Ezekiel 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DARE TO PRAY BOLDLY

When Martin Luther’s co-worker became ill, the reformer prayed boldly for healing.  “I besought the Almighty with great vigor,” he wrote.

As John Wesley was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, contrary winds came up.  And when he learned the winds were knocking the ship off course, he responded in prayer. “Almighty and everlasting God…command these winds and these waves that they obey thee, and take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.”

Boldness in prayer is an uncomfortable thought for many.  Storming the heavens with prayers? God has invited us to pray as such!  Scripture says, “So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Dare to pray boldly!

Ezekiel 12

Put the Bundle on Your Shoulder and Walk into the Night

 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, you’re living with a bunch of rebellious people. They have eyes but don’t see a thing, they have ears but don’t hear a thing. They’re rebels all. So, son of man, pack up your exile duffel bags. Leave in broad daylight with everyone watching and go off, as if into exile. Maybe then they’ll understand what’s going on, rebels though they are. You’ll take up your baggage while they watch, a bundle of the bare necessities of someone going into exile, and toward evening leave, just like a person going off into exile. As they watch, dig through the wall of the house and carry your bundle through it. In full sight of the people, put the bundle on your shoulder and walk out into the night. Cover your face so you won’t have to look at what you’ll never see again. I’m using you as a sign for the family of Israel.”

7 I did exactly as he commanded me. I got my stuff together and brought it out in the street where everyone could see me, bundled it up the way someone being taken off into exile would, and then, as the sun went down, made a hole in the wall of the house with my hands. As it grew dark and as they watched, I left, throwing my bundle across my shoulders.

8-10 The next morning God spoke to me: “Son of man, when anyone in Israel, that bunch of rebels, asks you, ‘What are you doing?’ Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says that this Message especially concerns the prince in Jerusalem—Zedekiah—but includes all the people of Israel.’

11 “Also tell them, ‘I am drawing a picture for you. As I am now doing, it will be done to all the people of Israel. They will go into exile as captives.’

12-15 “The prince will put his bundle on his shoulders in the dark and leave. He’ll dig through the wall of the house, covering his face so he won’t have to look at the land he’ll never see again. But I’ll make sure he gets caught and is taken to Babylon. Blinded, he’ll never see that land in which he’ll die. I’ll scatter to the four winds those who helped him escape, along with his troops, and many will die in battle. They’ll realize that I am God when I scatter them among foreign countries.

16 “I’ll permit a few of them to escape the killing, starvation, and deadly sickness so that they can confess among the foreign countries all the disgusting obscenities they’ve been involved in. They will realize that I am God.”

17-20 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, eat your meals shaking in your boots, drink your water trembling with fear. Tell the people of this land, everyone living in Jerusalem and Israel, God’s Message: ‘You’ll eat your meals shaking in your boots and drink your water in terror because your land is going to be stripped bare as punishment for the brutality rampant in it. All the cities and villages will be emptied out and the fields destroyed. Then you’ll realize that I am God.’”

21-22 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, what’s this proverb making the rounds in the land of Israel that says, ‘Everything goes on the same as ever; all the prophetic warnings are false alarms’?

23-25 “Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, This proverb’s going to have a short life!’

“Tell them, ‘Time’s about up. Every warning is about to come true. False alarms and easygoing preaching are a thing of the past in the life of Israel. I, God, am doing the speaking. What I say happens. None of what I say is on hold. What I say, I’ll do—and soon, you rebels!’ Decree of God the Master.”

26-28 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, do you hear what Israel is saying: that the alarm the prophet raises is for a long time off, that he’s preaching about the far-off future? Well, tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, “Nothing of what I say is on hold. What I say happens.”’ Decree of God, the Master.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, November 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Chronicles 16:1–11

Ministering Before the Ark

They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. 2 After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.

4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol,[a] thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel,[b] Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:

8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
10 Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.

Footnotes
1 Chronicles 16:4 Or petition; or invoke
1 Chronicles 16:5 See 15:18,20; Hebrew Jeiel, possibly another name for Jaaziel.

Insight
A private moment mars the elation with which David welcomed the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. His wife, Michal, tells him how embarrassed she was to see him dancing in the streets of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:29; 2 Samuel 6:16–23).

Michal may be speaking out of her own hurt. She was the daughter of a king who gave her to David with thoughts of killing him (1 Samuel 18:20–28). Later Saul gave her as a gift to one of his friends (25:44)—only to have David take her back when he came to the throne (2 Samuel 3:13–16). Now with her father and brothers killed in battle (1 Chronicles 10), Michal is a lingering reminder of her father’s troubled and dying legacy (2 Samuel 6:23).

Facing the Battle
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11

Not long ago I met up with a group of friends. As I listened to the conversation, it seemed like everyone in the room was facing some significant battle. Two of us had parents fighting cancer, one had a child with an eating disorder, another friend was experiencing chronic pain, and another was facing major surgery. It seemed a lot for a bunch of people in their thirties and forties.

First Chronicles 16 recounts a key moment in Israel’s history when the ark of the covenant was brought into the City of David (Jerusalem). Samuel tells us it happened in a moment of peace between battles (2 Samuel 7:1). When the ark was in place, symbolizing God’s presence, David led the people in a song of praise (1 Chronicles 16:8–36). Together the nation sang of God’s wonder-working power, His promise-keeping ways, and His past protection (vv. 12–22). “Look to the Lord and his strength,” they cried out; “seek his face always” (v. 11). They’d need to, because more battles were coming.

Look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face. That’s not bad advice to follow when illness, family concerns, and other battles confront us, because we haven’t been left to fight in our own waning energies. God is present; God is strong; He’s looked after us in the past and will do so again.

Our God will get us through. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray
What battle do you need God’s power to face right now? How can you hand your struggle to Him?

Wonder-working God, I hand over this battle to You. I trust in Your strength and Your promises.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 27, 2020
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14

If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.

It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.  Facing Reality, 34 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 27, 2020
The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs - #8840

A storm that roared through our area got so intense that a tree as big around as a car came crashing down on a house in our community. It went all the way through the roof and the house. We're talking major, major damage here. It didn't take long for the insurance adjuster to come by and give the owner a check to get the damage repaired. She called a contractor to come over for an estimate, and when he asked if she wanted him to do the work, she told him she wanted another estimate first. He warned her that there was more rain in the forecast, but she was determined. She had a similar conversation with a second contractor. Then the big rain came - and, of course, it poured into her house. That's when she called a third and fourth contractor; both of whom gave her much higher estimates than the first two. Finally, she called in that first contractor who gave her a new estimate as high as the others. He said, "Ma'am, you waited so long that the rain came and did a lot more damage. So getting things fixed is going to cost a lot more."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs."

It's amazing how we have a tendency to do that - to put off repairs that need to be made in our marriage, with our child, with our parents, in a broken relationship, or in dealing with a problem that we don't want to confront. We keep thinking about how much it's going to cost to try to fix things. And we put it off - just a little bit longer.

Problem: the longer you wait to repair what's broken, the more expensive it's going to be. This is the easiest and cheapest it's ever going to be to make it right. One day it's going to get so bad it's unlivable that way. But the price of repairs may be more expensive than you ever dreamed.

In the Bible, God is constantly urging us to get things fixed now. He says about our anger, for example, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:27). Translation: fix it now. Putting it off will only make it more expensive to fix.

Jesus told the story of the son who insisted on getting his inheritance while his father was still alive. Then he went to another country and squandered it all on partying. Did he face the damage and start repairs at that point? Oh, no! Postpone the repairs; too hard to go home and admit you're wrong. Did he give in when his friends all abandoned him? No. When the only job he could find was feeding some farmer's pigs? He still postponed the repairs. But finally, as he was reduced to eating in that pig slop, he said, "I will go to my father." And that's when he finally got a real relationship with his father - when he least deserved love and forgiveness, his father gave it to him.

We all need to go home to God that same way, because the most broken thing in our life is our relationship with God. The Bible says we're "far away" from God because our sin has cut us off from the one person we can't afford to live without - or die without. Our word for today from the Word of God is in Isaiah 55:6. It warns us to "...seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Well, the implication, one day you won't be able to find Him. If you feel His moving in your heart today, you can still find Him...for today, that is.

Postponing the Christ who died for your sin gets more and more expensive; more and more days wasted without the love and the meaning you were made for. Until one day the days run out, and you will have to pay, forever, the bill for your sin that Jesus already paid for you on the cross because you put it off one time too many. Which is why I urge you, which is why I pray that you will not postpone repairing your relationship with God one more day.

Talk to Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You died for me. You've got me today." Getting this settled brings the greatest peace in the world. I want to help you with that. That's why our website is there. Go there today and get the information that will help you get this settled. It's ANewStory.com. Just go to ANewStory.com.

If Jesus is working in your heart, don't tell Him "later" again. The price you are risking is a price you don't want to pay.

Ezekiel 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GRACE COMES AFTER US

The wasted years of life.  The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word:  Grace!

Grace. We know the word. The bank gives us a grace period.  The seedy politician falls from grace.  Grace shares the church parsonage with its cousins: forgiveness, faith, and fellowship. But do we really understand it? We’ve settled for wimpy grace.  It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn and fits nicely on a church sign.

Have you been changed by grace?  Shaped by grace?  Strengthened by grace?  Softened by grace? God’s grace has a drenching about it.  A wildness about it. Grace comes after you.  From insecure to God secure. From afraid-to-die to ready-to-fly. Grace is the word that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off!

Ezekiel 11

A New Heart and a New Spirit

Then the Spirit picked me up and took me to the gate of the Temple that faces east. There were twenty-five men standing at the gate. I recognized the leaders, Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah.

2-3 God said, “Son of man, these are the men who draw up blueprints for sin, who think up new programs for evil in this city. They say, ‘We can make anything happen here. We’re the best. We’re the choice pieces of meat in the soup pot.’

4 “Oppose them, son of man. Preach against them.”

5-6 Then the Spirit of God came upon me and told me what to say: “This is what God says: ‘That’s a fine public speech, Israel, but I know what you are thinking. You’ve murdered a lot of people in this city. The streets are piled high with corpses.’

7-12 “Therefore this is what God, the Master, says: ‘The corpses that you’ve piled in the streets are the meat and this city is the soup pot, and you’re not even in the pot! I’m throwing you out! You fear war, but war is what you’re going to get. I’m bringing war against you. I’m throwing you out of this city, giving you over to foreigners, and punishing you good. You’ll be killed in battle. I’ll carry out judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you’ll realize that I am God. This city will not be your soup pot and you won’t be the choice pieces of meat in it either. Hardly. I will carry out judgment on you at the borders of Israel and you’ll realize that I am God, for you haven’t followed my statutes and ordinances. Instead of following my ways, you’ve sunk to the level of the laws of the nations around you.’”

13 Even while I was preaching, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. I fell down, face to the ground, and prayed loudly, “O Master, God! Will you completely wipe out what’s left of Israel?”

14-15 The answer from God came back: “Son of man, your brothers—I mean the whole people of Israel who are in exile with you—are the people of whom the citizens of Jerusalem are saying, ‘They’re in the far country, far from God. This land has been given to us to own.’

16-20 “Well, tell them this, ‘This is your Message from God, the Master. True, I sent you to the far country and scattered you through other lands. All the same, I’ve provided you a temporary sanctuary in the countries where you’ve gone. I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you’ve been scattered and give you back the land of Israel. You’ll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I’ll give you a new heart. I’ll put a new spirit in you. I’ll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you’ll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

21 “‘But not those who are self-willed and addicted to their rotten images and obscene idols! I’ll see that they’re paid in full for what they’ve done.’ Decree of God, the Master.”

22-23 Then the cherubim spread their wings, with the wheels beside them and the Glory of the God of Israel hovering over them. The Glory of God ascended from within the city and rested on the mountain to the east of the city.

24-25 Then, still in the vision given me by the Spirit of God, the Spirit took me and carried me back to the exiles in Babylon. And then the vision left me. I told the exiles everything that God had shown me.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 12

Songs of Praise

 In that day you will say:

“I will praise you, Lord.
    Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
    and you have comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
    I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense[a];
    he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water
    from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done,
    and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
    let this be known to all the world.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
    for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Insight
Salvation—a term used to express rescue, deliverance, and victory—is a major theme in the Old and New Testaments. Though used extensively in Isaiah (the noun form occurs more than twenty-five times), the first time it’s explicitly used is in 12:2–3. The root of the word translated “salvation” in these verses is the most important word for salvation in the Old Testament. It’s the verb yaw-shah', which signifies “freedom from that which binds or restricts; . . . to deliver, liberate, give length and breadth to.”

Salvation is also a favorite word for the psalmist (used approximately forty times) including verses like, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). Jonah declared, “Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). The name Joshua comes from this word and means, “The Lord saves.” The name Jesus (Matthew 1:21) is the Greek word for Joshua.

Giving Thanks Always
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Isaiah 12:4

In the seventeenth century, Martin Rinkart served as a clergyman in Saxony, Germany, for more than thirty years during times of war and plague. One year he conducted more than 4,000 funerals, including his wife’s, and at times food was so scarce that his family went hungry. Although he could have despaired, his faith in God remained strong and he gave thanks continually. In fact, he poured his gratitude into “Nun danket alle Gott,” the song that became the well-loved English hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.”

Rinkart followed the example of the prophet Isaiah, who instructed God’s people to give thanks at all times, including when they’d disappointed God (Isaiah 12:1) or when enemies oppressed them. Even then they were to exalt God’s name, making “known among the nations what he has done” (v. 4).

We might give thanks easily during harvest celebrations such as Thanksgiving, when we’re enjoying an abundant feast with friends and family. But can we express our gratitude to God in difficult times, such as when we’re missing someone from our table or when we’re struggling with our finances or when we’re locked in conflict with one close to us?

Let’s echo Pastor Rinkart, joining hearts and voices as we give praise and thanks to “the eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore.” We can “sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things” (v. 5). By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray
In times of hardship, how do you turn to thanksgiving and praise? What role does God through His Holy Spirit play in this?

Father God, I thank You for Your amazing work in my life. You love me unendingly, more than I can even express.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 26, 2020
…except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14

If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. “Look to Me…” (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.

The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The 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: Ezekiel 27-29; 1 Peter 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 26, 2020
How to Burn Off Your Personal Fog - #8839

Well, the world sure looks different on a foggy morning. In our neighborhood the neighbor's houses suddenly aren't there. There's a hill I can usually see out the back door. On a foggy morning - no hill. And on the highway, forget it! I mean, it's suddenly hard to find out where you turn or to plan much beyond the car immediately in front of you.

I remember this 40-car pile-up on a foggy morning on one of the major highways near us. The pile-up happened because people couldn't see what the car in front of them was doing. Now, on those foggy mornings it looks as if the world's going to be gray all day doesn't it? It's kind of depressing, you know? That's no way to start the day, but that fog seldom lasts past 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. Why? Well, the fog developed over night when there was no sun out to warm the air and evaporate all that moisture. Sometimes when the fog gets thick, well let's face it, we just lose sight of the sun.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How To Burn Off Your Personal Fog."

There are three facets of Jesus that His followers should be known for, and they're all mentioned in our word for today from the Word of God in Colossians 3:15-17 - "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Now, notice here it talks about the fact that you and I should be known by the peace of Christ in our relationships, by the word of Christ in our attempts to minister to people, and by the name of Christ in everything we do. So, we're to be characterized by Jesus' peace, Jesus' words, and Jesus' uniform everywhere we are. That peace especially appeals to me - the peace of Christ.

Did you notice that each involve the same ingredient? They all involve saying, "Thank you" and not just on Thanksgiving. With the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and the name of Christ, there's a thank you emphasis. I wonder if we were to play back recordings of you or me in recent weeks, would they sound a little more negative? Maybe there's a pessimistic tone there; a tone of criticism or complaining, negativity. Hey, the fog's rolling in and everything is looking gray to you.

I can describe it because I've felt it. Maybe the fog is winning right now. What you need, of course, is the sun, and the sun that burns off the fog of pessimism and negativism is called (ready?) giving thanks. That means you make a decision to focus today on what is rather than what isn't; what you have rather than what you don't have. To focus on what God has been doing in your life; to concentrate on answered prayer rather than on the not yet answered prayer. To go through your day on a God-hunt, looking for where He is, where He's working in your life. If you look for Him, you'll see Him all over the place.

Paul and Silas could sing at midnight in a prison because they were praising and giving thanks. You can sing at midnight. You can give thanks in the fog.

When I stop living gratefully, a dark gray attitude starts to blanket my soul - the spiritual blahs. But the fog doesn't ever have to last long. A thank you mindset is the sun that burns off your personal fog.

1 Timothy 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A DEEP BREATH

As God’s story becomes your story, you will make this wonderful discovery: you will graduate from this life into heaven. According to Ephesians 1:10, Jesus’ plan is to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” So God will reunite your body with your soul and create something unlike anything that you have ever seen—an eternal body.

Consider Christ’s response to the suffering of a deaf mute. “He took him aside from the multitude,” the gospel says, “and put his fingers in his ears. He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up into heaven, he sighed, and he said to him, ‘Be opened'” (Mark 7:33-34). Jesus looked up into heaven and sighed. A sigh of sadness, a deep breath. It won’t be this way for long. Indeed it won’t.

1 Timothy 5

The Family of Faith

Don’t be harsh or impatient with an older man. Talk to him as you would your own father, and to the younger men as your brothers. Reverently honor an older woman as you would your mother, and the younger women as sisters.

3-8 Take care of widows who are destitute. If a widow has family members to take care of her, let them learn that religion begins at their own doorstep and that they should pay back with gratitude some of what they have received. This pleases God immensely. You can tell a legitimate widow by the way she has put all her hope in God, praying to him constantly for the needs of others as well as her own. But a widow who exploits people’s emotions and pocketbooks—well, there’s nothing to her. Tell these things to the people so that they will do the right thing in their extended family. Anyone who neglects to care for family members in need repudiates the faith. That’s worse than refusing to believe in the first place.

9-10 Sign some widows up for the special ministry of offering assistance. They will in turn receive support from the church. They must be over sixty, married only once, and have a reputation for helping out with children, strangers, tired Christians, the hurt and troubled.

11-15 Don’t put young widows on this list. No sooner will they get on than they’ll want to get off, obsessed with wanting to get a husband rather than serving Christ in this way. By breaking their word, they’re liable to go from bad to worse, frittering away their days on empty talk, gossip, and trivialities. No, I’d rather the young widows go ahead and get married in the first place, have children, manage their homes, and not give critics any foothold for finding fault. Some of them have already left and gone after Satan.

16 Any Christian woman who has widows in her family is responsible for them. They shouldn’t be dumped on the church. The church has its hands full already with widows who need help.

17-18 Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay.”

19 Don’t listen to a complaint against a leader that isn’t backed up by two or three responsible witnesses.

20 If anyone falls into sin, call that person on the carpet. Those who are inclined that way will know right off they can’t get by with it.

21-23 God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don’t appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don’t want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself. And don’t worry too much about what the critics will say. Go ahead and drink a little wine, for instance; it’s good for your digestion, good medicine for what ails you.

24-25 The sins of some people are blatant and march them right into court. The sins of others don’t show up until much later. The same with good deeds. Some you see right off, but none are hidden forever.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Romans 10:5–15

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[g]

Footnotes
Romans 10:5 Lev. 18:5
Romans 10:6 Deut. 30:12
Romans 10:7 Deut. 30:13
Romans 10:8 Deut. 30:14
Romans 10:11 Isaiah 28:16 (see Septuagint)
Romans 10:13 Joel 2:32
Romans 10:15 Isaiah 52:7

Insight
In Romans 10:5–15, Paul cites multiple references from the Law (the first five books of Scripture). But in verses 11 and 13, he quotes from Isaiah 28:16 and Joel 2:32. When he cites Isaiah, he quotes the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Scriptures. This is why the quotations don’t match precisely: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10:11) and “the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic” (Isaiah 28:16). In quoting Joel, Paul uses the Old Testament term Yahweh (Lord) and applies it to Jesus. Paul is clearly teaching his readers that Christ is Lord.

Anyone and Everyone
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13

The country of El Salvador has honored Jesus by placing a sculpture of Him in the center of its capital city. Although the monument resides in the middle of a busy traffic circle, its height makes it easy to see, and its name—The Divine Savior of the World—communicates reverence for His supernatural status.

The monument’s name affirms what the Bible says about Jesus (1 John 4:14). He’s the One who offers salvation to everyone. Christ crosses cultural boundaries and accepts any sincere person who wants to know Him, regardless of age, education, ethnicity, past sin, or social status.

The apostle Paul traveled the ancient world telling people about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. He shared this good news with political and religious authorities, soldiers, Jews, gentiles, men, women, and children. Paul explained that a person could begin a relationship with Christ by declaring “Jesus is Lord” and believing that God had indeed raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). He said, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. . . . Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (vv. 11, 13).

Jesus isn’t a distant image to be honored; we must have a person-to-person connection with Him through faith. May we see the value of the salvation He offers and move forward into a spiritual relationship with Him today. By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray
How can you get closer to Jesus today? Do you follow Paul’s “anyone and everyone” approach to sharing the good news about Christ?

Jesus, thank You for loving everyone and offering eternal life to anyone who truly wants to know You. Help me to represent You well in the world today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14

When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.

State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.…we preach Christ crucified…” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 24-26; 1 Peter 2


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
A Personal Thanksgiving - #8838

Well, this is one of the busiest travel days in the year; people packing into airports and airplanes. Maybe not as much this year, but maybe you're still heading out for whoever they like to be with over Thanksgiving. But you know what? A lot of air travelers are having to make that choice again: Do I want the scanner, or do I want the pat down? Yeah! Hum...

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Personal Thanksgiving."

So, I have sat and listened at times to all the opinions you hear on the news about Thanksgiving travelers' privacy, and something in the Bible popped into my mind.

It's our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 4:13. "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Wow! God sees what we don't want anybody else to see. The previous verse tells us that God sees and judges "the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

We're talking all the dark stuff. The dirty thoughts, the adulterous desires, the seething jealousy, that volcanic anger, the endless lies, the backstabbing words, that hateful prejudice, the hurtful selfishness. He sees the egocentric pride we've got, and He knows about that long-harbored bitterness. "Everything is uncovered and laid bare" the Bible says.

Oh, we could try to rationalize it or minimize it or call it by a nice name, but it is what it is. It's sin against God; sin against another person. Rotting trash is rotting trash, no matter how pretty the paper you wrap it in. And with God, it's all unwrapped. No secrets. We think, "Hey, well, no one's caught me." If God knows, you're caught. And He knows.

Our secrets are not only exposed to God, but they become the basis for us to be judged by God. Hear what God says again: "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16). King David said in one of his psalms, "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me...You are familiar with all my ways" (Psalm 139:1, 3).

My first reaction: "Uh-oh." Second reaction: "Good. One person I don't need to hide anything from...I can't hide anything from." In fact, the first step to being free from the darkness inside is to say what the Prodigal Son said when he came home to his father: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You" (Luke 15:18). there's just something liberating about being brutally honest about your sin as you bring it into God's pure light. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

And then comes the release that we desperately need but we don't deserve. In God's words, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). God stands ready to give us a spiritual shower called "forgiven" - and there's no better feeling than knowing that you are finally clean.

That forgiveness is no cheap thing though. Revelation 1:5 says, "He loves us and freed us from our sins by His blood." It took the shedding of the blood of God's only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all my junk. A cross He did not deserve; an excruciating death. God's Son being cut off from God the Father because Jesus was carrying my sin, going through my hell so I could go to His heaven.

But our bill was paid. All we have to do is take for ourselves what He died for, turning from the sin-darkness that has poisoned our life. So, as I see recurring pictures this season of body scanners and hand searches, I'm thinking God doesn't need any of that. He sees it all. He knew that what was hidden in the dark places would blow up my life and my eternity. So He acted to defuse it with the most extreme act of sacrificial love in history. He absorbed the "blast" Himself so I could board the flight to His heaven and be with Him forever.

Do you want to get started with Him? You want to experience this? Tell Him that today. Go to our website and find out there how to be sure you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com.

It is wonderful to live without fear of discovery, with a clean heart, and with nothing to hide.

Ezekiel 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: HOW MUCH JUSTICE IS ENOUGH?

Picture your enemy tied to a whipping post. How many lashes? How much justice is enough? As your foe slumps to the ground you walk away. Are you happy now? But soon another memory will surface, another lash will be needed. When does it all stop? It stops when you take seriously the words of Jesus: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

You see, God will treat you the way you treat others. Would you like some peace? Then quit giving your neighbor such a hassle. Want to enjoy God’s generosity? Then let others enjoy yours. Would you like assurance that God forgives you? I think you know what you need to do.

Ezekiel 10

The Temple, Filled with the Presence of God

When I next looked, oh! Above the dome over the heads of the cherubim-angels was what looked like a throne, sky-blue, like a sapphire!

2-5 God said to the man dressed in linen, “Enter the place of the wheels under the cherubim-angels. Fill your hands with burning coals from beneath the cherubim and scatter them over the city.”

I watched as he entered. The cherubim were standing on the south side of the Temple when the man entered. A cloud filled the inside courtyard. Then the Glory of God ascended from the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the Temple. The cloud filled the Temple. Court and Temple were both filled with the blazing presence of the Glory of God. And the sound! The wings of the cherubim were audible all the way to the outer court—the sound of the voice was like The Strong God in thunder.

6-8 When God commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. One of the cherubim reached into the fire, took some coals, and put them in the hands of the man dressed in linen. He took them and went out. Something that looked like a human hand could be seen under the wings of the cherubim.

9-13 And then I saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub. The wheels radiating were sparkling like diamonds in the sun. All four wheels looked alike, each like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they went in any of the four directions but in a perfectly straight line. Where the cherubim went, the wheels went straight ahead. The cherubim were full of eyes in their backs, hands, and wings. The wheels likewise were full of eyes. I heard the wheels called “wheels within wheels.”

14 Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first, of an angel; the second, a human; the third, a lion; the fourth, an eagle.

15-17 Then the cherubim ascended. They were the same living creatures I had seen at the Kebar River. When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved. When the cherubim spread their wings to take off from the ground, the wheels stayed right with them. When the cherubim stopped, the wheels stopped. When the cherubim rose, the wheels rose, because the spirit of the living creatures was also in the wheels.

18-19 Then the Glory of God left the Temple entrance and hovered over the cherubim. I watched as the cherubim spread their wings and left the ground, the wheels right with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Temple. The Glory of the God of Israel was above them.

20-22 These were the same living creatures I had seen previously beneath the God of Israel at the Kebar River. I recognized them as cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings. Under their wings were what looked like human hands. Their faces looked exactly like those I had seen at the Kebar River. Each went straight ahead.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, November 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 3:13–19

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve[a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Insight
Jesus prayerfully and selectively appointed twelve men whom He designated as apostles (Luke 6:12–18) for two specific purposes: to “be with him” and “to send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14). The Greek word apo´stolos means, “one who is sent, an ambassador.”

The Gospels tell of the conversion stories for some of them: Simon Peter and Andrew (sons of John) and James and John (sons of Zebedee) were fishermen (Matthew 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11; John 1:35-42). Philip and Nathanael (scholars say Nathanael is the same person as Bartholomew), were from the fishing town of Bethsaida and were likely fishermen as well (John 1:43–51). Matthew [Levi] was a tax-collector from Capernaum (Mark 2:1, 14; Luke 5:27–28). We don’t know the conversion stories of the others: Thomas (John 20:24–25); James, son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18); Thaddaeus (scholars equate him with Judas son of James, 3:18; Luke 6:16); Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13); and Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, who betrayed Jesus (John 6:71).

Space for Me
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. Mark 3:13

He was an aging military veteran, rough-edged and given to even rougher language. One day a friend cared enough about him to inquire about his spiritual beliefs. The man’s dismissive response came quickly: “God doesn’t have space for someone like me.”

Perhaps that was just part of his “tough-guy” act, but his words couldn’t be further from the truth! God creates space especially for the rough, the guilt-ridden, and the excluded to belong and thrive in His community. This was obvious from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when He made some surprising choices for His disciples. First, He chose several fishermen from Galilee—the “wrong side of the tracks” from the perspective of those in Jerusalem. He also selected a tax collector, Matthew, whose profession included extorting from his oppressed countrymen. Then, for good measure, Jesus invited the “other” Simon—“the Zealot” (Mark 3:18).

We don’t know much about this Simon (he isn’t Simon Peter), but we do know about the Zealots. They hated traitors like Matthew, who got rich by collaborating with the despised Romans. Yet with divine irony, Jesus chose Simon along with Matthew, brought them together, and blended them into His team.

Don’t write anyone off as too “bad” for Jesus. After all, He said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). He has plenty of space for the tough cases—people like you and me. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray
Who do you know that you think is unlikely to give their life to Jesus? How might you invite them to consider who Christ is and the space He has for them?

Dear Father, thank You that salvation is available to anyone who puts their faith in Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 23, 2020
The Distraction of Contempt

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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: Ezekiel 20-21; James 5

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 23, 2020
The Loneliest "Lonely" of All - #8836

Like many children her age, our little granddaughter had 101 tricks to delay going to bed at night: a drink of water, another story, monsters in the closet, whatever! Once she did, she was usually gone for the night. But every once in a while, her parents would be in the living room, suddenly hear this sound, distraught crying. Their little darling just woke up in the dark. She found herself all alone, and it's scary.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Loneliest 'Lonely' of All."

Even big people like us know that feeling. There are times in our life when we feel like we're all alone in the dark, and it is scary. Maybe you know about those times. Maybe you're in one of those dark, lonely stretches right now.

It would be cheap for me to say, "I know how you feel." Honestly, probably I don't. But I know someone who does - who really does. That would be Jesus. In fact, no one on earth has ever experienced the depth of loneliness He went through. And that's one of the reasons you can trust Him in a way that you can trust nobody else in your life.

Let me take you for a minute back to the darkest day in human history; the day the Son of God was nailed to a Roman cross. The Bible says He was "crushed" and "pierced" and beaten beyond recognition (Isaiah 53:5; 52:14). His back had been ripped open by merciless whippings, His head was ripped open by a crown made out of thorns, and a spear was driven into His side as He hung on that cross, suspended by three nails. But as horrific as that pain must have been, that's not what made Him cry out on the cross. It was a far greater pain that ripped apart His soul.

It's recorded in our word for today from the Word of God. "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:51) He could take the thorns, He could take the nails, He could take the spear, but He couldn't stand being cut off from God. God the Father and God the Son had never had a moment apart through all eternity until that day. In Jesus' darkest moment, He could not see His Father's face. His Father had turned away from Him. Why?

The Bible says of God, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil" (Habakkuk 1:13). An all-holy God cannot look at sin, and that's what was all over His Son that day. The Bible tells us that "He bore our sins in His (own) body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). Whose sins made God turn away from His one and only Son? Your sins. My sins. Jesus was all alone - more alone than any man has ever been - and it was horribly dark.

Look at what it took to pay for your sin. Look at what it took to forgive your sin. How can we think there's anything we could ever do that would pay for our sin or get us into heaven? Only the One who died for your sin can remove your sin. That was your hell, your separation from God He was taking on that cross. Now He's offering to you what He died for you to have. Either you reach out to Him in total trust as your only hope of being rescued spiritually, or you walk away from Him.

I believe there's someone who's listening right now, and you are feeling in your soul the tug of Jesus. He shows you your sin, He shows you how He loved you enough to die for your sin, and He stirs your heart to give yourself to Him. If you've never done that, you can do it right now; you can do it where you are. Just tell Him, "Jesus, You're my only hope, and beginning right here and right now, I'm Yours." At that moment, God will erase every sin from His book and give you eternal life in heaven. Don't you want this?

Well, tell Him you want to belong to Him beginning today. And go to our website where we tell you how that all happens. That's ANewStory.com. Just don't walk away from this without responding to Jesus' invitation.

The biggest mistake you could ever make would be to turn your back on Him.

Ezekiel 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: God is For You

Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31,  "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
The question isn't simply, "Who can be against you?" You could answer that one.  Who is against you? Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, and fears imprison. Were Paul's question, "Who can be against us?" we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them.
But God is for us.  God is for us.  God is for us! Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you; but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!
God is for you.  Not "may be," not "has been," or "was," but God is!  He is for you. Today.  At this hour.  At this minute. As you hear this, He is with you. God is for you!
From  The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Ezekiel 9

A Mark on the Forehead

Then I heard him call out loudly, “Executioners, come! And bring your deadly weapons with you.”

2 Six men came down the road from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying his lethal weapon. With them was a man dressed in linen with a writing case slung from his shoulder. They entered and stood by the bronze altar.

3-4 The Glory of the God of Israel ascended from his usual place above the cherubim-angels, moved to the threshold of the Temple, and called to the man with the writing case who was dressed in linen: “Go through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is in anguish over the outrageous obscenities being done in the city.”

5-6 I listened as he went on to address the executioners: “Follow him through the city and kill. Feel sorry for no one. Show no compassion. Kill old men and women, young men and women, mothers and children. But don’t lay a hand on anyone with the mark. Start at my Temple.”

They started with the leaders in front of the Temple.

7-8 He told the executioners, “Desecrate the Temple. Fill it with corpses. Then go out and continue the killing.” So they went out and struck the city.

While the massacre went forward, I was left alone. I fell on my face in prayer: “Oh, oh, God, my Master! Are you going to kill everyone left in Israel in this pouring out of your anger on Jerusalem?”

9-10 He said, “The guilt of Israel and Judah is enormous. The land is swollen with murder. The city is bloated with injustice. They all say, ‘God has forsaken the country. He doesn’t see anything we do.’ Well, I do see, and I’m not feeling sorry for any of them. They’re going to pay for what they’ve done.”

11 Just then, the man dressed in linen and carrying the writing case came back and reported, “I’ve done what you told me.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, November 22, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Timothy 6:17–19

 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Insight
In 1 Timothy and throughout the Bible, God’s people are encouraged to give generously (6:18). We’re told that when we do, we’re blessed in return. Deuteronomy 15:10 states, “Give generously . . . without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” In Proverbs we read, “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor” (22:9). Why give? Because God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). As James declares, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). The apostle Paul, who also wrote the letters to Timothy, offers this guideline for giving: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

An Open, Generous Heart
Be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:18

After Vicki’s old car broke down with no option for repair, she started scraping together money for another vehicle. Chris, a frequent customer of the restaurant where Vicki works at the drive-thru window, one day heard her mention she needed a car. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Chris said. “I [had] to do something.” So he bought his son’s used car (his son had just put it up for sale), shined it up, and handed Vicki the keys. Vicki was shocked. “Who . . . does that?” she said in amazement and gratitude.

The Scriptures call us to live with open hands, giving freely as we can—providing what’s truly best for those in need. As Paul says: “Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds” (1 Timothy 6:18). We don’t merely perform a benevolent act here or there, but rather live out a cheerful spirit of giving. Big-heartedness is our normal way of life. “Be generous and willing to share,” we’re told (v. 18).

As we live with an open, generous heart, we don’t need to fear running out of what we need. Rather, the Bible tells us that in our compassionate generosity, we’re taking “hold of [true] life” (v. 19). With God, genuine living means loosening our grip on what we have and giving to others freely. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray
When do you struggle the most with being generous? How does God’s generous heart encourage you to give more freely?

I want to hold what I have loosely, God. I want to be generous, like You. Transform my heart and help me to give freely.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 22, 2020
Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 18-19; James 4

Ezekiel 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Cry Out to Jesus

My friend Jim has battled a muscular condition much of his adult life. The atrophy slurs his speech and impairs his walk. But it doesn't diminish his faith or erase his smile.
One Sunday we asked church members to park in the back lot and leave the closest spots for guests. As I arrived, I saw Jim. He had parked in the distant corner and was walking toward the sanctuary. His life is an example. I pray that God will heal Jim's body. But until he does, God is using Jim to inspire people like me.
God will do the same with you. He will use your struggle to change others. Or-he may use your struggle to change you! Disease cannot destroy us. And death has lost its sting. Cry out to Jesus in the power of a simple prayer! He will heal you-instantly or gradually or for sure, ultimately!
From Before Amen

Ezekiel 8

The Spirit Carried Me in Visions

 In the sixth year, in the sixth month and the fifth day, while I was sitting at home meeting with the leaders of Judah, it happened that the hand of my Master, God, gripped me. When I looked, I was astonished. What I saw looked like a man—from the waist down like fire and from the waist up like highly burnished bronze. He reached out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair. The Spirit swept me high in the air and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple’s inside court where the image of the sex goddess that makes God so angry had been set up. Right before me was the Glory of the God of Israel, exactly like the vision I had seen out on the plain.

5 He said to me, “Son of man, look north.” I looked north and saw it: Just north of the entrance loomed the altar of the sex goddess, Asherah, that makes God so angry.

6 Then he said, “Son of man, do you see what they’re doing? Outrageous obscenities! And doing them right here! It’s enough to drive me right out of my own Temple. But you’re going to see worse yet.”

7 He brought me to the door of the Temple court. I looked and saw a gaping hole in the wall.

8 He said, “Son of man, dig through the wall.”

I dug through the wall and came upon a door.

9 He said, “Now walk through the door and take a look at the obscenities they’re engaging in.”

10-11 I entered and looked. I couldn’t believe my eyes: Painted all over the walls were pictures of reptiles and animals and monsters—the whole pantheon of Egyptian gods and goddesses—being worshiped by Israel. In the middle of the room were seventy of the leaders of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in the middle. Each held his censer with the incense rising in a fragrant cloud.

12 He said, “Son of man, do you see what the elders are doing here in the dark, each one before his favorite god-picture? They tell themselves, ‘God doesn’t see us. God has forsaken the country.’”

13 Then he said, “You’re going to see worse yet.”

14-15 He took me to the entrance at the north gate of the Temple of God. I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz, the Babylonian fertility god. He said, “Have you gotten an eyeful, son of man? You’re going to see worse yet.”

16 Finally, he took me to the inside court of the Temple of God. There between the porch and the altar were about twenty-five men. Their backs were to God’s Temple. They were facing east, bowing in worship to the sun.

17-18 He said, “Have you seen enough, son of man? Isn’t it bad enough that Judah engages in these outrageous obscenities? They fill the country with violence and now provoke me even further with their obscene gestures. That’s it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I’m not listening.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, November 21, 2020
Today's Scripture
James 3:13–18
(NIV)

Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Insight
James 3 demonstrates why the label “the Proverbs of the New Testament” fits the book of James. For example, both books share the common themes of speech and wisdom. James 3:5–12 describes the power of the tongue and its potential for destruction (see Proverbs 10:19–20, 31; 15:2, 4).

James 3:13–18 turns the readers’ attention to wisdom and matters of the heart: “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth” (v. 14). The characteristics of earthly or demonic “wisdom” in verses 15–16—envy, selfish ambition, disorder, evil practices—are contrasted with the virtuous qualities of true wisdom from God, which is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial, and sincere (v. 17). The importance of wisdom can also be seen in Proverbs 1:7; 3:13–18; 4:6–7; 14:8; and 29:11.

Instruments of Peace
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18

When World War I erupted in 1914, British statesman Sir Edward Grey declared, “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” Grey was right. When the “war to end all wars” finally ended, some 20 million had been killed (10 million of them civilians) and another 21 million injured.

While not on the same scale or magnitude, devastation can also occur in our personal lives. Our home, workplace, church, or neighborhood can also be shrouded by the dark specter of conflict. This is one of the reasons God calls us to be difference-makers in the world. But to do so we must rely on His wisdom. The apostle James wrote, “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17–18).

The role of peacemaker is significant because of its harvest. The word righteousness means “right standing” or “right relationship.” Peacemakers can help restore relationships. No wonder Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). His children, relying on His wisdom, become instruments of His peace where it’s needed most. By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray
In what personal conflicts do you need the light of God’s wisdom? How can His peace enable you to be a peacemaker when people around you choose to fight?

Father, Your light penetrates the deepest darkness and Your peace calms the most troubled heart. Help me know Your wisdom and peace and carry it to others in their struggles as well.

Listen to Discover the Word, “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?” at DiscoverTheWord.org/series/why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along/.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, November 21, 2020
“It is Finished!”

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.

Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 16-17; James 3

1 Timothy 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME

Jesus taught us to pray with reverence when he modeled for us “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). His phrase is a petition, not a proclamation. A request, not an announcement. “Be hallowed, Lord.” Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Exalt yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and I’ll be quiet.

The psalm that says, “Be still and know that I am God” contains a command with a promise. The command? Be still, cover your mouth, bend your knees. The promise? You will know that I am God. In the midst of your family storms, and in this storm that has swept over our country and the entire world, make it a point to be still. Set your sights on him. Let God be God. Be open and willing. Allow God to be hallowed, holy in your life.

1 Timothy 4

Teach with Your Life

 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

15-16 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, November 20, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Ephesians 4:26–32

 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Footnotes
Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:4 (see Septuagint)

Insight
As believers in Christ, Paul tells us we’re to live differently from non-believers. Our lives are to be holy—set apart and devoted to God (Ephesians 4:20–24). Our speech is to be characterized by words that are truthful and that help, edify, build up, encourage, and benefit others (vv. 25, 29). Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we’ll put away unwholesome and abusive language, along with bitter, angry, harsh, slanderous, or malicious words (vv. 29–31). How we forgive others is the defining virtue of the believers in Jesus. We’re to forgive as God has forgiven us (v. 32; Colossians 3:13). The evidence that we’re forgiven by the Father is when we’re willing to forgive others. The forgiven believer in Jesus is a forgiving person (Matthew 18:21–35; Luke 7:36–50).

Visit ChristianUniversity.org/ML502 to learn more about dealing with conflict.

Turning from Conflict
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ephesians 4:26

In his graveside tribute to a famous Dutch scientist, Albert Einstein didn’t mention their scientific disputes. Instead, he recalled the “never-failing kindness” of Hendrik A. Lorentz, a beloved physicist known for his easy manner and fair treatment of others. “Everyone followed him gladly,” Einstein said, “for they felt he never set out to dominate but always simply to be of use.”

Lorentz inspired scientists to put aside political prejudice and work together, especially after World War I. “Even before the war was over,” Einstein said of his fellow Nobel Prize winner, “[Lorentz] devoted himself to the work of reconciliation.”

Working for reconciliation should be the goal of everyone in the church as well. True, some conflict is inevitable. Yet we must do our part to work for peaceful resolutions. Paul wrote, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26). To grow together, the apostle advised, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs” (v. 29).

Finally, said Paul, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (vv. 31–32). Turning from conflict whenever we are able helps build God’s church. In this, indeed, we honor Him. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray
How can God help us deal with conflict? To honor Him and your church, what conflict should you let go?

Loving God, when I face conflict, remind my heart to turn my anger over to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 20, 2020
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins… —Ephesians 1:7

e our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.

Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham.  The Highest Good, 548 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 14-15; James 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, November 20, 2020
Waiting 'til the Roof Caves In - #8835

Many years ago, our state was America's Wild West. Out of that grew a pretty colorful state history, which I never knew much about before. But after a recent visit to the state capital, I came back with some interesting stories out of our past. I loved the story of the sagging roof on the original State House. The legislators had often been reminded that the roof needed to be replaced before something ugly happened. Well, they never got around to passing a bill to authorize that replacement. (Can you imagine?) And then one day, with the Legislature in full session...you want to guess? The roof finally collapsed on the legislators. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. And the next day, for some reason, (Guess what?) they passed a bill for a new roof; the day after the old one fell on their heads!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting 'til the Roof Caves In."

I had to laugh at this great example of what it takes sometimes to get things moving. I stopped laughing when I realized that it's sometimes me that waits until the roof caves in before I do the right thing. Maybe you've made that mistake, too.

In an incredible dialog between King Solomon and the Lord, Solomon anticipates some of the critical issues that may arise in his nation's future. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Chronicles 6, beginning in verse 24. Solomon tells the Lord, "When Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy (that's the roof falling in) because they have sinned against You (that's why it fell in) and when they turn back and confess Your name...then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of Your people...and bring them back."

He then addresses another roof collapse, "when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned..." Then he goes on to talk about their dealing with their sin and then God sending the rain they're desperate for. Solomon uses other examples of the roof falling in on God's people - famine, plague, locusts, enemies besieging them, disaster, disease - and he asks God to redeem them when they again deal with their sin.

The culmination of this insightful spiritual analysis comes in the great revival verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, preceded, of course, by 2 Chronicles 7:13. The Lord says, "When I shut up the heavens so there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Wow! Well, timely stuff.

The trick is to deal with things before the roof caves in, before the Lord has to lower the boom to get your attention. He escalates the pressure and the pain as we ignore His softer promptings to face what needs to be faced. Right now, maybe God's working in your heart, or your circumstances to get you to deal with some sin that you've refused to repent of, to face some important issues in your marriage, or in the life of your family, or in the way you do business, to deal with the lies, or the hurting words, or the destructive attitude, or your bitterness. There may be problems you keep sweeping under the rug, issues you will not confront, sins you will not repent of.

That may be why things have not been working, why there's been so much frustration, so much pain. You've been blaming your environment, your circumstances, you've been blaming other people, when God's been trying to get you to look in the mirror and let Him fix the person you see there.

He's been turning up the heat. He's trying to get your attention! Don't wait until the roof caves in.

Ezekiel 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: JESUS HEALS US ALL

Are you waiting for Jesus to heal you? Take hope from Jesus’ response to the blind men (Matthew 20:29-34): “Have mercy on us, O Lord,” they cried. Jesus stopped dead in his tracks. Something caught his attention: a prayer, an unembellished appeal for help. Jesus heard the words and stopped.

He still does. And he still asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” Friend, what in your life needs healing? Jesus’ heart went out the blind men. He “had compassion and touched their eyes.” He healed them. He will heal you, my friend. I pray he heals you instantly. He may choose to heal you gradually. But this much is sure: Jesus will heal us all ultimately, and God’s children will once again be whole. Jesus heals us all

Ezekiel 7

Fate Has Caught Up with You

God’s Word came to me, saying, “You, son of man—God, the Master, has this Message for the land of Israel:

“‘Endtime.
    The end of business as usual for everyone.
It’s all over. The end is upon you.
    I’ve launched my anger against you.
I’ve issued my verdict on the way you live.
    I’ll make you pay for your disgusting obscenities.
I won’t look the other way,
    I won’t feel sorry for you.
I’ll make you pay for the way you’ve lived:
    Your disgusting obscenities will boomerang on you,
    and you’ll realize that I am God.’

5-9 “I, God, the Master, say:
    ‘Disaster after disaster! Look, it comes!
Endtime—
    the end comes.
The end is ripe. Watch out, it’s coming!
    This is your fate, you who live in this land.
Time’s up.
    It’s zero hour.
No dragging of feet now,
    no bargaining for more time.
Soon now I’ll pour my wrath on you,
    pay out my anger against you,
Render my verdict on the way you’ve lived,
    make you pay for your disgusting obscenities.
I won’t look the other way,
    I won’t feel sorry for you.
I’ll make you pay for the way you’ve lived.
    Your disgusting obscenities will boomerang on you.
Then you’ll realize
    that it is I, God, who have hit you.

10-13 “‘Judgment Day!
    Fate has caught up with you.
The scepter outsized and pretentious,
    pride bursting all bounds,
Violence strutting,
    brandishing the evil scepter.
But there’s nothing to them,
    and nothing will be left of them.
Time’s up.
    Countdown: five, four, three, two . . .
Buyer, don’t crow; seller, don’t worry:
    Judgment wrath has turned the world topsy-turvy.
The bottom has dropped out of buying and selling.
    It will never be the same again.
But don’t fantasize an upturn in the market.
    The country is bankrupt because of its sins,
    and it’s not going to get any better.

14-16 “‘The trumpet signals the call to battle:
    “Present arms!”
But no one marches into battle.
    My wrath has them paralyzed!
On the open roads you’re killed,
    or else you go home and die of hunger and disease.
Either get murdered out in the country
    or die of sickness or hunger in town.
Survivors run for the hills.
    They moan like doves in the valleys,
Each one moaning
    for his own sins.

17-18 “‘Every hand hangs limp,
    every knee turns to rubber.
They dress in rough burlap—
    sorry scarecrows,
Shifty and shamefaced,
    with their heads shaved bald.

19-27 “‘They throw their money into the gutters.
    Their hard-earned cash stinks like garbage.
They find that it won’t buy a thing
    they either want or need on Judgment Day.
They tripped on money
    and fell into sin.
Proud and pretentious with their jewels,
    they deck out their vile and vulgar no-gods in finery.
    I’ll make those god-obscenities a stench in their nostrils.
I’ll give away their religious junk—
    strangers will pick it up for free,
    the godless spit on it and make jokes.
I’ll turn my face so I won’t have to look
    as my treasured place and people are violated,
As violent strangers walk in
    and desecrate place and people—
A bloody massacre,
    as crime and violence fill the city.
I’ll bring in the dregs of humanity
    to move into their houses.
I’ll put a stop to the boasting and strutting
    of the high-and-mighty,
And see to it that there’ll be nothing holy
    left in their holy places.
Catastrophe descends. They look for peace,
    but there’s no peace to be found—
Disaster on the heels of disaster,
    one rumor after another.
They clamor for the prophet to tell them what’s up,
    but nobody knows anything.
Priests don’t have a clue;
    the elders don’t know what to say.
The king holds his head in despair;
    the prince is devastated.
The common people are paralyzed.
    Gripped by fear, they can’t move.
I’ll deal with them where they are,
    judge them on their terms.
    They’ll know that I am God.’”

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

John 10:7–18

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. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Footnotes
John 10:9 Or kept safe

Insight
The gospel of John introduces Jesus as a lamb (John 1:29) before describing Him as a good shepherd (ch. 10). Finally, the great mystery of the Jewish Scriptures could be explained. Even now, without God’s help no one could connect the dots between a rabbi from Nazareth (1:45-46), David’s song of the good shepherd (Psalm 23), Isaiah’s vision of people who needed to be rescued by One led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:6–7), and the prophet Ezekiel’s warning of shepherds who, in contrast to Jesus (John 10:14–15), were looking after themselves rather than their flocks (Ezekiel 34:1–2, 11–16).

Valiant Actions
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14–15

John Harper had no idea what was about to unfold as he and his six-year-old daughter embarked on the Titanic. But one thing he knew: he loved Jesus and he was passionate that others know Him too. As soon as the ship hit an iceberg and water started pouring in, Harper, a widower, put his little girl on a lifeboat and headed into the chaos to save as many people as possible. As he distributed life jackets he reportedly shouted, “Let the women, children, and the unsaved into the lifeboats.” Until his last breath, Harper shared about Jesus with anyone who was around him. John willingly gave his life away so others could live.

There was One who laid down His life freely two thousand years ago so you and I can live not only in this life but for all eternity. Jesus didn’t just wake up one day and decide He would pay the penalty of death for humanity’s sin. This was His life’s mission. At one point when He was talking with the Jewish religious leaders He repeatedly acknowledged, “I lay down my life” (John 10:11, 15, 17, 18). He didn’t just say these words but lived them by actually dying a horrific death on the cross. He came so that the Pharisees, John Harper, and we “may have life, and have it to the full” (v. 10).
By:  Estera Pirosca Escobar

Reflect & Pray
How do you reveal that you truly love those around you? How can you show Jesus’ love to someone through your actions today?

Jesus, there aren’t words grand enough to thank You for demonstrating the greatest act of love there is. Thank You for giving Your life away so I might live. Help me to show Your love to others no matter how much it costs me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 19, 2020
“When He Has Come”

When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 11-13; James 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 19, 2020

The Difference Between Bitter and Sweet - #8834

I've eaten a few plums in my life, but I never found it particularly inspiring or educational. But one of our team members ate a plum recently and got an insight that I found enlightening. When she bit into that plum, it tasted very sweet. It didn't stay that way. The closer my friend got to the center, the more bitter the plum tasted. She explained to me her simple, but probably accurate, theory about this bittersweet taste experience. She said what the sun has touched is sweet; what the sun hasn't touched is bitter. And I said, "Hum?"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference Between Bitter and Sweet."

I guess, in a way, I'm that plum. You're that plum. We've got parts of our personality, our ways of treating people, our ways of responding to stress that are actually pretty sweet and then there are those parts that are bitter for us and certainly bitter for the people close to us. Once you open your life to Jesus Christ, you have divine power available to help change those harsh, distasteful parts of you into something beautiful. It's part of that miracle 2 Corinthians 5:17 calls becoming "a new creation in Christ."

I can tell you from my own life, the parts of me that are becoming sweeter are the parts of me I have opened up to the "sunlight" of Jesus Christ. And those things about me that I don't like, the people around me don't like, God doesn't like are the areas where I need to more fully open up to Jesus' control.

The people we love, the people around us, the people who are affected by us most would probably be able to provide a pretty good list of the "bitter" parts of our personality and the ways we respond. That's the list that needs to become top priority for surrendering to Jesus Christ. It's a matter of calling the ugly parts of us what they are - no more defending, no more excusing, no more rationalizing, no more blaming. You just say, "Jesus, here it is. Come into this stubborn, sinful, dark part of who I am and shine Your light on it. I can't change it, but I don't want to be this way anymore. Please make me new."

In our word for today from the Word of God, He helps us see some specific attitudes and actions and approaches that are bitter stuff, and then what we can be like if we'll remove the walls around those areas of our life. Colossians 3, beginning with verse 8, says, "Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator ... Therefore, as God's chosen people ... clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

The powerful reality about belonging to Jesus is that you don't have to keep on being what you've always been; maybe even what generations before you have been. Jesus changes people in ways they could never change themselves. But there may be a reason that your bitter has stayed bitter. Instead of repenting, instead of surrendering it to Jesus, you just keep looking for someone to blame for the way you are. You keep replaying the past, complaining, recruiting sympathy, or retaliating for what others have done. But you're not letting the Son - the Son of God - shine on it. Isn't it time to open up your ugly, dark side to Jesus and to release it completely to Him so He can make you like Him?

There's a Gospel song that says, "The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows." Let's add a verse. "The longer you serve Him, the sweeter you grow."