In response to this criticism, Jesus told three parables: the lost sheep (vv. 4-7), the lost coin (vv. 8-10), and the lost son (vv. 11-32). All three parables follow the same pattern: something is lost, it is found, and then there is rejoicing.

A Missing Sheep

By Anne Cetas

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. —Psalm 100:3

Laura loaded a borrowed goat and sheep into a trailer to transport them to church for a rehearsal of a live nativity. The animals head-butted and chased each other for a bit and then settled down. Laura started for the church but first had to stop for gas.

While pumping the gas, she noticed the goat standing in the parking lot! And the sheep was gone! In the commotion of getting them settled she had forgotten to lock one of the latches. Laura called the sheriff and some friends who searched frantically along a stretch of businesses, cornfields, and woods during the last daylight hours. Many were praying that she would find the borrowed animal.

The next morning Laura and a friend went out to post “Lost Sheep” flyers at local businesses. Their first stop was the gas station. A customer overheard them asking the cashier about posting a flyer and said, “I think I know where your sheep is!” The sheep had wandered to his neighbor’s farm, where he had put it in the barn for the night.

The Lord cares about lost sheep—including you and me. Jesus came from heaven to earth to show us His love and provide salvation (John 3:16). He goes to great lengths to seek and find us (Luke 19:10).

When the sheep was found, Laura nicknamed her Miracle. And God’s salvation of us is a miracle of His grace.

Heavenly Father, as we care for the things dear to us, how much more do You care for us, Your children! Thank You for answered prayer and for the miracle of Your grace.

The Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. John 10:11

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

June 20. 2015

Have You Come to “When” Yet?

The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. —Job 42:10

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, “Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer— I will walk rightly before You if You will help me.” But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the “hundredfold” which Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29), and not getting insight into God’s Word, then start praying for your friends— enter into the ministry of the inner life. “The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.

Isaiah 65, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS IN THIS CRISIS

Do you recite your woes more naturally than you do heaven’s strength?  No wonder life’s tough.  You’re assuming God isn’t in this crisis.

Isabel spent her first three and a half years  in a Nicaraguan orphanage.  As with all orphans, her odds of adoption diminished with time.  And then the door slammed on her finger!  Why would God permit this innocent girl to feel even more pain?  Might He be calling the attention of Ryan Schnoke sitting in the playroom nearby?  He and his wife had been trying to adopt a child for months.  Ryan walked over, picked her up, and comforted her.  Several months later, Ryan and Christina were close to giving up, and Ryan remembered Isabel.  Little Isabel is growing up now in a happy, healthy home.

A finger in the door?  God doesn’t manufacture pain, but He certainly puts it to use.  Your crisis?  You’ll get through this!

Isaiah 65

The People Who Bothered to Reach Out to God

“I’ve made myself available
    to those who haven’t bothered to ask.
I’m here, ready to be found
    by those who haven’t bothered to look.
I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’
    to a nation that ignored me.
I reached out day after day
    to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
    who insist on doing things their own way.
They get on my nerves,
    are rude to my face day after day,
Make up their own kitchen religion,
    a potluck religious stew.
They spend the night in tombs
    to get messages from the dead,
Eat forbidden foods
    and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms.
They say, ‘Keep your distance.
    Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’
These people gag me.
    I can’t stand their stench.
Look at this! Their sins are all written out—
    I have the list before me.
I’m not putting up with this any longer.
    I’ll pay them the wages
They have coming for their sins.
    And for the sins of their parents lumped in,
    a bonus.” God says so.
“Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship,
    mocking me at their hillside shrines,
I’ll let loose the consequences
    and pay them in full for their actions.”

8-10 God’s Message:

“But just as one bad apple doesn’t ruin the whole bushel,
    there are still plenty of good apples left.
So I’ll preserve those in Israel who obey me.
    I won’t destroy the whole nation.
I’ll bring out my true children from Jacob
    and the heirs of my mountains from Judah.
My chosen will inherit the land,
    my servants will move in.
The lush valley of Sharon in the west
    will be a pasture for flocks,
And in the east, the valley of Achor,
    a place for herds to graze.
These will be for the people
    who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives,
    who actually bothered to look for me.

11-12 “But you who abandon me, your God,
    who forget the holy mountains,
Who hold dinners for Lady Luck
    and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be:
    your destiny, Death.
For when I invited you, you ignored me;
    when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil;
    you chose what I hate.”

13-16 Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God:

“My servants will eat,
    and you’ll go hungry;
My servants will drink,
    and you’ll go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
    and you’ll hang your heads.
My servants will laugh from full hearts,
    and you’ll cry out heartbroken,
    yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Your legacy to my chosen
    will be your name reduced to a cussword.
I, God, will put you to death
    and give a new name to my servants.
Then whoever prays a blessing in the land
    will use my faithful name for the blessing,
And whoever takes an oath in the land
    will use my faithful name for the oath,
Because the earlier troubles are gone and forgotten,
    banished far from my sight.

New Heavens and a New Earth
17-25 “Pay close attention now:
    I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
    are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
    Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
    create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
    take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
    no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
    or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
    anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses
    and move in.
They’ll plant fields
    and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
    that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
    that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
    my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
    they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
    with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
    Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
    lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
    but snakes—they’ll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
    anywhere on my Holy Mountain,” says God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, June 19, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

John 10:7–11

 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Footnotes:
John 10:9 Or kept safe

Insight
At the time of Jesus, shepherds used two kinds of enclosures for their sheep. In the villages, shepherds often kept their sheep in communal stone-walled and gated sheep pens guarded by gatekeepers. Out in the fields, sheepfolds were often makeshift enclosures made of stones, and the shepherd would guard his sheep by sleeping across a narrow opening in front. In John 10, Jesus uses the picture of a shepherd and his sheep to assure us of His personal protection. He says He’s “the gate for the sheep” (vv. 7, 9) who “lays down his life for the sheep” (vv. 11, 15). A communal sheepfold would have included many flocks. But as the shepherd called among the mixed flocks, only his own sheep would respond to him. Recognizing the shepherd’s voice, his sheep would draw near to him and follow him out of the sheepfold to the pasture (vv. 3–5).

Life to the Full
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. John 10:10–11

Seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously wrote that human life in its natural state is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes argued that our instincts tend toward war in a bid to attain dominance over others; thus the establishment of government would be necessary to maintain law and order.

The bleak view of humanity sounds like the state of affairs that Jesus described when He said, “All who have come before me are thieves and robbers” (John 10:8). But Jesus offers hope in the midst of despair. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” but then the good news: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (v. 10).

Psalm 23 paints a refreshing portrait of the life our Shepherd gives us. In Him, we “lack nothing” (v. 1) and are refreshed (v. 3). He leads us down the right paths of His perfect will, so that even when we face dark times, we need not be afraid; for He is present to comfort us (vv. 3–4). He causes us to triumph in the face of adversity and overwhelms us with blessings (v. 5). His goodness and love follow us every day, and we have the privilege of His presence forever (v. 6).

May we answer the Shepherd’s call and experience the full, abundant life He came to give us. By:  Remi Oyedele

Reflect & Pray
How would you describe the life that Jesus came to give? How can you share this life with others?

Jesus, You’re the source of true life, abundant and full. Help me seek my fulfillment only in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 19, 2020
The Service of Passionate Devotion

…do you love Me?…Tend My sheep. —John 21:16

Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him. We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate…, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). In this verse, there is no argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in effect, “If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me.” A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says, “Now I see who Jesus is!”— that is the source of devotion.

Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not really want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend, and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way. Our Lord’s primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people— the saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a “doormat.” The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that “falls into the ground and dies”— it will spring up and change the entire landscape (John 12:24).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child.  Not Knowing Whither, 882 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 12-13; Acts 4:23-37

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 19, 2020

Finding Your Father - #8725

Our friend - we'll call her Diane - shocked her family years ago when she announced at the age of 17 that she was pregnant. Even with some folks urging her to have an abortion, she made the choice to have that child - a son. When her son was seven, Diane met a guy we'll call Gary, and she knew they were falling in love. So, with some fear and trembling, she told him about her son. Gary said, "Let's go meet him." And Diane's boy took to Gary immediately. Diane and Gary got married, and the boy grew up with a wonderful relationship with Gary. But something happened when he turned 17 - this unexplainable rebellion that ultimately made him decide to go live with his biological father. A few months later, he returned to the home he'd grown up in. He'd made a powerful discovery in those intervening months. He said to Gary, "You're the one I walk like, you're the one I talk like, and I do things the way you taught me. You are my father!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Finding Your Father."

In that emotional, unforgettable moment, a young man decided who his father really was, and who would be the anchor for his identity as a son. It might be someone listening today needs to make a choice like that about the One the Bible calls the "father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5). There's a reason that God chose, out of all the names He could have asked us to call Him, He chose the name "Heavenly Father."

In my lifetime, I've known many people who have come from a really rugged background, sometimes a fatherless background, either because they never knew their father or they had one that never acted like one. I've known people who have come from a background where they never really felt like they belonged and they still feel that way. Maybe one of those is you.

I have to tell you that so many people who have lived emotionally unanchored and painful lives have found something amazing when they found Jesus Christ: they found the Father that their heart had yearned for so long. There's so much hope for hurting people in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 10:14. It says, "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; You consider to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless."

But like that young man who made the choice that Gary was his father, you have to come to the place where you make that deliberate choice about the God who made you; about Jesus Christ, who loved you enough to come all the way from His throne in heaven to an old rugged cross to die to get you back. Nobody can love you like He does. But you have to decide that you'll no longer define yourself as "the victim," that you will no longer define yourself by some other relationship that can never be what you really need. And maybe you will, from this day forward say, "I know who I am. I belong to Jesus Christ. I am totally His, for now and forever!"

That's coming home to the identity you were made for. You've been away, trying to get other people and other things to do for you what only Jesus can do. Let this be the day that you come home to Him and say, "Jesus, you died for me. I'm Yours." Look, this would be the best possible day. Don't wait another day to begin that anchor relationship with Jesus Christ.

A good place to start is simply to stop where you are as soon as you can and say, "Jesus, I've run my own life. I'm done doing that. You were meant to run it. I turn from that, and I believe that You love me so much You died the death penalty for every wrong thing I have ever done, and you walked out of your grave. I want you to walk into my life. I'm Yours from this day on."

You know, from that moment, you have a relationship and a love you will never ever lose. I think you'll find some things that will help you get started in this relationship if you go visit our website as soon as you can today. That site is ANewStory.com.

Let Him be the one you follow, and live with that sense of security that belongs only to those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Romans 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PREPARING A PLACE

God’s purpose from all eternity is to prepare a family to indwell the kingdom of God.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). God is plotting for our good. In all the setbacks, He’s ordaining the best for our future. Every event of our day is designed to draw us toward our God and our destiny.

When people junk you in the pit, God can use it for good. When family members sell you out, God will recycle the pain. Falsely accused?  Utterly abandoned?  You may stumble but you will not fall. You will get through this! Not because you are strong, but because God is. Not because you are big, but because God is. Not because you are good, but because God is. He has a place prepared for you!

Romans 12

Place Your Life Before God

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

2 Kings 22:1–2, 8–13

The Book of the Law Found

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Laws in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.t

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,u he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikamv son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:w 13 “Go and inquirex of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s angery that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

Insight
The young king Josiah isn’t the only one in the Bible who was so internally moved that “he tore his robes” (2 Kings 22:11). This practice, which is foreign to the modern West, was an indication of great anxiety and distress. The first incident in the Bible of tearing one’s clothing is found in Genesis 37:29 where Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, tore his clothes when he discovered that his father’s favored son, Joseph, was missing. Not long afterwards, a grief-stricken Jacob “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days” (v. 34).

Straight Ahead
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . . . , not turning aside to the right or to the left. 2 Kings 22:2

It used to take the steady eye and the firm hand of a farmer to drive a tractor or combine down straight rows. But even the best eyes would overlap rows, and by end of day even the strongest hands would be fatigued. But now there’s autosteer—a GPS-based technology that allows for accuracy to within one inch when planting, cultivating, and spraying. It’s incredibly efficient and hands-free. Just imagine sitting in a mammoth combine and instead of gripping the wheel, you’re gripping a roast beef sandwich. An amazing tool to keep you moving straight ahead.

You may recall the name Josiah. He was crowned king when he was only “eight years old” (2 Kings 22:1). Years later, in his mid-twenties, Hilkiah the high priest found “the Book of the Law” in the temple (v. 8). It was then read to the young king, who tore his robes in sorrow due to his ancestors’ disobedience to God. Josiah set about to do what was “right in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 2). The book became a tool to steer the people so there would be no turning to the right or left. God’s instructions were there to set things straight.

Allowing the Scriptures to guide us day by day keeps our lives in line with knowing God and His will. The Bible is an amazing tool that, if followed, keeps us moving straight ahead. By:  John Blase

Reflect & Pray
How is Bible reading a part of your daily routine? What Scriptures has God been using to keep your life on track?

God, the Scriptures are a gift that brings truth and freedom to our lives. Help me to hunger and thirst for Your words.

To gain a high-level perspective of what the Bible is about, visit bit.ly/2ksifCp.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Beware of Criticizing Others
Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1

Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.  Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 18, 2020

The Boss Is Never Away - #8724

The saying is about as old as dirt, "While the cat's away, the mice will play." To the extent that's true, the mice don't usually announce that they're planning to exploit the cat's absence, but not so with one business in our town. Where we were living back then, I drove by there. I saw a new display on the big sign that was in front of the business. The sign said, "The boss is away, so we will play." Let's hope the boss didn't come back early. Or maybe we should hope he did.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Boss Is Never Away."

The Bible provides that interesting perspective on life as it really is; the God who is the Boss that we all answer to is never away. Which ought to make us think twice about "playing."

It's something Joseph understood very well in the face of unbelievably strong temptation to take a major detour from God's path. The story is told in Genesis 39, beginning with verse 2, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. Joseph's jealous brothers have conspired to have him sold into slavery in Egypt. By God's grace, the man who buys Joseph is Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's royal guard. Joseph gets a great job in a very nice place. The kind of situation many of us would have compromised to hang onto. Not Joseph.

The Bible says, "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered...when his master saw that the Lord was with him...he put him in charge of his household and entrusted to his care everything he owned." Then comes a very powerful temptation. "Now Joseph was well built and handsome." I think the word in Hebrew is "hunk" here. Then it says, "And after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!' But he refused. 'My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?' And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her."

We're looking at a pretty tempting temptation here. You've got a lonely guy, attractive woman throwing herself at him, and he's so trusted probably no one would ever know except his Boss. No, not Potiphar - the Lord God. Though God is nowhere to be seen, Joseph refuses on the basis that he cannot do "such a wicked thing and sin against God."

Temptation's strong at times when we think we're anonymous, when we think no one will know, where sin offers an attractive way to meet some deep need we have. Some tragic, life-scarring mistakes have been made when a person was away from home, or on vacation, with their guard down, enjoying some "downtime," or when they were drunk or when they were high. The lie is that what we do when nobody's looking, when we're "off-duty" doesn't really count, right? Yeah, it does, because God's still watching.

His calculator is always running, and the consequences are always coming. And God blows away our "I'll get away with it" fantasy with one solemn Biblical guarantee, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). Just ask David. He took a brief vacation from God. He said yes to the temptation to sleep with Bathsheba, and he brought misery to himself and his family for the rest of his life.

Message: sin is never worth it. And the Boss you will give account to is never away. The measure of a truly great man or woman of God is what they're like when it seems no one will know. There's a little plaque in our daughter's home, and I think it sums it up brilliantly in five little words that you can base a life on: "Live innocently. God is watching."

Isaiah 64, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THAT’S GOD’S JOB

Seems too easy.  Doesn’t mom need to experience what she gave?  A few years wondering if she’ll see her daughter again, some pain-filled nights, a bit of justice.  Isn’t some vengeance in order?  Of course it is.  God cares about justice more than we do.  In Romans 12, Paul says, “Never pay back evil for evil.  Leave that to God, for He has said that he will repay those who deserve it.”

We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished.  Not to worry.  God will repay—not He might repay.  God will execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness.  Fix your enemies?  That’s God’s job.  Forgive your enemies?  Ahh, now that’s where you and I come in: we forgive.  You’ll get through this.

Isaiah 64

Can We Be Saved?

Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,
    make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
    as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
    make the nations shake in their boots!
You did terrible things we never expected,
    descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
Since before time began
    no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
    who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
    who keep a good memory of the way you work.
But how angry you’ve been with us!
    We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!
    Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
    Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
    sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.
No one prays to you
    or makes the effort to reach out to you
Because you’ve turned away from us,
    left us to stew in our sins.

8-12 Still, God, you are our Father.
    We’re the clay and you’re our potter:
    All of us are what you made us.
Don’t be too angry with us, O God.
    Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.
    Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.
Your holy cities are all ghost towns:
    Zion’s a ghost town,
    Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.
Our holy and beautiful Temple,
    which our ancestors filled with your praises,
Was burned down by fire,
    all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
In the face of all this,
    are you going to sit there unmoved, God?
Aren’t you going to say something?
    Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Mark 14:1–9

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Footnotes:
Mark 14:5 Greek than three hundred denarii
Mark 14:7 See Deut. 15:11.

Insight
Mark 13 ends with Jesus urging His disciples, and everyone, to be awake rather than asleep when He returns (vv. 35–36). Chapter 14 gives us contrasting examples of what it means to be ready. Into the account of those who are conspiring to get rid of Jesus (14:1–2, 10–11), Mark inserts the story of a woman who honors His approaching death (vv. 3–9). In the spirit of her affections, she was awake even if she didn’t consciously know that she was foreshadowing Jesus’ suffering (vv. 6–9). A group of religious leaders, on the other hand, were clueless to the fact that in the secrecy of their murderous plans, they, along with Judas, were about to betray and demand the crucifixion of their long-awaited Savior. Two days before the Jewish feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, they were sleeping in what Jesus had called the “yeast” of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).

Dancing Before the Lord
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?” Mark 14:4

A number of years ago, my wife and I visited a small church where during the worship service a woman began to dance in the aisle. She was soon joined by others. Carolyn and I looked at each other and an unspoken agreement passed between us: “Not me!” We come from church traditions that favor a serious liturgy, and this other form of worship was well beyond our comfort zone.

But if Mark’s story of Mary’s “waste” means anything at all, it suggests that our love for Jesus may express itself in ways that others find uncomfortable (Mark 14:1–9). A year’s wages were involved in Mary’s anointing. It was an “unwise” act that invited the disciples’ scorn. The word Mark uses to describe their reaction means “to snort” and suggests disdain and mockery. Mary may have cringed, fearing Jesus’ response. But He commended her for her act of devotion and defended her against His own disciples, for Jesus saw the love that prompted her action despite what some would consider the impractical nature of it. He said, “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me” (v. 6).

Different forms of worship—informal, formal, quiet, exuberant—represent a sincere outpouring of love for Jesus. He’s worthy of all worship that comes from a heart of love. By:  David H. Roper

Reflect & Pray
Why do you think we’re critical of unfamiliar forms of worship? How can we change our thoughts about a form of worship that’s outside our comfort zone?

I bow before You, Almighty God, and worship You now. You’re worthy of the highest praise and adoration.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Beware of Criticizing Others

Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1

Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
An Eye For Opportunity - #8723

It was always pretty exciting traveling with my wife. Well, but my wife with her camera was really exciting, because she could see things that I didn't see. Oh, yeah, I'd have to stop the car for what appeared to be no reason because she'd go, "Stop! Quick!" And, you know, when I'd see the picture, then I'd realize why we had to stop back then.

Oh, sometimes it was a little sign that later told a powerful story, or she'd seen one face in the middle of a hundred faces, or that one face captured on film some very poignant human emotion. Or we all got to see that glorious sunset, or that bird she saw in flight, or some very interesting scene that she saw and I missed.

I'm not a photographer; she was. She had an eye for it. Oh, we experience the same setting, but we didn't see the same thing. She saw the possibilities that I couldn't see. And that was one difference between us that continued to amaze me.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Eye For Opportunity."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:3. It's actually part of a prayer. Paul says, "Pray for us that God will open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ." Notice that phrase there "open a door." Kind of reminds me of a photographer looking for photo opportunities. As believers we should be like that looking for opportunities for open doors to talk about the difference Jesus is making in our life.

See, my wife and I could be in the same photographic setting, but she was looking for, well, kind of like us who are supposed to be looking for open doors. She was looking for opportunities; I didn't see them. It's like that spiritually. If you're not looking for them, you miss them. If you're looking for them, they're all around you. It's the looking that makes the difference.

So, I'd pull up to my favorite neighborhood restaurant, and I'd said, "Lord, I've been having a crummy day so far. Give me an opportunity to speak some word about You to Joe, the owner." Wouldn't you know it, in the middle of gulping down my lunch, he comes up and says, "You know, they don't make movies like they used to." And we talked about some epic film, which, by the way, has a lot of Christians in it. And I said, "Well, did you ever see this really old movie called The Robe? It's an old movie about Jesus." I don't know why that came into my mind, but it did. He said, "Oh, I don't like that. I'm really tired of all those stories. I had those growing up, and I'm sick of all that stuff. I've heard it all." Then I said to him, "You know, when I see one of those movies, it makes me think about what Jesus did for us. He paid an awful high price for you and me just because He loves us so much."

See, it's an ongoing battle in a relationship to break through, but I had my opportunity. I asked the Lord for it, and He gave me an opportunity to get him thinking about Jesus and the cross.

If you don't know how to get started talking about Jesus, God will open a door if you'll ask Him. An open door is just a natural, God-given opportunity to bring up Jesus. It might be something going on in their life, or something going on in your life, or something going on in the world. Maybe you've been looking for that opening. Well, when it comes, He'll give you the boldness to go through that open door. Just like a photographer, when you look for opportunities, they'll be there.

When you're talking about someone's eternity, you can't miss an opportunity to talk about our Savior, because that's the only hope of an eternity in heaven. Ask Him; He'll give you that opportunity.

Paul said in Colossians 4:5 that follows our word for today from the Word of God, "Make the most of every opportunity." They're all around you. You know what happens when you begin to pray the three-open prayer on a regular basis? Man, you suddenly are positioned by God to make an eternal difference. "Lord, open a door" a natural opportunity. "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready. And "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the courage, the words, the approach.

And you know what's going to happen if you pray that every day? Your every day won't be everyday any more. Because suddenly you will find that eternity will be all over your every day.

Isaiah 63, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MATURE TRUTH

Your family history doesn’t have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now. Don’t give your kids what your ancestors gave to you. Talk to God about it, in detail. God, everyday I came home from school to find mom drunk, lying on the couch.  I had to take care of baby brother, do homework on my own.  It’s not right, God. Difficult, for certain.  But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Let Him replace “childish thinking” with mature truth.

A dear friend of mine was called to identify the body of his father who’d been shot by his ex-wife. The blast was just another in a long line of angry, violent family moments. He made this resolution:  “It stops with me.”  And it has! God wants to help you—for your sake!  Trust Him—you’ll get through this.

Isaiah 63

The watchmen call out,
“Who goes there, marching out of Edom,
    out of Bozrah in clothes dyed red?
Name yourself, so splendidly dressed,
    advancing, bristling with power!”

“It is I: I speak what is right,
    I, mighty to save!”

2 “And why are your robes so red,
    your clothes dyed red like those who tread grapes?”

3-6 “I’ve been treading the winepress alone.
    No one was there to help me.
Angrily, I stomped the grapes;
    raging, I trampled the people.
Their blood spurted all over me—
    all my clothes were soaked with blood.
I was set on vengeance.
    The time for redemption had arrived.
I looked around for someone to help
    —no one.
I couldn’t believe it
    —not one volunteer.
So I went ahead and did it myself,
    fed and fueled by my rage.
I trampled the people in my anger,
    crushed them under foot in my wrath,
    soaked the earth with their lifeblood.”

7-9 I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
    love extravagant.
He said, “Without question these are my people,
    children who would never betray me.”
So he became their Savior.
    In all their troubles,
    he was troubled, too.
He didn’t send someone else to help them.
    He did it himself, in person.
Out of his own love and pity
    he redeemed them.
He rescued them and carried them along
    for a long, long time.

10 But they turned on him;
    they grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned on them,
    became their enemy and fought them.

11-14 Then they remembered the old days,
    the days of Moses, God’s servant:
“Where is he who brought the shepherds of his flock
    up and out of the sea?
And what happened to the One who set
    his Holy Spirit within them?
Who linked his arm with Moses’ right arm,
    divided the waters before them,
Making him famous ever after,
    and led them through the muddy abyss
    as surefooted as horses on hard, level ground?
Like a herd of cattle led to pasture,
    the Spirit of God gave them rest.”

14-19 That’s how you led your people!
    That’s how you became so famous!
Look down from heaven, look at us!
    Look out the window of your holy and magnificent house!
Whatever happened to your passion,
    your famous mighty acts,
Your heartfelt pity, your compassion?
    Why are you holding back?
You are our Father.
    Abraham and Israel are long dead.
    They wouldn’t know us from Adam.
But you’re our living Father,
    our Redeemer, famous from eternity!
Why, God, did you make us wander from your ways?
    Why did you make us cold and stubborn
    so that we no longer worshiped you in awe?
Turn back for the sake of your servants.
    You own us! We belong to you!
For a while your holy people had it good,
    but now our enemies have wrecked your holy place.
For a long time now, you’ve paid no attention to us.
    It’s like you never knew us.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Jeremiah 11:9–13

Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13 You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

Insight
Because the people of Judah had persistently refused to walk in God’s ways and had rejected His instructions (Jeremiah 11:10), Jeremiah warned that God would bring a nation from afar to punish them for their idolatrous unfaithfulness (1:14–15; 5:15; 6:22; 25:9). They would also be exiled to Babylon for seventy years (25:11). Jeremiah witnessed the deportations of the Israelites to Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (52:1–34). Judah’s idolatrous unfaithfulness was chronically deep-rooted. “From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today,” God said, “they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts” (11:7–8). Jeremiah called them to turn away from their idols and to worship Yahweh as their one and only true Creator God and King (10:1–11), warning that their dependence on their many gods would be punished (11:12–13).

Just-in-Case Idols
They have followed other gods to serve them. Jeremiah 11:10

Sam checks his retirement account twice each day. He saved for thirty years, and with the boost of a rising stock market, finally has enough to retire. As long as stocks don’t plunge. This fear keeps Sam worrying about his balance.

Jeremiah warned about this: “You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem” (11:13).

Judah’s idolatry is remarkable. They knew the Lord was God. How could they worship anyone else? They were hedging their bets. They needed the Lord for the afterlife, because only the true God could raise them from the dead. But what about now? Pagan gods promised health, wealth, and fertility, so why not pray to them too, just in case?

Can you see how Judah’s idolatry is also our temptation? It’s good to have talent, education, and money. But if we’re not careful, we might shift our confidence to them. We know we’ll need God when we die, and we’ll ask Him to bless us now. But we’ll also lean on these lesser gods, just in case.

Where is your trust? Back-up idols are still idols. Thank God for His many gifts, and tell Him you’re not relying on any of them. Your faith is riding entirely on Him. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray
What good thing are you tempted to turn into an idol? How might you use this gift while still depending fully on God?

Father, all my hope is in You. Help me trust in You alone, not in my abilities and assets.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
“Will You Lay Down Your Life?”

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends….I have called you friends… —John 15:13, 15

Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said to the Lord, “I will lay down my life for Your sake,” and he meant it (John 13:37). He had a magnificent sense of the heroic. For us to be incapable of making this same statement Peter made would be a bad thing— our sense of duty is only fully realized through our sense of heroism. Has the Lord ever asked you, “Will you lay down your life for My sake?” (John 13:38). It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways. There was only one bright-shining moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was there that He emptied Himself of His glory for the second time, and then came down into the demon-possessed valley (seeMark 9:1-29). For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). Yet it is contrary to our human nature to do so.

If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, “Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful.” And Jesus says to us, “…I have called you friends….” Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;…  The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 537 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 4-6; Acts 2:22-47

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
The Father Who Catches You - #8722

For most of us it's rare to see an eagle, and so an event when you do see one of those majestic birds soaring overhead it goes something like this: "Look! An eagle!" If you're driving when you hear that, your passengers might be in serious danger. Of course, an eagle isn't born knowing how to fly. Just like us learning to walk, they need to learn to fly and it's actually I imagine a pretty traumatic experience. Mama Eagle takes you high for a ride on her back and then she dumps you. Suddenly, you are hurtling through the sky with the ground below racing toward you. All the while, Papa Eagle is circling overhead, just watching. In a panic, the little eagle remembers watching Mom and Dad use these feathery things at their sides, so he clumsily extends his wings and starts flapping them frantically. That's a good start, but it's not enough to save him from this rapidly approaching disaster below. At that moment, Papa Eagle suddenly swoops downward at eye-blurring speed, flying straight for his falling child. And in a perfectly timed rescue, the father swoops in under his baby, catches him on his back, and takes him back to the sky.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Father Who Catches You."

That day of his first attempt to fly, Junior Eagle learns a very important lesson - your father can fly faster than you can fall. So can yours. Your Heavenly Father, that is. If there's been a time when you've put your total trust in Jesus Christ to be your rescuer from your sin, then the great God of the universe is your Father. And no matter how fast or how far you may fall, He can always fly faster than you can fall. He catches His falling children. For where you are in your life right now, that might be some of the best news you've heard in a long time.

Jude, verse 24, our word for today from the Word of God, tells us that "He is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy." Maybe you say, "Yeah, but I've gone too far. I've done too much. I've been gone too long." You think you're somehow beyond the rescuing reach of the Heavenly Father. Well, you're wrong. There's not a sin you've committed that He did not cover when He died on the cross for you. Romans 5:20 announces the wonderful news that "where sin increased, grace increased all the more." In other words, there's always more grace than there is sin. Hallelujah!

If you're one of His falling ones, if you're one of His falling ones, then you'll find yourself or someone you know in this wonderful description of what Jesus is doing about it right now. Listen to these verses from Ezekiel 34: "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.'"

Then, lest the wandering and the falling have caused you to forget who you are and whose you are, He says, "'You (are) My sheep, the sheep of My pasture...and I am your God,' declares the Lord." If you're away from Him, you know that the best days of your life were when you were close to Him. You got away, but you can't stay away. He's come looking for you.

You've been afraid to fly again; afraid to come back to Jesus because you might mess up again or because you think He wouldn't want you back after what you've done. Not only does He want you back, He's come looking for you today!

Yes, you've been falling. But this very day, the Father who loves you has swept down from the sky. He's come underneath you to catch you and carry you home.

Isaiah 62, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE SPACE OF GRACE
Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do—themselves! Keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent. God’s healing includes a move out of the house of spite, toward the spacious ways of grace, away from hardness toward forgiveness.  Can He really?  you wonder. Can He clean up this mess?  This history of sexual abuse?  This raw anger at the father who left my mother?  Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?

Begin the process of forgiveness. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Jesus did for you, and stay the course. You’ll spend less time in the spite house and more in the grace house. You’re going to love the space of grace. You’ll get through this.

Isaiah 62

 Regarding Zion, I can’t keep my mouth shut,
    regarding Jerusalem, I can’t hold my tongue,
Until her righteousness blazes down like the sun
    and her salvation flames up like a torch.
Foreign countries will see your righteousness,
    and world leaders your glory.
You’ll get a brand-new name
    straight from the mouth of God.
You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand,
    a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God.
No more will anyone call you Rejected,
    and your country will no more be called Ruined.
You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight),
    and your land Beulah (Married),
Because God delights in you
    and your land will be like a wedding celebration.
For as a young man marries his virgin bride,
    so your builder marries you,
And as a bridegroom is happy in his bride,
    so your God is happy with you.

6-7 I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
    Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out,
    reminding God to remember.
They are to give him no peace until he does what he said,
    until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise.

8-9 God has taken a solemn oath,
    an oath he means to keep:
“Never again will I open your grain-filled barns
    to your enemies to loot and eat.
Never again will foreigners drink the wine
    that you worked so hard to produce.
No. The farmers who grow the food will eat the food
    and praise God for it.
And those who make the wine will drink the wine
    in my holy courtyards.”

10-12 Walk out of the gates. Get going!
    Get the road ready for the people.
Build the highway. Get at it!
    Clear the debris,
    hoist high a flag, a signal to all peoples!
Yes! God has broadcast to all the world:
    “Tell daughter Zion, ‘Look! Your Savior comes,
Ready to do what he said he’d do,
    prepared to complete what he promised.’”
Zion will be called new names: Holy People, God-Redeemed,
    Sought-Out, City-Not-Forsaken.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, June 15, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Nehemiah 2:11–18

 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.

13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal[a] Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.

They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

Footnotes:
Nehemiah 2:13 Or Serpent or Fig

Insight
Unlike most of the Old Testament, the book of Nehemiah isn’t told by a narrator. This becomes clear when Nehemiah says, “I was cupbearer to the king” (1:11)—a statement that not only reveals the autobiographical nature of the book but gives us a glimpse into his life. Nehemiah was a Jew in captivity in Babylon and was cupbearer to the king. In that role, he would have been highly trusted, since poisoning was a primary means of assassination in the ancient world.

How to Rebuild
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. Nehemiah 2:18

It was nighttime when the leader set out by horseback to inspect the work that lay ahead. As he toured the destruction all around him, he saw city walls that had been destroyed and gates that had been burned. In some areas, the vast debris made it tough for his horse to get through. Saddened, the rider turned toward home.

When it came time to report the damage to the officials of the city, he began by saying, “You see the trouble we are in” (Nehemiah 2:17). He reported that the city was in ruins, and the protecting city wall had been rendered useless.

But then he made a statement that energized the troubled citizens: “I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me.” Immediately, the people replied, “Let us start rebuilding” (v. 18).

And they did.

With faith in God and all-out effort, despite enemy opposition and a seemingly impossible task, the people of Jerusalem—under Nehemiah’s leadership—rebuilt the wall in just fifty-two days (6:15).

As you consider your circumstances, is there something that looks difficult but that you know God wants you to do? A sin you can’t seem to get rid of? A relationship rift that’s not God-honoring? A task for Him that looks too hard?

Ask God for guidance (2:4–5), analyze the problem (vv. 11–15), and recognize His involvement (v. 18). Then start rebuilding. By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray
What are a couple of “destroyed wall” situations that are troubling you? How will prayerfully asking for God’s help and guidance help you start the rebuilding process?

God, I need Your help. I can’t fix these problems alone. Help me to understand the situation, and then to seek Your help and guidance in resolving the challenges before me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 15, 2020
Get Moving! (2)
Also…add to your faith… —2 Peter 1:5

In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, “Jesus…took a towel and…began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).

We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.

It is difficult for us to do the “adding” that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 1-3; Acts 2:1-21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 15, 2020
The God Who Knows Your Name - #8721

I was getting pretty bored with our family fishing vacation in Minnesota. So my dad decided to take little nine-year-old Ronnie to see Paul Bunyan, the legendary giant lumberjack. Actually, it's this huge Paul Bunyan, sitting on a chair with his big ax and Babe the Blue Ox nearby. And there was this little log cabin at his feet. My dad went over to the ticket booth and came back with my ticket, which I eagerly gave to the ticket taker so I could go in and see big old Paul. As I walked in, I almost became the youngest heart attack victim in Minnesota history. Paul Bunyan's big old voice boomed out across the grounds and said, "Hello, Ronnie." I was blown away! How could I know that this was all a conspiracy? The ticket booth guy gets the kid's name, relays it to the little man with a microphone in Paul's log cabin, who then uses that information to welcome some unsuspecting little guy like me. All I knew was that that big guy knew my name!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The God Who Knows Your Name."

I guess that's one of the greatest surprises in our life, isn't it? When it dawns on you that the biggest person there is in the entire universe actually knows your name and loves you, not as one of seven or eight billion inhabitants of Planet Earth, but as if you were the only one on this planet!

The day this God surprised a Jewish tax collector called Zacchaeus is the subject of our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 19, beginning with verse 1. "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man (I love this guy!) he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him...When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly."

OK, surprise #1: Jesus knows you. Not only can He call you by name, but He knows exactly where you are, no matter how concealed you might think you are. He knows every dream, every fear, every sin, every battle, and every wound. And knowing all He knows, He wants to be with you forever!

Surprise #2: Jesus wants to go with you into your world. Notice, Jesus said, "Zacchaeus I want to go into your world." Because of his greed and cheating, people despised this man. But Jesus scandalizes the town by picking Zacchaeus' place as the place He would go. Jesus stands ready today, upon your invitation, to go with you into your personal world, no matter how broken, how shameful, and He will meet you there, not after you've cleaned yourself up.

Surprise #3: Jesus makes you what you never dreamed you could be. Zacchaeus ends up a new person, giving half of what he has to the poor and repaying four times whatever he has stolen from people. He's a really big man for the first time in his life. When you welcome Jesus into your life, just as you are, He will make you into a man or woman you never thought possible. He died on the cross to forgive every sin of your life and to offer you the power to become a brand new person inside. But just like Zacchaeus, it starts only when you "welcome Him gladly."

Maybe you've never really thrown open your life to Jesus even though you may have been around Him for a long, long time. He's waiting to move into your life upon your invitation. In a way (maybe deep in your heart), He's calling your name, even as you're listening right now. Would you grab Him while He's in town?

Tell Him, "Jesus, from this day forward, I'm pinning all my hopes on You. I'm Yours." If you want to be sure you belong to Him, our website is there to do just that. Go there today, please - ANewStory.com.

He's calling your name. Don't miss Him.

Romans 11:19-36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Sheep Can’t Sleep

Millions of Americans have trouble sleeping!  You may be one of them. Only one other living creature has as much trouble resting as we do.  They are woolly, simpleminded, and slow…sheep. Sheep can’t sleep!  For sheep to sleep, everything must be just right. No predators. No tension in the flock.  Sheep need help.  They need a shepherd to “lead them” and help them “lie down in green pastures.” Without a shepherd, they can’t rest.

Without a shepherd, neither can we!  Psalm 23:2 says, “He, (the Shepherd) makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”  Who’s the active one?  Who’s in charge? The Shepherd!  With our eyes on the Shepherd, we’ll get some sleep. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us of the promise,  “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.”

Romans 11:19-36

It’s certainly possible to say, “Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!” Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don’t get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.

21-22 If God didn’t think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn’t give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don’t presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you’re out of there.

23-24 And don’t get to feeling superior to those pruned branches down on the ground. If they don’t persist in remaining deadwood, they could very well get grafted back in. God can do that. He can perform miracle grafts. Why, if he could graft you—branches cut from a tree out in the wild—into an orchard tree, he certainly isn’t going to have any trouble grafting branches back into the tree they grew from in the first place. Just be glad you’re in the tree, and hope for the best for the others.

25-29 I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,

A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;
    he’ll clean house in Jacob.
And this is my commitment to my people:
    removal of their sins.

From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.

30-32 There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.

33-36 Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor
    that God has to ask his advice?
Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Genesis 2:18–24

 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam[a] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Footnotes:
Genesis 2:20 Or the man
Genesis 2:21 Or took part of the man’s side
Genesis 2:22 Or part

Insight
Genesis 2:4–24 is the second of two creation accounts. Why two? In Genesis 1, the focus is on God and His awesome power: He speaks the universe—everything—into existence. In Genesis 2, we see a very different focus. After no “suitable helper” is found for Adam among the animals (v. 20), God causes him to sleep and from his rib forms the perfect partner and friend: a woman, Eve. The fit is so perfect that the two become “one flesh” (v. 24). This second account focuses on our fundamental need for relationship as humans created in God’s image. To be made in His likeness is to not be alone. These two creation accounts reveal two wonderful aspects of God’s character: He’s the almighty God who created you and me out of nothing, and yet He’s intimately concerned that we not be alone (v. 18).

Made for Each Other
It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Genesis 2:18

“I take care of him. When he’s happy, I’m happy,” says Stella. Merle replies, “I’m happy when she’s around.” Merle and Stella have been married for 79 years. When Merle was recently admitted to a nursing home, he was miserable—so Stella gladly brought him home. He’s 101, and she’s 95. Though she needs a walker to get around, she lovingly does what she can for her husband, such as preparing the food he likes. But she couldn’t do it on her own. Grandchildren and neighbors help with the things Stella can’t manage.

Stella and Merle’s life together is an example of Genesis 2, where God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (v. 18). None of the creatures God brought before Adam fit that description. Only in Eve, made from the rib of Adam, did Adam find a suitable helper and companion (vv. 19–24).

Eve was the perfect companion for Adam, and through them God instituted marriage. This wasn’t only for the mutual aid of individuals but also to begin a family and to care for creation, which includes other people (1:28). From that first family came a community so that, whether married or single, old or young, none of us would be alone. As a community, God has given us the privilege of sharing “each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). By:  Alyson Kieda

Reflect & Pray
How is it helpful to know that no matter our marital status, as believers in Jesus we’re never alone? How have you seen the body of Christ in action?

Dear God, thank You for creating man and woman for each other and for instituting community so that none of us are truly alone.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Get Moving! (1)

Abide in Me… —John 15:4

In the matter of determination. The Spirit of Jesus is put into me by way of the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I then have to build my thinking patiently to bring it into perfect harmony with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus— I have to do it myself. I have to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). “Abide in Me”— in intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make human life what it is. Our lives are not made up of only one neatly confined area.

Am I preventing God from doing things in my circumstances by saying that it will only serve to hinder my fellowship with Him? How irrelevant and disrespectful that is! It does not matter what my circumstances are. I can be as much assured of abiding in Jesus in any one of them as I am in any prayer meeting. It is unnecessary to change and arrange my circumstances myself. Our Lord’s inner abiding was pure and unblemished. He was at home with God wherever His body was. He never chose His own circumstances, but was meek, submitting to His Father’s plans and directions for Him. Just think of how amazingly relaxed our Lord’s life was! But we tend to keep God at a fever pitch in our lives. We have none of the serenity of the life which is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Think of the things that take you out of the position of abiding in Christ. You say, “Yes, Lord, just a minute— I still have this to do. Yes, I will abide as soon as this is finished, or as soon as this week is over. It will be all right, Lord. I will abide then.” Get moving— begin to abide now. In the initial stages it will be a continual effort to abide, but as you continue, it will become so much a part of your life that you will abide in Him without any conscious effort. Make the determination to abide in Jesus wherever you are now or wherever you may be placed in the future.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.  Disciples Indeed, 386 R

Bible in a Year: Ezra 9-10; Acts 1

Isaiah 61, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Father's Day Remembrance

I remember my first Father's Day without a father.  Perhaps you do too. For thirty-one years I had one of the best. But now he's gone. He is buried under an oak tree in a west Texas cemetery. It seems strange he isn't here. I guess that's because he was never gone. He was always close by. Always available. Always present. His words were nothing novel. His achievements, though admirable, were nothing extraordinary. But his presence was. Like a warm fireplace in a large house, he was a constant source of comfort.
He comes to mind often. When I smell "Old Spice" aftershave, I think of him. When I see a bass boat I see his face. I hear him chuckle. He had a copyright chuckle that always came with a wide grin and arched eyebrows. And I knew if I ever needed him, he would be there….like a warm fireplace!
From Dad Time

Isaiah 61

 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
    because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
    pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
    a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
    and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
    give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
    a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
    planted by God to display his glory.
They’ll rebuild the old ruins,
    raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They’ll start over on the ruined cities,
    take the rubble left behind and make it new.
You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks
    and foreigners to work your fields,
But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”
    honored as ministers of our God.
You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,
    you’ll bask in their glory.
Because you got a double dose of trouble
    and more than your share of contempt,
Your inheritance in the land will be doubled
    and your joy go on forever.

8-9 “Because I, God, love fair dealing
    and hate thievery and crime,
I’ll pay your wages on time and in full,
    and establish my eternal covenant with you.
Your descendants will become well-known all over.
    Your children in foreign countries
Will be recognized at once
    as the people I have blessed.”

10-11 I will sing for joy in God,
    explode in praise from deep in my soul!
He dressed me up in a suit of salvation,
    he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo
    and a bride a jeweled tiara.
For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers,
    and as a garden cascades with blossoms,
So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom
    and puts praise on display before the nations.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Ezekiel 18:25–32

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Insight
An inclusio is a literary device in which a word, phrase, or idea is repeated at the beginning and ending of a section. While repetition often signifies an important idea in a text, the main point in an inclusio isn’t contained in the repeated words but in the idea between them. In Ezekiel 18:25–29, verses 25 and 29 form the inclusio. With the exception of a few words, they’re mirror images of each other. This means that the emphatic message of the paragraph appears in verses 26–28. Here God reminds His people of the relationship between sin and death, righteousness and life. He reminds them that He’s just and doesn’t take pleasure in the death of anyone (see 2 Peter 3:9).

He Changed Me
But if a wicked person . . . does what is just and right, they will save their life. Ezekiel 18:27

When John, who ran the biggest brothel in London, was sent to prison, he falsely believed, I’m a good guy. While there, he decided to attend the Bible study at the prison because there was cake and coffee, but he was struck by how happy the other inmates seemed to be. He started to cry during the first song and later received a Bible. Reading from the prophet Ezekiel changed him, hitting him “like a thunderbolt.” He read, “But if a wicked person turns away from [their] wickedness . . . and does what is just and right, . . . that person will surely live; they will not die” (18:27–28). God’s Word came alive to him and he realized, “I wasn’t a good guy . . . I was wicked and I needed to change.” While praying with the pastor, he said, “I found Jesus Christ and He changed me.”

These words from Ezekiel were spoken to God’s people when they were in exile. Although they had turned from God, He longed that they would rid themselves of their offenses and “get a new heart and a new spirit” (v. 31). Those words helped John to “Repent and live!” (v. 32) as he followed Jesus, the One who called sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32).

May we respond to the Spirit’s conviction of sin, that we too might enjoy forgiveness and freedom. By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray
How do you react to the question of whether or not you’re a “good person”? In what areas of life could you “repent and live”?

Father God, thank You for making me aware of my sinful behavior through Your Holy Spirit. Soften my heart to repent and to receive Your forgiveness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Getting There (3)
…come, follow Me. —Luke 18:22

Where our individual desire dies and sanctified surrender lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed. The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life. The Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; consequently there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.

If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.

Have I come to Him? Will I come now?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R

Bible in a Year: Ezra 6-8; John 21