Revelation 21 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE

My last name has created some awkward moments. A woman said, “Max Lu-KAH-do, I’ve been wanting to meet you.” I let it go, thinking that was the end of it. But as she introduced me to a number of her friends, I smiled and cringed, unable to maneuver my way into the conversation to correct her without being rude. But then I got caught. A man said to me, “My wife and I’ve been trying to figure out how you say your name. Is it Lu-KAY-doh or Lu-KAH-doh?” I looked over at my friend who had been mispronouncing my name — I was trapped. I answered, “Lu-KAH-doh, I pronounce the name Lu-KAH-doh,” I told her. May my ancestors forgive me.

How can God be both just and kind? How can he redeem the sinner without endorsing the sin? It’s called the Cross of Christ, and that’s one phrase you want to say correctly.

Revelation 21

Everything New

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.

2 I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.

3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”

6-8 Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!”

The City of Light
9-12 One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.

12-14 The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.

15-21 The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: fifteen hundred miles, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: seventy-two yards. The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl.

21-27 The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Read: John 14:15–21, 25–27

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

INSIGHT
In John 13–17, commonly known as the Upper Room Discourse because Jesus spoke these words in the upper room where the Last Supper was held (see Mark 14:12–15), Christ gave us His final and most profound thoughts just before His crucifixion. In addition, John 14 and 16 contain His most comprehensive teaching on the Holy Spirit. Jesus assured His disciples that when He returned to the Father (13:3, 33; 16:28), He wouldn’t abandon them (14:18). He promised His peace (14:27) and continued presence and asked the Father to give them “another advocate” (Greek parakletos)—the “Spirit of truth,” the “Holy Spirit” (vv. 16–17, 26). Parakletos means “one who helps, enables, or comforts another person.” This word is difficult to define and various translations use different words: “Helper,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” “Companion,” and “Friend.”

By Anne Cetas
Jesus’ Promise to You
He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. John 14:16

Jason wailed as his parents handed him over to Amy. It was the two-year-old’s first time in the nursery while Mom and Dad attended the service—and he was not happy. Amy assured them he’d be fine. She tried to soothe him with toys and books, by rocking in a chair, walking around, standing still, and talking about what fun he could have. But everything was met with bigger tears and louder cries. Then she whispered five simple words in his ear: “I will stay with you.” Peace and comfort quickly came.

Jesus offered His friends similar words of comfort during the week of His crucifixion: “The Father . . . will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). After His resurrection He gave them this promise: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus was soon to ascend to heaven, but He would send the Spirit to “stay” and live within His people.

We experience the Spirit’s comfort and peace when our tears flow. We receive His guidance when we’re wondering what to do (John 14:26). He opens our eyes to understand more of God (Ephesians 1:17–20), and He helps us in our weakness and prays for us (Romans 8:26–27).

He stays with us forever.

What do you need from the Holy Spirit today? How can knowing He’s always near help you?

How thankful I am that You remain always by my side, Jesus! I need You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20

Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30  was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.

The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.

Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.  Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

How to Be Safe In Dangerous Times - #8942

Over the years, we found a little tool that was smart to have if you were going to be spending time next to the ocean. They call it a tide table. It tells you what time high tide and low tide will be each day. That's good to know, especially if you're going to really set up shop for a while on the beach - which many people do. I've watched people bring their own little civilization to the beach with them: tarps and coolers and toys and appliances. You'd think they were planning to live on the beach. What's kind of fun to watch is the people with all that stuff who fall asleep somewhere between low tide and high tide. (You know where this is going don't you.) Slowly but surely, the waves start creeping up from the edge toward their civilization. You really should wake them up, but that wouldn't be any fun. Eventually, as the tide tickles their toes, they wake up only to find some of their civilization about to float away. It's panic city, man! But it didn't have to be that way. There's this little tool called a tide table that tells you when the tide...well, you get the idea.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Be Safe In Dangerous Times."

High tide doesn't have to surprise you; it doesn't have to swamp you if you consult the tide table.

You might say God has a tide table; information that can actually help you avoid getting swamped by high tide. Because, according to the Bible, high tide is coming. The Bible refers to it as "the last days." That's "last" as in the turbulent days that count down to the finale of human history; the personal return of Jesus Christ. And He's going to write the final chapter. Interestingly enough, surveys show that over half of Americans expect the return of Christ to happen. The Bible leaves no doubt about it, and It also describes the times leading up to it.

God uses one word to describe those times in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3:1. It says: "Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." Other translations of this verse call it "dangerous times." This section of the Bible goes on to describe what will make the world so dangerous before Jesus comes back. It might not be what you think. People will be totally lovers of themselves, the Bible says, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and much more.

The Bible describes what kind of world Jesus will come back to. A world with massive natural disasters, weapons of mass destruction and raging nations. You know, there's a group of scientists who have what they call the "Doomsday Clock." Recently they've set it closer and closer to midnight. They've been doing this since 1945, registering their sense of how close we are to the "midnight" of a global cataclysm. They've been looking at the unsecured nukes in the world, nuclear possibilities with states that we should really be concerned about having them, and they reset the clock to very close to midnight. Dangerous times. Terrible times.

Jesus told us what to do when we saw high tide coming like this. His words: "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44). In the words of a Biblical prophet: "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12). There's only one way to be ready, and that's to be sure your life is in the hands of the One who will write the final chapter; the final chapter for this planet, and the final chapter for your life, and that's Jesus Christ. Here's the question, "Do you belong to Him?"

Jesus died to get you ready to meet God. It took His death on the cross to pay for the sin that keeps you from God and will keep you out of heaven forever. Then He walked out of His grave to prove there's nothing that can take Him down. If there's never been a time when you've said, "Jesus, I resign running my life, I'm Yours," boy, would this be a good time to get that settled. I think our website would be a help to you doing that. It's helped a lot of others. It's ANewStory.com.

The coming of Jesus is scheduled, it's sure and it's "unpostponable." Whether it's the moment He comes back to earth or the moment He comes for you. Don't risk not being ready.

Malachi 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU

Some people feel so saved that they never serve. Some serve at the hope of being saved. Does one of those sentences describe you? Do you feel so saved that you never serve? So content in what God has done that you do nothing? The fact is, we’re here to glorify God in our service.

Or is your tendency the opposite? Perhaps you always serve for fear of not being saved. You’re worried there’s some secret card that exists with your score written on it and your score is not enough. Is that you? Then you need to know this: the blood of Jesus is enough to save you. John 1:29 announces that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The blood of Christ doesn’t cover your sins, conceal your sins, postpone your sins, or diminish your sins. It takes away your sins, once and for all. And since you are saved, you can serve with joy.

Malachi 2

Desecrating the Holiness of God

 “And now this indictment, you priests! If you refuse to obediently listen, and if you refuse to honor me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, in worship, then I’ll put you under a curse. I’ll exchange all your blessings for curses. In fact, the curses are already at work because you’re not serious about honoring me. Yes, and the curse will extend to your children. I’m going to plaster your faces with rotting garbage, garbage thrown out from your feasts. That’s what you have to look forward to!

4-6 “Maybe that will wake you up. Maybe then you’ll realize that I’m indicting you in order to put new life into my covenant with the priests of Levi, the covenant of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. My covenant with Levi was to give life and peace. I kept my covenant with him, and he honored me. He stood in reverent awe before me. He taught the truth and did not lie. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He kept many out of the ditch, kept them on the road.

7-9 “It’s the job of priests to teach the truth. People are supposed to look to them for guidance. The priest is the messenger of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. But you priests have abandoned the way of priests. Your teaching has messed up many lives. You have corrupted the covenant of priest Levi. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so. And so I am showing you up for who you are. Everyone will be disgusted with you and avoid you because you don’t live the way I told you to live, and you don’t teach my revelation truly and impartially.”

10 Don’t we all come from one Father? Aren’t we all created by the same God? So why can’t we get along? Why do we desecrate the covenant of our ancestors that binds us together?

11-12 Judah has cheated on God—a sickening violation of trust in Israel and Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the holiness of God by falling in love and running off with foreign women, women who worship alien gods. God’s curse on those who do this! Drive them out of house and home! They’re no longer fit to be part of the community no matter how many offerings they bring to God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

13-15 And here’s a second offense: You fill the place of worship with your whining and sniveling because you don’t get what you want from God. Do you know why? Simple. Because God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you’ve broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife. God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does he want from marriage? Children of God, that’s what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don’t cheat on your spouse.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the God of Israel. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says, “I hate the violent dismembering of the ‘one flesh’ of marriage.” So watch yourselves. Don’t let your guard down. Don’t cheat.

17 You make God tired with all your talk.

“How do we tire him out?” you ask.

By saying, “God loves sinners and sin alike. God loves all.” And also by saying, “Judgment? God’s too nice to judge.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, April 19, 2021
Read: Luke 12:22–34

Do Not Worry
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[a]? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

INSIGHT
The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ ministry in Luke’s gospel (Luke 4:43), and it often inverts the world’s priorities. For example, the kingdom belongs to the poor (6:20) and little children (18:17), but the rich will have trouble accessing it (vv. 24–25). A criminal condemned to death can enter the kingdom through Jesus (23:42–43). Though many are invited to enter, not all will accept the invitation (14:15–24). And of those who do “come from east and west and north and south,” the last will be first and the first will be last (13:29–30). Con Campbell

Visit ChristianUniversity.org/OT329 to learn more about the kingdom of God as presented in the Bible.

By Julie Schwab
Quarantined by Fear

Seek his kingdom. Luke 12:31

In 2020, an outbreak of the coronavirus left the world in fear. People were quarantined, countries were put under lockdown, flights and large events were canceled. Those living in areas with no known cases still feared they might get the virus. Graham Davey, an expert in anxiety, believes that negative news broadcasts are “likely to make you sadder and more anxious.” A meme that circulated on social media showed a man watching the news on TV, and he asked how to stop worrying. In response, another person in the room reached over and flipped off the TV, suggesting that the answer might be a shift in focus!

Luke 12 gives us some advice to help us stop worrying: “Seek his kingdom” (v. 31). We seek God’s kingdom when we focus on the promise that His followers have an inheritance in heaven. When we face difficulty, we can shift our focus and remember that God sees us and knows our needs (vv. 24–30).

Jesus encourages His disciples: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (v. 32). God enjoys blessing us! Let’s worship Him, knowing He cares for us more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field (vv. 22–29). Even in difficult times, we can read the Scriptures, pray for God’s peace, and trust in our good and faithful God.

What’s causing you to fear today? What’s one thing you can do to seek God’s kingdom when you begin to worry?

Loving God, instead of living in fear or worry, help me to focus on Your care for me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 19, 2021
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 19, 2021

Big Men, Big Mistakes - #8941

Wait! Wait! Wait! I thought Humpty Dumpty was just a nursery rhyme. You know, the big egg who sat on a wall, but had a great fall. Turns out he's got a lot of company these days - sitting on a high wall, smashed by a big fall.

Take one of the world's powerful financial figures, for example, a few years ago. He was in a $3,000-a-night Manhattan hotel suite one night, and then the next night, he was in a tough New York jail. He stood accused of serious sexual violation of a hotel maid. Now, those accusations had to be proven in court, but they did resonate with a reputation for mixing power with sexual aggression.

But then the story isn't what we want to focus on. That was just one example of many high-profile stories of a powerful man who has taken a precipitous Dumpty crash. You can think about athletes, politicians, financial high-rollers, uh-huh, and even prominent men in ministry.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Men, Big Mistakes."

Now, at the root is a time-bomb mindset identified by a man who knows this scenario all too well - Tiger Woods. After, years ago, his darkest secrets spilled out of the closets for all the world to see, here's what he said: "I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I felt I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me." Now, listen to this key word: "I felt I was entitled."

Entitlement: that's the gateway to moral disaster. "My position means the rules don't apply to me. I have a right to go out of bounds." You know, in 2 Chronicles 26:16, our word for today from the Word of God, The Jewish king Uzziah had led his nation to a new pinnacle of greatness, all the while, he was deeply reliant on God until it says, "He became successful" and "pride became his downfall." He walked into the temple and began to take privileges that God had clearly given only to His priests. And like Icarus flying too close to the sun, Uzziah came crashing down.

Even the great King David must have felt that he'd won so many victories and done so much good that, you know what? He was entitled to sex with the wife of a trusted friend, and his life was never the same.

It's just all too easy to succumb to that feeling of entitlement. Some feel entitled because of the position they've achieved, or some because of the pressures they face. "If you only knew what I'm going through." Some because of the pain they're going through. It could be a high-flying leader, a lonely wife, a much-loved pastor, or a very busy, very tired man. Entitled to some relief, some attention, some affection, some stolen pleasure, some reward, a spiritual "day off." And it is those detours at Entitlement Junction where lives and families and reputations and ministries are ripped apart.

God really is "no respecter of persons." And, as Warren Wiersbe said, "A lifetime of obedience will not buy you one hour of disobedience." Just think King David.

God's made it clear "your sin will find you out." He loves you too much to let you keep getting away with what is going to ultimately destroy you. We have to build our walls high around those places where we know we're vulnerable. And we need to fall to our knees in repentance where we've strayed out of bounds before any more damage is done.

Sins of entitlement are not just some harmless "three-hour tour." They're a surging tide that will carry you and those you love right onto the rocks.

Malachi 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What Do We Do to Him

The soldiers' assignment was simple. Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they wanted to have some fun first. Strong, armed soldiers circled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The beating was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered.  But the spitting?
Spitting isn't intended to hurt the body-it can't. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. Ever done that? Maybe you haven't spit on anyone, but have you gossiped? Raised your hand in anger? Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that the way we treat others is how we treat Jesus!
From He Chose the Nails

Malachi 1

No More of This So-Called Worship!

A Message. God’s Word to Israel through Malachi:

2-3 God said, “I love you.”

You replied, “Really? How have you loved us?”

“Look at history” (this is God’s answer). “Look at how differently I’ve treated you, Jacob, from Esau: I loved Jacob and hated Esau. I reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost town.”

4 When Edom (Esau) said, “We’ve been knocked down, but we’ll get up and start over, good as new,” God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “Just try it and see how far you get. When I knock you down, you stay down. People will take one look at you and say, ‘Land of Evil!’ and ‘the God-cursed tribe!’

5 “Yes, take a good look. Then you’ll see how faithfully I’ve loved you and you’ll want even more, saying, ‘May God be even greater, beyond the borders of Israel!’

* * *

6 “Isn’t it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I’m your Father, where’s the honor? If I’m your Master, where’s the respect?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: “You priests despise me!

“You say, ‘Not so! How do we despise you?’

“By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.

“You ask, ‘What do you mean, “defiling”? What’s defiling about it?’

7-8 “When you say, ‘The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,’ that’s defiling. And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you’re trying to get rid of—blind and sick and crippled animals—isn’t that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your senator—how far do you think it will get you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.

9 “Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of conduct, do you think I’ll pay attention to you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.

10 “Why doesn’t one of you just shut the Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is not pleased. And I don’t want any more of this so-called worship!

Offering God Something Hand-Me-Down, Broken, or Useless
11 “I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They’re saying it everywhere: ‘God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.’

12-13 “All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!

14 “A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, April 18, 2021

Read: Ruth 4:13–22

Naomi Gains a Son
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Genealogy of David
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

19 Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,[a]

21 Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

22 Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

Footnotes
Ruth 4:20 A few Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate (see also verse 21 and Septuagint of 1 Chron. 2:11); most Hebrew manuscripts Salma

INSIGHT
Obed, the son of Ruth and Boaz, is referred to as a “guardian-redeemer” or “kinsman-redeemer” (Ruth 4:14). The Hebrew go’el refers to a nearest relative who would buy back, redeem, and restore something to its original or proper state of existence. The guardian-redeemer has various duties: to redeem the property of his relative and keep it in the family (Leviticus 25:23–34); to redeem a poor relative who has sold himself as a slave to an outsider (vv. 35–55); to seek out the murderer of his kinsman and bring them to justice (Numbers 35:9–34); and to marry a childless widow of a deceased brother to carry on his family line (Deuteronomy 25:5–10). The “guardian-redeemer” is the central focus of the book of Ruth (2:20; 3:9, 12; 4:1, 3, 6, 8, 14). God refers to Himself as the Redeemer of Israel (see Isaiah 41:14; 44:6, 24; 47:4; 54:5; 63:16).

By James Banks
Hard Ground and Tender Mercy

Praise be to the Lord. Ruth 4:14

When James was just six years old, his older brother David died tragically in an ice-skating accident. It was the day before David’s fourteenth birthday. In the years that followed, James tried his best to console his mother, Margaret, who in her deep grief sometimes reminded herself that her elder son would never have to face the challenges of growing up. In James Barrie’s fertile imagination, decades later that same idea would burgeon into inspiration for a much-loved children’s story character who never aged: Peter Pan. Like a flower pushing its way through pavement, good emerged even from the hard ground of unthinkable heartache.

How comforting is the thought that God, in an infinitely more creative way, is able to bring good out of our most difficult circumstances. A beautiful illustration of this occurs in the Old Testament story of Ruth. Naomi lost her two sons, leaving her without means or support. Her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth chose to remain with Naomi to help provide for her and to serve her God (Ruth 1:16). In the end, God’s provision brought them unexpected joy. Ruth remarried and had a child, “and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David” (4:17). He would also be listed among the ancestors of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

God’s tender mercy reaches beyond our ability to fathom and meets us in surprising places. Keep looking! Perhaps you’ll see it today.

When have you seen God bring unexpected good out of difficult circumstances in your life? How can you share what He’s done with others?

Loving God, I thank You that one day You’ll wipe every tear from my eyes because You’re greater than every heartache or difficulty I’ll ever face.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Readiness

God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples.  Approved Unto God, 11 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35

Revelation 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What Do We Do to Him

The soldiers' assignment was simple. Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they wanted to have some fun first. Strong, armed soldiers circled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The beating was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered.  But the spitting?
Spitting isn't intended to hurt the body-it can't. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. Ever done that? Maybe you haven't spit on anyone, but have you gossiped? Raised your hand in anger? Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that the way we treat others is how we treat Jesus!
From He Chose the Nails

Revelation 20

A Thousand Years

 I saw an Angel descending out of Heaven. He carried the key to the Abyss and a chain—a huge chain. He grabbed the Dragon, that old Snake—the very Devil, Satan himself!—chained him up for a thousand years, dumped him into the Abyss, slammed it shut and sealed it tight. No more trouble out of him, deceiving the nations—until the thousand years are up. After that he has to be let loose briefly.

4-6 I saw thrones. Those put in charge of judgment sat on the thrones. I also saw the souls of those beheaded because of their witness to Jesus and the Word of God, who refused to worship either the Beast or his image, refused to take his mark on forehead or hand—they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years! The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years were up. This is the first resurrection—and those involved most blessed, most holy. No second death for them! They’re priests of God and Christ; they’ll reign with him a thousand years.

7-10 When the thousand years are up, Satan will be let loose from his cell, and will launch again his old work of deceiving the nations, searching out victims in every nook and cranny of earth, even Gog and Magog! He’ll talk them into going to war and will gather a huge army, millions strong. They’ll stream across the earth, surround and lay siege to the camp of God’s holy people, the Beloved City. They’ll no sooner get there than fire will pour out of Heaven and burn them up. The Devil who deceived them will be hurled into Lake Fire and Brimstone, joining the Beast and False Prophet, the three in torment around the clock for ages without end.

Judgment
11-15 I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there—before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death—Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, April 17, 2021

Read: Isaiah 55:6–13

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

INSIGHT
Isaiah 55:6–13 features one of the characteristics of Isaiah’s writing—the use of imagery from nature. These verses include about a dozen such references. The prophet speaks of heaven and earth and rain and snow (vv. 9–10), “mountains and hills” and “trees of the field” (v. 12). One scholar notes that “Isaiah’s world vibrates with nature’s buzzing.” After a bit of biographical and historical information, the book begins with, “Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!” (1:2). The much-loved nature references in chapter 40 include these familiar words: “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. . . . The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (vv. 6–8).

Windows -By Mike Wittmer
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. Isaiah 55:12

Near the foothills the Himalayas, a visitor noticed a row of houses without windows. His guide explained that some of the villagers feared that demons might sneak into their homes while they slept, so they built impermeable walls. You could tell when a homeowner began to follow Jesus because he put in windows to let in the light.

A similar dynamic may take place in us, though we might not see it quite that way. We live in scary, polarizing times. Satan and his demons instigate angry divisions that split families and friends. I often feel like hiding behind my walls. But Jesus wants me to cut in a window.

Israel sought refuge in higher walls, but God said their security lay with Him. He reigns from heaven, and His word governs all (Isaiah 55:10–11). If Israel would return to Him, God would “have mercy on them” (v. 7) and restore them as His people to bless the world (Genesis 12:1–3). He would lift them up, ultimately leading them in a triumphal parade. Their celebration “will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever” (Isaiah 55:13).

Sometimes walls are necessary. Walls with windows are best. They show the world that we trust God for the future. Our fears are real. Our God is greater. Windows open us to Jesus—“the light of the world” (John 8:12)—and to others who need Him.


Would you say your life is more wall or window? Why? Is there a person or situation you need to be more open to?

Almighty Father, flood my heart with the confidence of Your love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 17, 2021

All or Nothing?

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24

Nehemiah 13 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: GROW IN YOUR SALVATION

Are a bride and groom ever more married than they are the first day? The vows are made, the certificate signed—could they be any more married than that? Imagine fifty years later. They finish each other’s sentences, order each other’s food. They even start looking alike, a thought which troubles my wife Denalyn deeply. Wouldn’t they be more married on their 50th anniversary than on their wedding day?

Marriage is both a done deal and a daily development. The same is true of our walk with God. Can you be more saved than you were the first day of your salvation? No, but can a person grow in salvation? Absolutely. Like marriage, it’s a done deal and a daily development. Be secure in your salvation. And, at the same time, grow in your salvation.

Nehemiah 13

Also on that same day there was a reading from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. It was found written there that no Ammonite or Moabite was permitted to enter the congregation of God, because they hadn’t welcomed the People of Israel with food and drink; they even hired Balaam to work against them by cursing them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. When they heard the reading of The Revelation, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.

* * *

4-5 Some time before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of The Temple of God. He was close to Tobiah and had made available to him a large storeroom that had been used to store Grain-Offerings, incense, worship vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil for the Levites, singers, and security guards, and the offerings for the priests.

6-9 When this was going on I wasn’t there in Jerusalem; in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I had traveled back to the king. But later I asked for his permission to leave again. I arrived in Jerusalem and learned of the wrong that Eliashib had done in turning over to him a room in the courts of The Temple of God. I was angry, really angry, and threw everything in the room out into the street, all of Tobiah’s stuff. Then I ordered that they ceremonially cleanse the room. Only then did I put back the worship vessels of The Temple of God, along with the Grain-Offerings and the incense.

10-13 And then I learned that the Levites hadn’t been given their regular food allotments. So the Levites and singers who led the services of worship had all left and gone back to their farms. I called the officials on the carpet, “Why has The Temple of God been abandoned?” I got everyone back again and put them back on their jobs so that all Judah was again bringing in the tithe of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms. I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms. I made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their right-hand man. These men had a reputation for honesty and hard work. They were responsible for distributing the rations to their brothers.

14 Remember me, O my God, for this. Don’t ever forget the devoted work I have done for The Temple of God and its worship.

15-16 During those days, while back in Judah, I also noticed that people treaded wine presses, brought in sacks of grain, and loaded up their donkeys on the Sabbath. They brought wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of stuff to sell on the Sabbath. So I spoke up and warned them about selling food on that day. Tyrians living there brought in fish and whatever else, selling it to Judeans—in Jerusalem, mind you!—on the Sabbath.

17-18 I confronted the leaders of Judah: “What’s going on here? This evil! Profaning the Sabbath! Isn’t this exactly what your ancestors did? And because of it didn’t God bring down on us and this city all this misery? And here you are adding to it—accumulating more wrath on Jerusalem by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As the gates of Jerusalem were darkened by the shadows of the approaching Sabbath, I ordered the doors shut and not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I placed some of my servants at the gates to make sure that nothing to be sold would get in on the Sabbath day.

20-21 Traders and dealers in various goods camped outside the gates once or twice. But I took them to task. I said, “You have no business camping out here by the wall. If I find you here again, I’ll use force to drive you off.”

And that did it; they didn’t come back on the Sabbath.

22 Then I directed the Levites to ceremonially cleanse themselves and take over as guards at the gates to keep the sanctity of the Sabbath day.

Remember me also for this, my God. Treat me with mercy according to your great and steadfast love.

* * *

23-27 Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half the children couldn’t even speak the language of Judah; all they knew was the language of Ashdod or some other tongue. So I took those men to task, gave them a piece of my mind, even slapped some of them and jerked them by the hair. I made them swear to God: “Don’t marry your daughters to their sons; and don’t let their daughters marry your sons—and don’t you yourselves marry them! Didn’t Solomon the king of Israel sin because of women just like these? Even though there was no king quite like him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel, foreign women were his downfall. Do you call this obedience—engaging in this extensive evil, showing yourselves faithless to God by marrying foreign wives?”

28 One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I drove him out of my presence.

29 Remember them, O my God, how they defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and Levites.

* * *

30-31 All in all I cleansed them from everything foreign. I organized the orders of service for the priests and Levites so that each man knew his job. I arranged for a regular supply of altar wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, April 16, 2021
Read: Luke 17:1–5

Sin, Faith, Duty

Footnotes
Luke 17:3 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman.

INSIGHT
In Luke 17, Jesus is teaching His disciples how to relate to other people (vv. 1–5) and to God (vv. 6–10). He warns that His disciples aren’t to cause anyone to sin (v. 2) and are to confront those who do sin (v. 3), which was required by the law (Leviticus 19:17). Jesus added a third duty: to forgive those who repent (Luke 17:3–4). His disciples are to deal unequivocally with a brother or sister who sins, with the purpose of restoration and reconciliation (Matthew 18:15–17). The rabbis argued that since God forgave Israel’s enemies only three times (inferred from Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13), people only needed to forgive three times. However, Jesus wasn’t setting a new “seven times” limit on forgiveness (Luke 17:4). Rather, the idea is that when it comes to forgiving someone, you don’t keep score. There’s no limit to the number of times you forgive.

Extending Mercy - By Amy Boucher Pye

If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Luke 17:3

Reflecting on how she forgave Manasseh, the man who killed her husband and some of her children in the Rwandan genocide, Beata said, “My forgiving is based on what Jesus did. He took the punishment for every evil act throughout all time. His cross is the place we find victory—the only place!” Manasseh had written to Beata from prison more than once, begging her—and God—for forgiveness as he detailed the regular nightmares that plagued him. At first she could extend no mercy, saying she hated him for killing her family. But then “Jesus intruded into her thoughts,” and with God’s help, some two years later, she forgave him.

In this, Beata followed Jesus’ instruction to His disciples to forgive those who repent. He said that even if they “sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them” (Luke 17:4). But to forgive can be extremely difficult, as we see by the disciples’ reaction: “Increase our faith!” (v. 5).

Beata’s faith increased as she wrestled in prayer over her inability to forgive. If, like her, we’re struggling to forgive, we can ask God through His Holy Spirit to help us to do so. As our faith increases, He helps us to forgive.

If someone who wronged you later repented, how did you react? How could God help you to forgive in these situations?

Jesus, thank You for releasing me from the consequences of my sin through Your death on the cross. I give You the glory!

Read The Risk of Forgiveness at DiscoverySeries.org/HP071.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 16, 2021
an You Come Down From the Mountain?

While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36

We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.

Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.

Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 16, 2021
The Deadliest Day in the World - #8940

It's only a story, but the point it makes is a reality not to be ignored. As the story goes, there was a day when the devil called an emergency meeting in hell. All his senior demons were there. The agenda: how to increase the number of people who were going to hell instead of heaven. The first demon to speak said, "Let me launch an all-out attack on people's belief in the Bible and Jesus as the Son of God. Before I'm finished, they won't trust either one, and hell will be full." The devil was impressed and he released that first demon to launch his doubt offensive on the future inhabitants of eternity. After an appropriate time, Satan reconvened his council of senior demons. He wasn't pleased, especially with demon number one. He said, "The number of people coming to hell is up only slightly since you tried your little strategy of creating doubt. This isn't working! We need a better idea."

That was when demon number two stepped up with a plan he believed to be foolproof. "I will launch an all-out campaign to convince people they will have to give up too much to follow Jesus. It costs too much! It's too hard! That's what I'll tell them." Satan was fascinated with that proposal and he wished demon number two great success. It didn't happen. The traffic coming into hell did increase some, but not nearly enough to satisfy the enemy of every human soul. No, he wanted many more.

All the other demons were afraid to offer another plan for fear of failure and the devil's displeasure. All the other demons except one, that is. Demon number three asked Satan for permission to launch a top secret strategy - one which he would only reveal after the results were in. The devil was skeptical. But since nothing else was working, he let demon number three put his secret plan into action.

Within weeks, the floodgates opened. More people were ending up in hell than any of the demons had ever seen. Satan again convened his demon council to find out what was this strategy that was bringing so many people to hell. When the third demon explained it, everyone was amazed. And that strategy for keeping people from heaven is the sober reality we all need to consider.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Deadliest Day in the World."

The third demon explained: "I actually tell people they do need Jesus and that they should give Him their life." Satan was ready to explode! The room was quiet as a tomb when the third demon said: "I tell them to come to Jesus...tomorrow."

And that's the word that has sent so many people to hell - tomorrow. "I know I should open my heart to Jesus. I'll get right with Him - tomorrow." Listen to God's urgent call in 2 Corinthians 6:2. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." That word salvation, it's a rescue word, because rescue is why Jesus came.

Our sins have earned us the eternal death penalty that the Bible calls hell. A hell which could be cancelled only one way. It took the Son of God Himself taking your hell and mine; taking your punishment for you. You did the sinning; Jesus did the dying. When a rescuer extends his hand to you in a burning or collapsed building, you don't wait to grab it. Your chance to live is now.

And Jesus is extending His rescuing hand to you today, even as I'm speaking these words. He's the tug you feel in your heart. None of your reasons for waiting are worth risking an unthinkable eternity. Now is the day of salvation. God said it. Don't risk it. The rescue happens when you grab Jesus your Rescuer with both hands and say, "Jesus, You're my only hope. I'm Yours from today on." Because today is the only day you can be sure of.

Our website is there to help you get this settled once and for all. I hope you'll go there today. It's ANewStory.com. Please visit us today at ANewStory.com.

If they could, so many people on the other side of eternity would say to you, "Don't wait for tomorrow." Because for them, tomorrow never came.

Nehemiah 12 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE MESSAGE FROM THE CROSS

Why did Jesus live on the earth as long as he did? To take on our sins is one thing. To experience death, yes. But to put up with the long roads, the long days? Why did he do it? Because he wants you to trust him. Even his final act on earth was intended to win your trust. Mark 15:22 says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha where they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him.”

Why? Why did he endure all this suffering, all these feelings? Well because he knew you’d be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be grief-stricken, and hungry, that you’d face pain. A pauper knows better than to beg from another pauper. He needs someone who’s stronger than he is. Jesus’ message from the cross is this: I am that person. Trust me.


Nehemiah 12

1-7 These are the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,

Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.

These were the leaders of the priests during the time of Jeshua.

8-9 And the Levites:

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah;

Mattaniah, with his brothers, was in charge of songs of praise, and their brothers Bakbukiah and Unni stood opposite them in the services of worship.

10-11 Jeshua fathered Joiakim,

Joiakim fathered Eliashib,

Eliashib fathered Joiada,

Joiada fathered Jonathan,

and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.

12-21 During the time of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:

of the family of Seraiah, Meraiah;

of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

of Ezra, Meshullam;

of Amariah, Jehohanan;

of Malluch, Jonathan;

of Shecaniah, Joseph;

of Harim, Adna;

of Meremoth, Helkai;

of Iddo, Zechariah;

of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

of Abijah, Zicri;

of Miniamin and Moadiah, Piltai;

of Bilgah, Shammua;

of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;

of Joiarib, Mattenai;

of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

of Sallu, Kallai;

of Amok, Eber;

of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;

and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

22 During the time of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were registered as heads of families. During the reign of Darius the Persian, the priests were registered.

23-24 The Levites who were heads of families were registered in the Book of the Chronicles until the time of Johanan son of Eliashib. These were:

Hashabiah,

Sherebiah,

and Jeshua son of Kadmiel.

Their brothers stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one side responding to the other, as had been directed by David the man of God.

25-26 The security guards included:

Mattaniah,

Bakbukiah,

Obadiah,

Meshullam,

Talmon,

and Akkub.

They guarded the storerooms at the gates. They lived during the time of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, the time of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scholar.

Dedication of the Wall
27-29 When it came time for the dedication of the wall, they tracked down and brought in the Levites from all their homes in Jerusalem to carry out the dedication with exuberance: thanksgiving hymns, songs, cymbals, harps, and lutes. The singers assembled from all around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, from Beth Gilgal, from the farms at Geba and Azmaveth—the singers had built villages for themselves all around Jerusalem.

30 The priests and Levites ceremonially purified themselves; then they did the same for the people, the gates, and the wall.

31-36 I had the leaders of Judah come up on the wall, and I appointed two large choirs. One proceeded on the wall to the right toward the Dung Gate. Hashaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, including Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. Some of the young priests had trumpets. Next, playing the musical instruments of David the man of God, came Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, and his brothers Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. Ezra the scholar led them.

37 At the Fountain Gate they went straight ahead, up the steps of the City of David using the wall stairway above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

38-39 The other choir proceeded to the left. I and half of the people followed them on the wall from the Tower of Furnaces to the Broad Wall, over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred as far as the Sheep Gate, stopping at the Prison Gate.

40-42 The two choirs then took their places in The Temple of God. I was there with half of the officials, along with the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah with their trumpets. Also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers, directed by Jezrahiah, made the rafters ring.

43 That day they offered great sacrifices, an exuberant celebration because God had filled them with great joy. The women and children raised their happy voices with all the rest. Jerusalem’s jubilation was heard far and wide.

* * *

44-46 That same day men were appointed to be responsible for the storerooms for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the tithes. They saw to it that the portion directed by The Revelation for the priests and Levites was brought in from the farms connected to the towns. Judah was so appreciative of the priests and Levites and their service; they, along with the singers and security guards, had done everything so well, conducted the worship of their God and the ritual of ceremonial cleansing in a way that would have made David and his son Solomon proud. That’s the way it was done in the olden days, the days of David and Asaph, when they had choir directors for singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

47 During the time of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily allowances for the singers and security guards. They also set aside what was dedicated to the Levites, and the Levites did the same for the Aaronites.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, April 15, 2021

Read: Leviticus 19:32–34

“‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.

33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

INSIGHT
Leviticus 19 provides a list of dos and don’ts for the Israelites—strict laws given for a reason: so they’d be holy or “set apart” for God. They were to avoid wrong behavior and to do good, specifically in terms of interactions with others (see vv. 3–37). In light of the New Testament, the underlying concept of these laws is still relevant today (loving and taking care of others; being honest, etc.). However, certain specific regulations no longer apply. For example, it’s not necessary to avoid wearing clothes made of two different materials (v. 19), which was commonly only allowed by priests; to make animal sacrifices when we sin (v. 21), because Christ’s death has made atonement for our sin; or to avoid certain beard or hair styles (v. 27), because these practices were associated with those who worshiped false gods. Instead, we can stand out as believers in Jesus by displaying a changed heart—living lives of honesty and integrity and treating others well.

By Kirsten Holmberg
The Baggage Activity

Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Leviticus 19:34

Karen, a middle school teacher, created an activity to teach her students how to better understand one another. In “The Baggage Activity” students wrote down some of the emotional weights they were carrying. The notes were shared anonymously, giving the students insight into each other’s hardships, often with a tearful response from their peers. The classroom has since been filled with a deeper sense of mutual respect among the young teens, who now have a greater sense of empathy for one another.

Throughout the Bible, God has nudged His people to treat one another with dignity and show empathy in their interaction with others (Romans 12:15). As early in the history of Israel as the book of Leviticus, God pointed the Israelites toward empathy—especially in their dealings with foreigners. He said to “love them as [themselves]” because they too had been foreigners in Egypt and knew that hardship intimately (Leviticus 19:34).

Sometimes the burdens we carry make us feel like foreigners—alone and misunderstood—even among our peers. We don’t always have a similar experience to draw on as the Israelites did with the foreigners among them. Yet we can always treat those God puts in our paths with the respect and understanding that we, ourselves, desire. Whether a modern-day middle schooler, an Israelite, or anything in between, we honor God when we do.

Who around you might need your empathy for the burdens they carry? How can you “love them as yourself”?

God, You know the weight in my heart and You graciously unburden me as I put my trust in You. Help me to offer care and compassion toward those in my life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 15, 2021
The Failure To Pay Close Attention

The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly.  Disciples Indeed, 393 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 15, 2021

The Shark Syndrome - #8939

In the past, there was a series of movies that kind of made one four-letter word come to strike terror in the human heart. Just think how you feel when I say this word - Jaws.

It's not the kind that involves an orthodontist, no. If you've been around, listen, you've known, probably from the movies, it's the jaws of that terrorist of the sea - the shark! Now, I hate to be critical, but these are pretty nasty fellows. And consider what attracts a shark - blood. Isn't that nice? When someone's wounded, they move in for the kill. Where there's bleeding, there are sharks. And they're not all in the ocean.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Shark Syndrome."

Today we're talking about wounds; about people who hurt you; about tense relationships and some healing wisdom from the Scriptures. Proverbs 17:9, our Word for today from the Word of God, has some really down-home wisdom. Listen to this: "He who covers an offense promotes love. But whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." You say, "Whoa, whoa! Where was that? I didn't know it was going to be that good." Yeah, it's Proverbs 17:9 and it talks about two approaches when there's a wound.

One is to repeat the matter. The other is to cover the offense. Now, in shark talk, you can pounce on the offense, or you can swim on by. Depending on which one you do, there are two outcomes. If you pounce on that hurt, you pounce on that wound, that problem, that hurt that's been inflicted on you, well then; it says there's going to be separated friends. If you choose to overlook it, it talks about love being promoted. And it all depends on whether you want to be an overlooker or a score keeper.

See, if you love someone, you can swim by all kinds of hurts and problems. You say, "Well, yeah, I love him. I can forget it." If you don't love someone, you don't forget anything that they do wrong. You're a list keeper, you're a score keeper. You've got a black list, and it's in indelible ink. You'll remember. You'll replay every infraction. And you know what? That's how marriages discentegrate, that's how parents and children come apart, that's how friendships are ruined, that's how working relationships end up being enemies. That's how churches split.

Christ's love is not just some sticky, sweet emotional syrupy thing. It's really practical. Without it, we become selective recorders, recording the data that proves that a person is as bad as we thought - recording the wounds. But real love? Well, it lets all kinds of hurts go. And if you let it go, it won't grow. If you don't let it go, it will grow, and it will grow into that root of bitterness the Bible says that "will defile many and cause trouble" (Hebrews 12:15).

There might be a relationship of yours right now that is suffering from your uh... shall we say overly efficient memory. You've been remembering, storing it up, adding up offenses, keeping score, attacking where there's a wound. 1 Corinthians 13 says that "Love God's style keeps no record of offenses."

Here's a good prayer for today, "Dear Lord, help me and teach me to be an overlooker." Don't add up the hurts and the wounds and pounce on them. Let it go! Who needs any more sharks anyway? Swim on by.

Revelation 19 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD INVITES YOU IN

If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies—a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest, and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.

God is holy, and we’re sinners, and there’s a distance between us. Like Job, we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.” God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in.

Revelation 19

The Sound of Hallelujahs

 I heard a sound like massed choirs in Heaven singing,

Hallelujah!
The salvation and glory and power are God’s—
    his judgments true, his judgments just.
He judged the great Whore
    who corrupted the earth with her lust.
He avenged on her the blood of his servants.

Then, more singing:

Hallelujah!
The smoke from her burning billows up
    to high Heaven forever and ever and ever.

4 The Twenty-four Elders and the Four Animals fell to their knees and worshiped God on his Throne, praising,

Amen! Yes! Hallelujah!

5 From the Throne came a shout, a command:

Praise our God, all you his servants,
All you who fear him, small and great!

6-8 Then I heard the sound of massed choirs, the sound of mighty rapids, the sound of strong thunder:

Hallelujah!
The Master reigns,
    our God, the Sovereign-Strong!
Let us celebrate, let us rejoice,
    let us give him the glory!
The Marriage of the Lamb has come;
    his Wife has made herself ready.
She was given a bridal gown
    of bright and shining linen.
The linen is the righteousness of the saints.

9 The Angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.’” He added, “These are the true words of God!”

10 I fell at his feet to worship him, but he wouldn’t let me. “Don’t do that,” he said. “I’m a servant just like you, and like your brothers and sisters who hold to the witness of Jesus. The witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

A White Horse and Its Rider
11-16 Then I saw Heaven open wide—and oh! a white horse and its Rider. The Rider, named Faithful and True, judges and makes war in pure righteousness. His eyes are a blaze of fire, on his head many crowns. He has a Name inscribed that’s known only to himself. He is dressed in a robe soaked with blood, and he is addressed as “Word of God.” The armies of Heaven, mounted on white horses and dressed in dazzling white linen, follow him. A sharp sword comes out of his mouth so he can subdue the nations, then rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the raging wrath of God, the Sovereign-Strong. On his robe and thigh is written, King of kings, Lord of lords.

17-18 I saw an Angel standing in the sun, shouting to all flying birds in Middle-Heaven, “Come to the Great Supper of God! Feast on the flesh of kings and captains and champions, horses and their riders. Eat your fill of them all—free and slave, small and great!”

19-21 I saw the Beast and, assembled with him, earth’s kings and their armies, ready to make war against the One on the horse and his army. The Beast was taken, and with him, his puppet, the False Prophet, who used signs to dazzle and deceive those who had taken the mark of the Beast and worshiped his image. They were thrown alive, those two, into Lake Fire and Brimstone. The rest were killed by the sword of the One on the horse, the sword that comes from his mouth. All the birds held a feast on their flesh.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Read: Ephesians 5:1–9

 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

INSIGHT
Paul often writes of what our new life in Christ is to look like. We’re new creations from which the old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Ephesians 5:3–7, he lists specific characteristics or actions that should have no place in the lives of believers in Jesus.

But the focus of this section lies in the reason Paul gives for leaving these things behind. The word for at the beginning of verse 8 signals that what follows is causal. We leave these things behind because we’re no longer darkness but light. Paul doesn’t say that we inhabited these areas, but rather that we were these things. We were darkness, but now we’re light. The actions left behind belong to darkness and have no place in light.

By Glenn Packiam
Live Like It’s Morning

The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. Ephesians 5:9

When I have to travel across time zones by air, I try various remedies to avoid jet lag. I think I’ve tried them all! On one occasion, I decided to adjust my in-flight eating to the time zone where I was heading. Instead of eating dinner with the rest of the passengers, I kept watching a movie and tried to fall asleep. The hours of elective fasting were difficult, and the breakfast that came right before we landed left much to be desired. But living “out of sorts” with those around me worked. It jolted my body clock into a new time zone.

Paul knew that if believers in Jesus were to truly reflect Him in their lives, they would need to live out of step with the world around them. They “were once darkness” but now they were to live as “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). And what might that look like? Paul goes on to fill out the picture: “The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth” (v. 9).

Sleeping through dinner may have seemed foolish to the people on my flight, but even as it’s midnight in the world, as believers, we’re called to live like it’s morning. This may provoke scorn and opposition, but in Jesus we can “walk in the way of love,” following the example of the One who “love[s] us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (v. 2).

Where have your actions and choices lined up too closely with the world around you? What would the fruit of goodness, righteousness, and truth look like in your life?

Jesus, wake me up to the new day that has come in You. Fill me with Your power to live in a “different time zone.” Open my eyes to choose goodness, righteousness, and beauty.

To learn more about the characteristics of a believer in Jesus, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF132.

    
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Inner Invincibility

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29

“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him.  Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12:32-59

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Intimidated Into Silence - #8938

I think I attended what they would have called a racially-troubled elementary school when I was in kindergarten and first grade. The only thing is the kids didn't know it; somebody forgot to tell us it was racially troubled. It was a changing neighborhood and I guess the adults were real tense about what was going on between the black and white kids. We just didn't know there was any difference between us.

I was out on the playground one day and we were playing dive bomber. It was winter and we all had hats and coats on. The idea was you're supposed to come in with your arm real low and knock off the other guy's hat. Well, in the process (clumsy me), I connected with the head of one of my black kids in our class. I'm a klutz; I missed. Up comes this big, sixth grade patrol boy on a power trip. We called them patrol boys, crossing guards, whatever...they looked huge to a little first grader. This patrol boy said, "Did you try to knock his hat off?" I said, "Yeah, I was trying to knock his hat off!" I was so confused I didn't know what to answer him.

He said, "Wait a minute! Did you say you were trying to knock his head off!?" Oh that isn't what I said. I said I was trying to knock his hat off. Did you know I was so intimidated by that crazy patrol boy I couldn't tell him what really happened. Then he said, "Then I'm taking you to the principal's office." That did it! You can't imagine how big that sixth grader looked to me, and then he's got the power of the principal behind him. I had something important to say, but he seemed just too big to say it to.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Intimidated Into Silence."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 29:25. It says, "The fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." I have a friend who has a very powerful, wealthy father who has shown a lot of Christian leaders generosity over the years. And, therefore, he's been approached by many of those people for contributions. They've spent hours on end developing his friendship. His re-born daughter said something that really made me sad. She said, "Ron, as far as I know, not one of them has ever shared the Gospel with my Dad." Oh, they went to him for financial support for the Lord's work, and I can understand they probably didn't want to offend him, but because this man is rich and powerful, people don't tell him about Jesus.

Is that what Proverbs is saying, "The fear of man trips you up," "It's a trap," "It's a snare." Let's bring it down to where we live. There's probably someone in your world who's powerful, maybe a supervisor, a strong relative, maybe someone whose favor you need for some reason. Have you ever tried to tell that person about Jesus or have you been intimidated into silence? No one should miss a chance at heaven because they're in a powerful position and they scare people away. I mean, I'm a child of the King of the universe. I don't need to fear or be intimidated by anyone. I know who I am. I'll be that forever; no one can take that away from me. That's my identity you can't touch.

Why don't you begin to pray that the Lord will help you see that intimidating person through God's eyes? What does God see? He sees someone lost, lonely, hurting, fighting their battles without a Savior, a sinner needing the cross. Then pray for a natural opportunity given to you by God - an easy way to get into a conversation. Our three-open prayer, "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth." Pray for the courage to take that opportunity, and pray for an approach that can begin with something they care about, with their need. And base it on your personal hope story.

I once looked at a powerful patrol boy, and I had nothing to say to him. And I should have said something to him; I had something important to say. It looks dumb to me today. Now, today someone looks almost too big to you to tell the most important news of all. Don't look back one day and say, "Why didn't I tell them?" Because when it comes to the message of salvation, silence is not golden, it's fatal.

Nehemiah 11 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: CLOTHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
Scripture often describes our behavior as the clothes we wear. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter urges us to be “clothed with humility.” David speaks of evil people who clothe themselves “with cursing.” Garments can symbolize character, and like his garment, Jesus’ character was seamless.

The character of Jesus was a seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth—from God’s thoughts to Jesus’ actions. From God’s tears to Jesus’ compassion. From God’s word to Jesus’ response. All one piece, a picture of the character of Jesus.

But when Christ was nailed to the cross, he took off his robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe: the wardrobe of indignity. He wore our sin so we could wear his righteousness.
Nehemiah 11

The leaders of the people were already living in Jerusalem, so the rest of the people drew lots to get one out of ten to move to Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine remained in their towns. The people applauded those who voluntarily offered to live in Jerusalem.

3-4 These are the leaders in the province who resided in Jerusalem (some Israelites, priests, Levites, Temple staff, and descendants of Solomon’s slaves lived in the towns of Judah on their own property in various towns; others from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem):

4-6 From the family of Judah:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, from the family line of Perez; Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem numbered 468 valiant men.

7-9 From the family of Benjamin:

Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, and his brothers Gabbai and Sallai: 928 men. Joel son of Zicri was their chief and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in command over the city.

10-14 From the priests:

Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jakin; Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor of The Temple of God, along with their associates responsible for work in The Temple: 822 men. Also Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, and his associates who were heads of families: 242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, and his associates, all valiant men: 128 men. Their commander was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.

15-18 From the Levites:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; Shabbethai and Jozabad, two of the leaders of the Levites who were in charge of the outside work of The Temple of God; Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. The Levites in the holy city totaled 284.

19 From the security guards:

Akkub, Talmon, and their associates who kept watch over the gates: 172 men.

20 The rest of the Israelites, priests, and Levites were in all the towns of Judah, each on his own family property.

21 The Temple staff lived on the hill Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were responsible for them.

22-23 The chief officer over the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, singers who led worship in The Temple of God. The singers got their orders from the king, who drew up their daily schedule.

24 Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, a descendant of Zerah son of Judah, represented the people’s concerns at the royal court.

25-30 Some of the Judeans lived in the villages near their farms:

Kiriath Arba (Hebron) and suburbs

Dibon and suburbs

Jekabzeel and suburbs

Jeshua

Moladah

Beth Pelet

Hazar Shual

Beersheba and suburbs

Ziklag

Meconah and suburbs

En Rimmon

Zorah

Jarmuth

Zanoah

Adullam and their towns

Lachish and its fields

Azekah and suburbs.

They were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

31-36 The Benjaminites from Geba lived in:

Micmash

Aijah

Bethel and its suburbs

Anathoth

Nob and Ananiah

Hazor

Ramah and Gittaim

Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat

Lod and Ono and the Valley of the Craftsmen.

Also some of the Levitical groups of Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1–5

 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

INSIGHT
Luke tells us in Acts 16:1 that Timothy’s mother was a Jewish believer but his father was a Greek. His mixed heritage, together with the fact that Timothy had already earned the respect of believers in Jesus in his Roman hometown of Lystra (vv. 1–2), caught Paul’s attention. He and Silas were in the process of helping Jewish and gentile followers of Christ understand their relationship to the law of Moses and to one another (15:22). Elders of the church in Jerusalem had recently come to some important conclusions about ways to welcome and encourage gentiles into the faith (vv. 7–21). Paul apparently saw Timothy as an example of a young gentile who was growing in the ways of Jesus. What began like a father-son relationship, developed into a partnership to the point that Paul acknowledged Timothy as his co-author of 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.

By Elisa Morgan
The Frosting of Faith

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 2 Timothy 1:5

Hand in hand, my grandson and I skipped across the parking lot to find a special back-to-school outfit. A preschooler now, he was excited about everything, and I was determined to ignite his happiness into joy. I’d just seen a coffee mug with the inscription, “Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.” Frosting equals fun, glitter, joy! That’s my job description as his grandma, right? That . . . and more.

In his second letter to his spiritual son Timothy, Paul calls out his sincere faith—and then credits its lineage both to Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5). These women lived out their faith in such a way that Timothy also came to believe in Jesus. Surely, Lois and Eunice loved Timothy and provided for his needs. But clearly, they did more. Paul points to the faith living in them as the source of the faith later living in Timothy.

My job as a grandmother includes the “frosting” moment of a back-to-school outfit. But even more, I’m called to the frosting moments when I share my faith: Bowing our heads over chicken nuggets. Noticing angelic cloud formations in the sky as God’s works of art. Chirping along with a song about Jesus on the radio. Let’s be wooed by the example of moms and grandmas like Eunice and Lois to let our faith become the frosting in life so others will want what we have.


How have you been influenced by the faith of others? How are you living out your faith so that others might be influenced?

Dear God, help me to invest my time in living out my faith before others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming
Cast your burden on the Lord… —Psalm 55:22

We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him— to literally “cast your burden,” which He has given you, “on the Lord….” If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, “What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!”

“Cast your burden on the Lord….” You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God’s shoulder. “…the government will be upon His shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6). Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 22-24; Luke 12:1-31

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Wait Til You See Your Senior Picture - #8937

My daughter's college French class finished early one day, so she pulled out all her pictures for some strange reason. And there was her senior picture. Well, as her Father, my opinion was, "She's beautiful, she's radiant." But then a lot of other people said that about her too.

And then there was her 7th grade picture, with her hair parted down the middle and pulled back, big glasses, braces. Apparently the guy next to her was pretty outspoken. He said, "Man! How ugly!" (Guys are great aren't they?) She said, "Well, that's okay. I don't mind, as long as it's not that way now."

And he said, "Oh, no way! Are you kidding?" And then they took the pictures up to their French teacher to see. And she looked at the 7th grade picture and said, "Hum..." Then the 8th grade picture and said, "Well, I see some progress." And then she compared 7th grade to my daughter's senior picture. And in French she said, "What a miracle!" Well, caterpillars do grow up to be butterflies. And, it's always a miracle.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wait Til You See Your Senior Picture."

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Philippians 1, and I'm reading verse 6. Before we do, let's get something straight. We're talking about your development and caterpillars becoming butterflies, but we're not talking so much physical here, though you may need to be patient until you get through that caterpillar stage. But you may feel like you're in one of those stages right now.

Let's take a look at the big picture of who you're becoming as a total person. Here's the verse: "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." In other words, God's started something in you, and you're going to love the finished product. But on the way to our, shall we say, senior picture, where we're going to look beautiful, there might be some braces, some awkward stages, some blemishes, some ugly moments. Maybe you feel like you're in there right now, wondering if it's always going to be like this.

Well, Philippians 1:6 says, "No, it won't!" God has started something. There's an active, dynamic process going on, and you won't always be in 7th grade. You won't always act like this. You won't always be like this, because He isn't finished with you yet. We certainly wouldn't judge Leonardo da Vinci on a half-finished Mona Lisa would we? You say, "Well, that doesn't look too good." Wait till He's done.

Right now maybe you're discouraged by the stage you're in. You're very aware of what you aren't, of your faults, failures, your fears, your inadequacies. And maybe you're not getting a lot of affirmation and appreciation right now, maybe not getting much attention. It's a tough time, but you won't be like this forever. This is a stage on your way to being a beautiful total person. He's promised He will carry His process on to completion. It's like 7th grade in my daughter's life. It's a station, not a destination.

You're in a station right now, but God's taking you on to something more beautiful. Don't give up, don't quit trying, don't start withdrawing because you don't like the way it looks now. Focus on your Creator, because He only does masterpieces.

Oh, and while you're at it, focus on other people. There are some people around you who need your encouragement, need your smile, need you to care. If your eyes are on what you are, you'll be discouraged. If your eyes are on what you're becoming, you'll have hope with anticipation. When you and all the people you know see God's finished product, God's senior picture of you, you will testify together, "What a miracle!"