Matthew 22:1-22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Bold Prayers - September 6, 2021
How bold are your prayers?

As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic, he was reading in his cabin and became aware of heavy winds knocking the ship off course. He responded in prayer. A colleague wrote it down: “Almighty and everlasting God…Thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the water floods…command those winds and these waves that they obey Thee. Take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.”

Having offered the prayer, Wesley took up his book and continued reading. On deck his colleague found calm winds and the ship on course. Wesley made no mention of the answered prayer. His friend wrote, “So fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted he was heard.”

How bold are your prayers?

Matthew 22:1-22

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

The Story of the Wedding Banquet

 Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come!

4 “He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’

5-7 “They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.

8-10 “Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.

11-13 “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’

14 “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’”
Paying Taxes

15-17 That’s when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in, to ask, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don’t pander to your students. So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18-19 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” They handed him a silver piece.

20 “This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”

21 They said, “Caesar.”

“Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”

22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, September 06, 2021

Today's Scripture
Deuteronomy 33:1–5
,
12
(NIV)

Moses Blesses the Tribes

This is the blessingd that Moses the man of Gode pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2 He said:

“The Lord came from Sinaif

and dawned over them from Seir;g

he shone forthh from Mount Paran.i

He came witha myriads of holy onesj

from the south, from his mountain slopes.b

3 Surely it is you who lovek the people;

all the holy ones are in your hand.l

At your feet they all bow down,m

and from you receive instruction,

4 the law that Moses gave us,n

the possession of the assembly of Jacob.o

5 He was kingp over Jeshurunc q

when the leaders of the people assembled,

along with the tribes of Israel.

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,g

for he shields him all day long,h

and the one the Lord lovesi rests between his shoulders.j”

Insight

Moses’ blessing to the Israelites before his death follows the tradition of a father blessing his children before death (Genesis 49). He addresses each of the tribes as if they were individual sons. These individual blessings (Deuteronomy 33:6–25) are framed before and after with a poem of blessing addressed to all of Israel (vv. 1–5, 26–29). (Jeshurun, vv. 5, 26, means “the upright one” and refers to all of Israel.) Because Yahweh was their God, they were blessed—saved, secure, and strong. God was their warrior and king who defeats all foes (vv. 26–29) and rules His people through the law given to Moses (v. 4). By: Monica La Rose

Resting Secure in God
Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long.
Deuteronomy 33:12

I wrote a letter to our children as each became a teenager. In one I talked about our identity in Christ, remembering that when I was a teenager, I felt unsure of myself, lacking confidence. I had to learn that I was God’s beloved—His child. I said in the letter, “Knowing who you are comes down to knowing Whose you are.” For when we understand that God has created us and we commit to following Him, we can be at peace with who He’s made us to be. And we also know that He changes us to be more like Him each day.

A foundational passage from Scripture about our identity as God’s children is Deuteronomy 33:12: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” Just before Moses died, he proclaimed this blessing over the tribe of Benjamin as God’s people prepared to enter the land He’d promised them. God wanted them to always remember that they were His beloved and to rest secure in their identity as His children.

Knowing our identity as God’s children is equally important for everyone—teenagers, those in the middle of life, and those who have lived a long time. When we understand that God created us and watches over us, we can find security, hope, and love.   By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

How does knowing that you can “rest between his shoulders” increase your love for God? How does this deepen your understanding of who you are?

Loving Father, You created me and You hold me close. Let my identity as Your child permeate my thoughts and actions.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 06, 2021
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life

He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. —John 7:38

A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe…” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R

Bible in a Year: Psalms 148-150; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 06, 2021
No Amount of Watering - #9041

Okay I'm pretty much a dummy when it comes to taking care of growing things, I admit that. I have to be careful laughing at what a cousin of ours did therefore. Oh, it was a nice thing. His wife was gone for a couple of weeks; he volunteered to take care of some of the household jobs she was leaving behind. Including watering her plants. Yeah, he did. Including this good-sized ficus plant. Now, I don't know what that is, but I can still tell the story. Right? He watered it faithfully every day. He proudly reported that to his wife when she got home. That's when he learned a revealing fact about that ficus plant - it wasn't real. He had been faithfully watering a lifeless plant.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Amount of Watering."

You know, no amount of watering is going to make something lifeless real. No matter how sincere the efforts. One of the disturbing revelations in the Bible is the fact that many people are sincerely nurturing something that has no life, in hopes that it will win them points with God and help them go to heaven some day.

In Proverbs 14:12, it's our word for today from the Word of God, it says: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Wow! If you ask most folks if they're going to heaven, they'll say "yeah," or "I hope so." And those hopes, in most cases, are based on the good things I do, the nice person I'm trying to be, the religion I'm faithfully following.

Unfortunately, God explicitly tells us that is not how to get to heaven. Listen to God's own words, "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5). In another place, God says, "No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law" (Romans 3:20). And it couldn't be much clearer than this statement: "It is by grace," that's God's undeserved favor, "It is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works..." (Ephesians 2:8-9). Well, that couldn't be any plainer. Not by works - no amount of religion, no amount of human goodness.

So a person may be faithfully pursuing some spiritual system or lifestyle and still miss heaven. They're watering something that can't produce life. It may be beautiful...it may look like something that has life. They may really be sincere, but the Bible says human goodness can't produce eternal life.

Because our sin carries an eternal death penalty that the Bible describes as the "wages of sin" (Romans 6:23). And doing good can't pay a death penalty - someone has to die to pay a death penalty. I deserve that penalty for hijacking my life from the God who gave it to me. But Someone who loved me - and you - so much that He said, "I will die in your place." That was God's only Son, Jesus. And He is our only hope of heaven.

We're drowning. We can't save ourselves. Our only hope is grabbing the Rescuer, Jesus, holding onto Him like He's our only hope. Grabbing Him. That's the difference between eternal life and eternal death. Now, if you're not sure there's ever been a time when you've put all your trust in Jesus, I urge you; make this day your Jesus-day. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I believe that some of those sins You died for on that cross were mine. I'm turning over the wheel of my life to you. I'm not driving anymore, I've done that enough. And because you walked out of your grave under your own power, I know you are alive. I'm putting all my trust in you to take me to heaven someday and to forgive every sin. Today, I'm yours."

Listen, if you prayed that prayer, or if you'd really like to check out a simple explanation of how to be sure you belong to Jesus, go to our website, would you? It's ANewStory.com.

Look, you've known about Jesus. You've tried to do things that please Jesus. But maybe you've never really given yourself to Jesus. You are so close. Don't miss Him.

Genesis 42, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Moral Absolutes

When I was nine years old, I complimented a friend’s model airplane. He said, “I stole it!”  He could tell I was stunned because he asked, “Do you think that was wrong?” When I told him I did, he answered simply, “It may be wrong for you, but it’s not wrong for me. I know the owner. He’s rich…I’m not.”

What do you say to that argument? If the majority opinion determines good and evil, what happens when the majority is wrong? A godly view of the world has something to say to my childhood thief. You may think it’s right. Society may think it’s okay. But the God who made you said, ‘You shall not steal’—and he wasn’t kidding. The hedonist’s world of no moral absolutes works fine on paper and sounds great in a college philosophy course, but in life? Paul described it best in Romans 1:21, “Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.”

From In the Grip of Grace

Genesis 42

When Jacob learned that there was food in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you sit around here and look at one another? I’ve heard that there is food in Egypt. Go down there and buy some so that we can survive and not starve to death.”

3-5 Ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to get food. Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something bad might happen to him. So Israel’s sons joined everyone else that was going to Egypt to buy food, for Canaan, too, was hit hard by the famine.

6-7 Joseph was running the country; he was the one who gave out rations to all the people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they treated him with honor, bowing to him. Joseph recognized them immediately, but treated them as strangers and spoke roughly to them.

He said, “Where do you come from?”

“From Canaan,” they said. “We’ve come to buy food.”

8 Joseph knew who they were, but they didn’t know who he was.

9 Joseph, remembering the dreams he had dreamed of them, said, “You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”

10-11 “No, master,” they said. “We’ve only come to buy food. We’re all the sons of the same man; we’re honest men; we’d never think of spying.”

12 He said, “No. You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”

13 They said, “There were twelve of us brothers—sons of the same father in the country of Canaan. The youngest is with our father, and one is no more.”

14-16 But Joseph said, “It’s just as I said, you’re spies. This is how I’ll test you. As Pharaoh lives, you’re not going to leave this place until your younger brother comes here. Send one of you to get your brother while the rest of you stay here in jail. We’ll see if you’re telling the truth or not. As Pharaoh lives, I say you’re spies.”

17 Then he threw them into jail for three days.

18-20 On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. “Do this and you’ll live. I’m a God-fearing man. If you’re as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. But you have to bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech—and not one of you will die.” They agreed.

21 Then they started talking among themselves. “Now we’re paying for what we did to our brother—we saw how terrified he was when he was begging us for mercy. We wouldn’t listen to him and now we’re the ones in trouble.”

22 Reuben broke in. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t hurt the boy’? But no, you wouldn’t listen. And now we’re paying for his murder.”

23-24 Joseph had been using an interpreter, so they didn’t know that Joseph was understanding every word. Joseph turned away from them and cried. When he was able to speak again, he took Simeon and had him tied up, making a prisoner of him while they all watched.

25 Then Joseph ordered that their sacks be filled with grain, that their money be put back in each sack, and that they be given rations for the road. That was all done for them.

26 They loaded their food supplies on their donkeys and set off.

27-28 When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get food for his donkey; there at the mouth of his bag was his money. He called out to his brothers, “My money has been returned; it’s right here in my bag!” They were puzzled—and frightened. “What’s God doing to us?”

29-32 When they got back to their father Jacob, back in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened, saying, “The man who runs the country spoke to us roughly and accused us of being spies. We told him, ‘We are honest men and in no way spies. There were twelve of us brothers, sons of one father; one is gone and the youngest is with our father in Canaan.’

33-34 “But the master of the country said, ‘Leave one of your brothers with me, take food for your starving families, and go. Bring your youngest brother back to me, proving that you’re honest men and not spies. And then I’ll give your brother back to you and you’ll be free to come and go in this country.’”

35 As they were emptying their food sacks, each man came on his purse of money. On seeing their money, they and their father were upset.

36 Their father said to them, “You’re taking everything I’ve got! Joseph’s gone, Simeon’s gone, and now you want to take Benjamin. If you have your way, I’ll be left with nothing.”

37 Reuben spoke up: “I’ll put my two sons in your hands as hostages. If I don’t bring Benjamin back, you can kill them. Trust me with Benjamin; I’ll bring him back.”

38 But Jacob refused. “My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead and he is all I have left. If something bad happens to him on the road, you’ll put my gray, sorrowing head in the grave.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, September 05, 2021

Today's Scripture Jeremiah 3:11–15, 22 (NIV)

The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteousi than unfaithfulj Judah.k 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:l

“ ‘Return,m faithlessn Israel,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will frown on you no longer,

for I am faithful,’o declares the Lord,

‘I will not be angryp forever.

13 Only acknowledgeq your guilt—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign godsr

under every spreading tree,s

and have not obeyedt me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

14 “Return,u faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.v I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherdsw after my own heart,x who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 

“Return,p faithless people;

I will cureq you of backsliding.”r

“Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

Insight

The faithlessness of Old Testament Israel is a story that began at the foot of Mount Sinai. There, a covenant agreement between God and Israel (Exodus 24:3) established the new nation as a people of God. This covenant was quickly forgotten. Having been rescued from bondage by the God of their ancestors and having witnessed numerous acts of wonder by that same God, the Israelites turned their backs on Him—seeking instead a god of their own making, a golden calf (Exodus 32). Even worse, the architect of this false idol was Aaron, chosen by God to be the high priest of the nation of Israel! Similar patterns would continue throughout the days of the judges and the kings, ultimately culminating in exile as God lovingly disciplined His people to bring them back to Himself. Israel’s frequent faithlessness stands in stark contrast to the constant faithfulness of God. By: Bill Crowder

Help from the Holy Spirit

Return, faithless people. I will cure you of backsliding.
Jeremiah 3:22

While my classmates and I used to skip the occasional lecture in university, everyone always made sure to attend Professor Chris’ lecture the week before the year-end exams. That was when he would unfailingly drop big hints about the exam questions he’d set.

I always wondered why he did that, until I realized that Prof. Chris genuinely wanted us to do well. He had high standards, but he would help us meet them. All we had to do was show up and listen so we could prepare properly.

It struck me that God is like that too. God can’t compromise His standards, but because He deeply desires us to be like He is, He’s given us the Holy Spirit to help us meet those standards.

In Jeremiah 3:11–14, God urged unfaithful Israel to acknowledge their guilt and return to Him. But knowing how stubborn and weak they were, He would help them. He promised to cure their backsliding ways (v. 22), and He sent shepherds to teach and guide them (v. 15).

How comforting it is to know that no matter how big the sin we’re trapped in or how far we’ve turned from God, He’s ready to heal us of our faithlessness! All we need to do is to acknowledge our wrong ways and allow His Holy Spirit to begin changing our hearts. By:  Leslie Koh

Reflect & Pray

Where do you struggle to follow God faithfully and obediently? How can you ask God to heal you and help you?

Loving God, thank You for Your merciful love that enables me to be holy like You are. Please help me to let Your Spirit heal me of my faithlessness and transform my heart.

Read Filled with the Spirit at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0301.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 05, 2021
Watching With Jesus

Stay here and watch with Me. —Matthew 26:38

“Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.

The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all…forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R

Bible in a Year: Psalms 146-147; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

Genesis 41, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Consequences

Are there any consequences for a godless pursuit of pleasure? Is there a price for living for today? The hedonist says, "Who cares? I may be bad, but so what? What I do is my business." He is more concerned about satisfying his passions than in knowing the Father. His life is so desperate for pleasure that he has no time or room for God.  He believes there is no truth beyond this room. No divine factor. Is he right? Is it okay to spend our days thumbing our noses at God and living it up? Paul says, "Absolutely not!"
According to Romans 1, we lose more than stained-glass windows when we dismiss God. We lose our standard, our purpose, and our worship. The apostle says "their thinking became useless. Their foolish minds were filled with darkness. They said they were wise, but they become fools."
From In the Grip of Grace

Genesis 41

Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River. Seven cows came up out of the Nile, all shimmering with health, and grazed on the marsh grass. Then seven other cows, all skin and bones, came up out of the river after them and stood by them on the bank of the Nile. The skinny cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

5-7 He went back to sleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, grew out of a single stalk. Then seven more ears grew up, but these were thin and dried out by the east wind. The thin ears swallowed up the full, healthy ears. Then Pharaoh woke up—another dream.

8 When morning came, he was upset. He sent for all the magicians and sages of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but they couldn’t interpret them to him.

9-13 The head cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, “I just now remembered something—I’m sorry, I should have told you this long ago. Once when Pharaoh got angry with his servants, he locked me and the head baker in the house of the captain of the guard. We both had dreams on the same night, each dream with its own meaning. It so happened that there was a young Hebrew slave there with us; he belonged to the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us, each dream separately. Things turned out just as he interpreted. I was returned to my position and the head baker was impaled.”

14 Pharaoh at once sent for Joseph. They brought him on the run from the jail cell. He cut his hair, put on clean clothes, and came to Pharaoh.

15 “I dreamed a dream,” Pharaoh told Joseph. “Nobody can interpret it. But I’ve heard that just by hearing a dream you can interpret it.”

16 Joseph answered, “Not I, but God. God will set Pharaoh’s mind at ease.”

17-21 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. Seven cows, shimmering with health, came up out of the river and grazed on the marsh grass. On their heels seven more cows, all skin and bones, came up. I’ve never seen uglier cows anywhere in Egypt. Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate up the first seven healthy cows. But you couldn’t tell by looking—after eating them up they were just as skinny and ugly as before. Then I woke up.

22-24 “In my second dream I saw seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, growing out of a single stalk, and right behind them, seven other ears, shriveled, thin, and dried out by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the full ears. I’ve told all this to the magicians but they can’t figure it out.”

25-27 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s two dreams both mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh what he is going to do. The seven healthy cows are seven years and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years—they’re the same dream. The seven sick and ugly cows that followed them up are seven years and the seven scrawny ears of grain dried out by the east wind are the same—seven years of famine.

28-32 “The meaning is what I said earlier: God is letting Pharaoh in on what he is going to do. Seven years of plenty are on their way throughout Egypt. But on their heels will come seven years of famine, leaving no trace of the Egyptian plenty. As the country is emptied by famine, there won’t be even a scrap left of the previous plenty—the famine will be total. The fact that Pharaoh dreamed the same dream twice emphasizes God’s determination to do this and do it soon.

33-36 “So, Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country. Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh’s authority, storing it in the towns for food. This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won’t be devastated by the famine.”

37 This seemed like a good idea to Pharaoh and his officials.

38 Then Pharaoh said to his officials, “Isn’t this the man we need? Are we going to find anyone else who has God’s spirit in him like this?”

39-40 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “You’re the man for us. God has given you the inside story—no one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom. From now on, you’re in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you. Only as king will I be over you.”

41-43 So Pharaoh commissioned Joseph: “I’m putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his finger and slipped it on Joseph’s hand. He outfitted him in robes of the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He put the second-in-command chariot at his disposal, and as he rode people shouted “Bravo!”

Joseph was in charge of the entire country of Egypt.

44 Pharaoh told Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but no one in Egypt will make a single move without your stamp of approval.”

45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah (God Speaks and He Lives). He also gave him an Egyptian wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On (Heliopolis).

And Joseph took up his duties over the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he went to work for Pharaoh the king of Egypt. As soon as Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he began his work in Egypt.

* * *

47-49 During the next seven years of plenty the land produced bumper crops. Joseph gathered up the food of the seven good years in Egypt and stored the food in cities. In each city he stockpiled surplus from the surrounding fields. Joseph collected so much grain—it was like the sand of the ocean!—that he finally quit keeping track.

50-52 Joseph had two sons born to him before the years of famine came. Asenath, daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, was their mother. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (Forget), saying, “God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home.” He named his second son Ephraim (Double Prosperity), saying, “God has prospered me in the land of my sorrow.”

53-54 Then Egypt’s seven good years came to an end and the seven years of famine arrived, just as Joseph had said. All countries experienced famine; Egypt was the only country that had bread.

55 When the famine spread throughout Egypt, the people called out in distress to Pharaoh, calling for bread. He told the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”

56-57 As the famine got worse all over the country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold emergency supplies to the Egyptians. The famine was very bad. Soon the whole world was coming to buy supplies from Joseph. The famine was bad all over.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, September 04, 2021

Today's Scripture
Matthew 6:9–13
(NIV)

 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Fathern in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdomo come,

your will be done,p

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.q

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.r

13 And lead us not into temptation,a s

but deliver us from the evil one.b’t

Insight

Though most of us are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, the Gospels contain several other prayers of Jesus. In John 17, we read Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer uttered on the night of His betrayal and arrest. After praying for Himself (vv. 1–5), Jesus prays for His disciples (vv. 6–19) and for all believers (vv. 20–26). He asks the Father to protect the church, sanctify it, and cause it to grow. Jesus also prays three short prayers on the cross (Luke 23:34; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:46).

Other prayers of Jesus include a prayer of thanks (John 6:11), a prayer before raising Lazarus (11:41–42), and a prayer after entering Jerusalem (12:27–28). Moreover, Jesus often withdrew from others to spend time in prayer with His Father (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; John 6:15). He exemplifies what it means to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). By: Alyson Kieda

Man of Prayer

Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17–18

My family remembers my Grandpa Dierking as a man of strong faith and prayer. But it wasn’t always so. My aunt recalls the first time her father announced to the family, “We’re going to start giving thanks to God before we eat.” His first prayer was far from eloquent, but Grandpa continued the practice of prayer for the next fifty years, praying often throughout each day. When he died, my husband gave my grandmother a “praying hands” plant, saying, “Grandpa was a man of prayer.” His decision to follow God and talk to Him each day changed him into a faithful servant of Christ.

The Bible has a lot to say about prayer. In Matthew 6:9–13, Jesus gave a pattern for prayer to His followers, teaching them to approach God with sincere praise for who He is. As we bring our requests to God, we trust Him to provide “our daily bread” (v. 11). As we confess our sins, we ask Him for forgiveness and for help to avoid temptation (vv. 12–13).

But we aren’t limited to praying the “Lord’s Prayer.” God wants us to pray “all kinds of prayers” on “all occasions” (Ephesians 6:18). Praying is vital for our spiritual growth, and it gives us the opportunity to be in continual conversation with Him every day (1 Thessalonians 5:17–18).

As we approach God with humble hearts that yearn to talk with Him, may He help us know and love Him better. By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray

How does God view the humble prayers of His children that may be less than eloquent? How can you make prayer a part of your daily life?

Father, thank You for the blessing of prayer and Your acceptance of me whenever I call on You.

Grow deeper in your understanding of prayer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 04, 2021
His!

They were Yours, You gave them to Me… —John 17:6

A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”

Be entirely His!

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence.  Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40

Matthew 21:23-46 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Modern-Day Christmas Story - September 3, 2021

You have bills to pay, beds to make, and grass to cut. Your face won’t grace any magazine covers, and you aren’t expecting a call from the White House. Congratulations—you qualify for a modern-day Christmas story!

Step into the stable, cradle in your arms the infant Jesus. Listen as one who knew him well puts lyrics to the event. What no theologian conceived, what no rabbi dared to dream, God did. John 1:14 proclaims: “The Word became flesh.”

Christ in Mary. God in Christ. The Word of God entered the world with the cry of a baby. God writes his story with ordinary people like Joseph, like Mary…people like you. Like me.

Matthew 21:23-46

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b]

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Footnotes

    Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
    Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, September 03, 2021
Today's Scripture
Genesis 11:26–32
(NIV)

 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,m Nahorn and Haran.o

Abram’s Family

27 This is the accountp of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahorq and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.r 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,s in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahort both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,u and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;v she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.w

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lotx son of Haran, and his daughter-in-lawy Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeansz to go to Canaan.a But when they came to Harran,b they settled there.

32 Terahc lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Insight

In the ancient world, genealogies weren’t always simply a straightforward record of “who begat whom.” Instead, they were sometimes used to show legitimacy of relation or position. This is particularly true when it came to tracing the lineage of royalty. Ancestry (often traced back to a deity) was intended to show that the person with whom the lineage ended was the rightful and true heir. For example, the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Luke traces Jesus’ human lineage back to God Himself (Luke 3:23–38).

Ancestry records often provided key information as well, as we see in today’s text. In Genesis 11:26–32, Sarai’s childlessness is one of the striking features (v. 30) and becomes one of the important elements of the story later on (18:10–14).

The Big Story of the Bible

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

When Colin opened the box of stained-glass pieces he’d purchased, instead of finding the fragments he’d ordered for a project, he discovered intact, whole windows. He sleuthed out the windows’ origin and learned they’d been removed from a church to protect them from World War II bombings. Colin marveled at the quality of work and how the “fragments” formed a beautiful picture.

If I’m honest, there are times when I open particular passages of the Bible—such as chapters containing lists of genealogies—and I don’t immediately see how they fit within the bigger picture of Scripture. Such is the case with Genesis 11—a chapter that contains a repetitive cadence of unfamiliar names and their families, such as Shem, Shelah, Eber, Nahor, and Terah (vv. 10–32). I’m often tempted to gloss over these sections and skip to a part that contains something that feels familiar and fits more easily into my “window” of understanding of the Bible’s narrative.

Since “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Timothy 3:16), the Holy Spirit can help us better understand how a fragment fits into the whole, opening our eyes to see, for example, how Shelah is related to Abram (Genesis 11:12–26), the ancestor of David and—more importantly—Jesus (Matthew 1:2, 6, 16). He delights in surprising us with the treasure of a perfectly intact window where even the smaller parts reveal the story of God’s mission throughout the Bible. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

Why is it important to recognize each portion of Scripture as a fragment of God's bigger story?

Father, please help me to see You and Your work more clearly.

Grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 03, 2021
Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction

He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. —2 Samuel 23:16

What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently— love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing (2 Samuel 23:16)? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God— something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.

How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way— I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”

If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 03, 2021

Fresh Each Day - #9040

OK, I'll confess. I can drive by the candy store. I can drive by the ice cream shop. I can pass up the pizza place, but it's very hard for me not to stop at the bakery. Yeah, bakeries are my weakness, and it's a good thing I don't work in one - I'd weigh 500 pounds I think. Now most bakeries have this discount stuff, you know, in a corner; it's like the day old baked goods. Oh it's cheaper, but there's a reason. There's a big difference between day-old and fresh baked. That line at the bakery early in the morning; no, that's not for yesterday's goodies, let me tell you. Those folks are there to get the doughnuts or the bread that just came out of the oven. And I might just be at the head of the line.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fresh Each Day."

Getting it fresh-that's not only a good idea at the bakery, but also when it comes to picking up your provisions from heaven, too. God's got new resources for you each new day; mercies that are according to the Bible, "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). The reason so many of us are spiritually up and down, lacking the power we need, the strength we need, constantly being overwhelmed by the day's events? The reason is that we aren't stopping at God's "bakery" each morning to pick up that day's "bread."

God gives us an enlightening picture of how to stay spiritually strong in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Exodus 16, beginning in verse 4, and it records God's delivery system for feeding His people as they wandered in the desert. Here's our word for today from the Word of God: "'I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day' ... So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites ... 'In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord.'"

Through Moses, the Lord went on to command His people not to store any of His manna overnight. "However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning" - it's a very bad idea! - "but it was full of maggots and began to smell" (let me tell you, that's day-old at its worst!). But God's plan worked. The Bible says, "Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed."

That's been God's plan ever since; that each of His children would gather each morning all the spiritual resources he or she needs for that day. Speaking of Himself, Jesus said, "The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33). Each day, we're to get a fresh helping of Jesus: His thinking, His perspective, His strength, His outlook. And that means consistent time with Him, through His love letter, the Bible, each new day.

You can't store up the resources to live the Christ-life anymore than the ancient Jews could store up manna. You can't let your personal Jesus-time be something you do occasionally or when you feel like it or when you can fit Him into your busy schedule. Make your daily time with Jesus Christ non-negotiable. Everything else is going to have to revolve around your time with Him instead of what usually happens, your time with Him, you know, having to revolve around everything else.

If you'll anchor your day to a personal time with Jesus Christ, you'll start to experience a realness, a closeness, a consistency, a victory in your relationship with Him that you've always wanted but maybe never had. You need to hear from heaven each day if you're going to live for heaven while you're on earth. And day-old or week-old stuff just won't cut it for this new day. You need what Jesus has prepared for you fresh each day!

Matthew 21:1-22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: Your Story Indwells God’s Story - September 2, 2021

Everything changes when you know the rest of your story! In 2 Samuel 22:25, David says, “God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes” (The Message).

But what is the text of our lives? Self-help gurus and magazine headlines urge you to “find your narrative.” “Look inside yourself,” they say. But the promise of self-discovery falls short.

Your story indwells God’s. This is the great promise of the Bible. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eyes on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. In his story, you’ll find, there’s more to your story!

Matthew 21:1-22

The Royal Welcome

When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”

4-5 This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:

Tell Zion’s daughter,
“Look, your king’s on his way,
    poised and ready, mounted
On a donkey, on a colt,
    foal of a pack animal.”

6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

10 As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”

11 The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
He Kicked Over the Tables

12-14 Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:

My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.

Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.

15-16 When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. And haven’t you read in God’s Word, ‘From the mouths of children and babies I’ll furnish a place of praise’?”

17 Fed up, Jesus spun around and left the city for Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Withered Fig Tree

18-20 Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, “No more figs from this tree—ever!” The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, “Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?”

21-22 But Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don’t doubt God, you’ll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you’ll tell, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, September 02, 2021

Today's Scripture
Genesis 11:26–32
(NIV)

After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,m Nahorn and Haran.o

Abram’s Family

27 This is the accountp of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahorq and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.r 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,s in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahort both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,u and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;v she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.w

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lotx son of Haran, and his daughter-in-lawy Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeansz to go to Canaan.a But when they came to Harran,b they settled there.

32 Terahc lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Insight

In the ancient world, genealogies weren’t always simply a straightforward record of “who begat whom.” Instead, they were sometimes used to show legitimacy of relation or position. This is particularly true when it came to tracing the lineage of royalty. Ancestry (often traced back to a deity) was intended to show that the person with whom the lineage ended was the rightful and true heir. For example, the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Luke traces Jesus’ human lineage back to God Himself (Luke 3:23–38).

Ancestry records often provided key information as well, as we see in today’s text. In Genesis 11:26–32, Sarai’s childlessness is one of the striking features (v. 30) and becomes one of the important elements of the story later on (18:10–14).

The Big Story of the Bible

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16

When Colin opened the box of stained-glass pieces he’d purchased, instead of finding the fragments he’d ordered for a project, he discovered intact, whole windows. He sleuthed out the windows’ origin and learned they’d been removed from a church to protect them from World War II bombings. Colin marveled at the quality of work and how the “fragments” formed a beautiful picture.

If I’m honest, there are times when I open particular passages of the Bible—such as chapters containing lists of genealogies—and I don’t immediately see how they fit within the bigger picture of Scripture. Such is the case with Genesis 11—a chapter that contains a repetitive cadence of unfamiliar names and their families, such as Shem, Shelah, Eber, Nahor, and Terah (vv. 10–32). I’m often tempted to gloss over these sections and skip to a part that contains something that feels familiar and fits more easily into my “window” of understanding of the Bible’s narrative.

Since “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Timothy 3:16), the Holy Spirit can help us better understand how a fragment fits into the whole, opening our eyes to see, for example, how Shelah is related to Abram (Genesis 11:12–26), the ancestor of David and—more importantly—Jesus (Matthew 1:2, 6, 16). He delights in surprising us with the treasure of a perfectly intact window where even the smaller parts reveal the story of God’s mission throughout the Bible. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

Why is it important to recognize each portion of Scripture as a fragment of God's bigger story?

Father, please help me to see You and Your work more clearly.

Grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 02, 2021

A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice

He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow… —John 7:38

Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany “broke the flask…of very costly oil…and poured it on [Jesus’] head,” it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, “…there were some who…said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” (Mark 14:3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, “…wherever this gospel is preached…what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?

“He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break “the flask” of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 02, 2021

Lottery Fever and Other Contagious Diseases - #9039

So I went into the gas station to prepay for a fill up and suddenly found myself in Crazyville. There was a long line in this little store, all talking about what they'd do if they won. Yeah, I had inadvertently walked into Lottery Fever.

Well, all over the news, folks had been talking that day about their dreams for how they were going to spend this record-breaking $600 million-plus jackpot, even though the odds of winning were 1 in 176 million! I didn't buy a ticket. No, when I saw how much it cost, though, to fill up my vehicle, I thought maybe I'd have to win the lottery to buy the gas.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lottery Fever and Other Contagious Diseases."

So, some lucky people won the jackpot, and I wish them well. But sadly, so many people who "struck it rich" struck out afterwards. There's story after story online of how winners' dreams turned to nightmares: divorce, bankruptcy, deep depression, conflict, and relentless "gold diggers" who want a piece of it.

You have more money to lose, to argue over, to keep you from fixing what's wrong inside. Money can improve your environment, but it can't do a thing about your in-vironment.

The Bible warns in 1 Timothy 6, our word for today from the Word of God, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Okay, now, it's human nature to attach our dreams to getting "more." And the cash lottery? It's not the only one we bet on. Some of us bet on the love lottery, thinking that finding the right someone to love will make our dreams come true. But, as so many have discovered, winning at love doesn't guarantee happiness. And too often, that dream turns out to be a nightmare.

Life's got a lot of lotteries you can spend on, hoping your dreams will come true: the success lottery, or the perfection lottery - perfect home, perfect kids, perfect image, the "affair" lottery. Buy lots of tickets; dream your "better life" dream. If you lose, you think that's why you're unhappy. If you win, you're more baffled than ever about why you're not happy.

We had a puppy once and she loved to chase bubbles. I'd wave that little wand of bubble solution, the bubbles would start descending toward the kitchen floor, and our dog would dance and jump and tried biting as many bubbles as she could. But as soon as she got what she was after, [pop] it turned out to be nothing.

King Solomon had chased and caught a lot of bubbles in his day; lots of women, fame, historic projects, a buffet of pleasures, incalculable wealth. His return on investment? He said, "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind" (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Ultimately, this man who had won all the lotteries says: "Here is the conclusion of the matter; fear God and keep His commandments...remember your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 1).

Turns out we were "created by Him and for Him" the Bible says (Colossians 1:16). And we're going to keep coming up empty until we experience the God-relationship we were made for. See, the One who made us is the only one big enough to fill that God-shaped hole in our heart. But since we've pretty much ignored Him and lived for ourselves, that relationship comes at a high price; paying the penalty for a lifetime of sinning.

And no matter how deep we dig, we'll never come up with enough to win forgiveness, or peace, or heaven. But the price has been paid on Good Friday, by Jesus on a cross. That's where the Bible says, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty He could make you rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

My spiritual bankruptcy traded for His eternal treasure, because He gave it all. That was an offer I couldn't resist. And for so many, including me, our lifetime search ended when we met Jesus. It will for you, too.

You want to begin a relationship with Him? Our website will show you how. It's ANewStory.com. He's been waiting for you for a long time to give you the peace, the purpose and the love that you've spent a whole life looking for.

Genesis 40 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Headline Story - September 1, 2021

We love to know where we came from. We need to know where we came from. Knowing connects us, links us to something greater than we are. That is why God wants you to know his story.

Framed photos hang in his house, and lively talks await you at his table. A scrapbook sits in his living room, brimming with stories. Stories about Bethlehem beginnings and manger miracles. Enemy warfare in the wilderness and fishermen friends in Galilee. The stumbles of Peter, the stubbornness of Paul.

All are part of the story, but subplots to the central message of the headline story—John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life!” God saves his people! God’s story. And we are a part of it!

Genesis 40

As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker, and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held. The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs.

4-7 After they had been in custody for a while, the king’s cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low. So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, “What’s wrong? Why the long faces?”

8 They said, “We dreamed dreams and there’s no one to interpret them.”

Joseph said, “Don’t interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams.”

9-11 First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes. I was holding Pharaoh’s cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh.”

12-15 Joseph said, “Here’s the meaning. The three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you’ll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place. I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I’ve been here, I’ve done nothing to deserve being put in this hole.”

16-17 When the head baker saw how well Joseph’s interpretation turned out, he spoke up: “My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head.”

18-19 Joseph said, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean.”

20-22 And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests. Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before. And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph’s interpretations exactly.

23 But the head cupbearer never gave Joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, September 01, 2021
Today's Scripture
Ephesians 4:20–32
(NIV)

 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put offn your old self,o which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;p 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;q 24 and to put onr the new self,s created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.t

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfullyu to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.v 26 “In your anger do not sin”d:w Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.x 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work,y doing something useful with their own hands,z that they may have something to share with those in need.a

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

Insight

Ephesians 4:32 describes some of the evidence of a changed life: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Interestingly, these words were written to a culture very much like the world in which we live today. It was one in which the claims of Christ were disregarded, corruption was widespread throughout its institutions, and people were prone to use others to advance themselves. Yet, in the face of these problems the apostle Paul issued the challenge to believers in Christ for our heart-response to be in contrast to that culture. Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness express the countercultural life of Jesus Himself and remind us that our great goal and need is to be like Him. By: Bill Crowder

Fix Up Time

Be made new in the attitude of your minds.
Ephesians 4:23

It was time to give the inside of our home a fresh, new look. But just as I’d begun prepping a room for painting, our state government announced it would be halting the sale of many home improvement items due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As soon as I heard the announcement, I rushed to the store and purchased the essential materials. You simply can’t remodel without the proper supplies.

Paul had a bit of a remodeling project in mind when he wrote Ephesians 4. But the changes he was talking about went far beyond superficial alterations. Even though trusting Jesus as Savior makes us a new creation, there’s still some ongoing work the Spirit needs to do. And it takes time and work for Him to accomplish “true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

The presence of the Spirit makes needed changes on the inside that can help us reflect Jesus in our words and actions. He helps us replace lying with speaking “truthfully” (v. 25). He guides us to avoid sin in regard to anger (v. 26). And He directs us to speak words that are “helpful for building others up” (v. 29). These Spirit-controlled actions are part of the internal change that’s manifested in things like kindness, compassion, and forgiveness (v. 32). The Spirit works in us to enable us to imitate Jesus Himself and reflect the heart of our heavenly Father (v. 24; 5:1). By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray

In what areas do you need the Holy Spirit to make real, heart-based improvement in you through His leading and strength? How will you get started?

Loving God, thank You for making me a new creation in Christ. Help my actions, through Your guidance, to reflect the change You’ve made in me.

Learn more about the Trinity.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Destined To Be Holy

…it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." —1 Peter 1:16

We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God.

Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe that God can come into me and make me holy? If through your preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I then resent your preaching. The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it is designed to reveal my unholiness, but it also awakens an intense yearning and desire within me. God has only one intended destiny for mankind— holiness. His only goal is to produce saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He did not come to save us out of pity— He came to save us because He created us to be holy. Atonement through the Cross of Christ means that God can put me back into perfect oneness with Himself through the death of Jesus Christ, without a trace of anything coming between us any longer.

Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind— placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.  The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 135-136; 1 Corinthians 12

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 01, 2021
The Sweetener - #9038

A friend of mine and his son love to take off backpacking along the beautiful river they've got near their house. And they've learned some interesting "tricks of the trade," I guess, to make sure they have clean water to drink without the weight of having to carry water with them all the time. They take iodine pills with them on their hikes. Apparently, they can collect some water from the river, dissolve iodine in it, and the water comes out clean. But then who would want to drink it? Iodine-flavored water? I don't know. It's not exactly the taste sensation that's sweeping the nation, right? But that's where the Kool-Aid comes in! Yeah, they put in some Kool-Aid and It actually makes that bitter water sweet. Or so they tell me!

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

When God's people were navigating the wilderness in the Old Testament, well, of course, Kool-Aid hadn't been invented yet. But they did have a bitter water situation and a miracle that changed everything. The story is in Exodus 15, beginning with verse 22. And as you might guess, it's our word for today from the Word of God.

Here's what it says: "For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter...So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood He threw into the water, and the water became sweet." That's pretty amazing! God miraculously changes what was bitter into something sweet. You know, He's still doing that miracle today - with bitter people, with bitter feelings, with bitter situations.

And that might be exactly what you need to be praying for right now. Actually, "crying out to the Lord for," as it says Moses did. That's not just a casual, trite little prayer. That's a desperate cry to God for something so hard only He can do it. Right now, maybe you're thinking of someone in your personal world who's bitter. There's resentment, and there's sarcasm, and cynicism, there's anger, maybe unforgiveness. The good news is that God is the world's leading Heart Surgeon; He can change a heart in ways that no human could ever dream. But you need to be faithfully, and fervently, praying for God to do whatever it takes to change the heart of that bitter person. Especially if that bitter person is you.

The Bible makes it clear that you "miss the grace of God" when you let a "bitter root" grow in you. And your bitterness will, according to God, "cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). But maybe your bitter pond isn't a person; it's a situation you're in right now. You know, God has the power to sweeten a bitter situation too, not just a bitter person.

But God may have a "piece of wood" that He wants you to throw into the bitter waters. Maybe it's that apology you need to give, a letter you need to write, that email you need to send, or some forgiving you need to do, a healing step that you know you need to take. As you pray about the bitter, ask God if there's a step He wants you to take in bringing about a sweetening miracle.

Don't underestimate the power of Almighty God to sweeten what you thought would always be bitter. If you'll trust and you'll obey; trust God to change things and obey His orders to make it happen. With a God as powerful and as loving as ours, no bitter pond can stay bitter. Not when God does His miracle of making bitter things sweet.
Save

Genesis 39, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Precise Prayer - August 31, 2021

Jesus will tailor a response to your precise need. He is not a fast-food cook. He is an accomplished chef who prepares unique blessings for unique situations. When the crowds of people came to Christ for healing, “One by one he placed his hands on them and healed them” (Luke 4:40 MSG).

Had Jesus chosen to do so, he could have proclaimed a cloud of healing blessings to fall upon the crowd. But he is not a one-size-fits-all Savior. He placed his hands on each one, individually, personally. Perceiving unique needs, he issued unique blessings.

A precise prayer gives Christ the opportunity to remove all doubt about his love and interest. Your problem becomes his pathway. The challenge you face becomes a canvas upon which Christ can demonstrate his finest work. So offer a simple prayer and entrust the problem to Christ.

Genesis 39

After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.

2-6 As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master recognized that God was with him, saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God blessed the home of the Egyptian—all because of Joseph. The blessing of God spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.

6-7 Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”

8-9 He wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he’s put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?”

10 She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.

11-15 On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside, she called to her house servants: “Look—this Hebrew shows up and before you know it he’s trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me but I yelled as loud as I could. With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside.”

16-18 She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, “The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside.”

19-23 When his master heard his wife’s story, telling him, “These are the things your slave did to me,” he was furious. Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were locked up. But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer. The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Today's Scripture
Isaiah 12
(NIV

Songs of Praise

12 In that dayk you will say:

“I will praisel you, Lord.

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned awaym

and you have comfortedn me.

2 Surely God is my salvation;o

I will trustp and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself,q is my strengthr and my defensea;

he has become my salvation.s”

3 With joy you will draw watert

from the wellsu of salvation.

4 In that dayv you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;w

make known among the nationsx what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.y

5 Singz to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;a

let this be known to all the world.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy,b people of Zion,

for greatc is the Holy One of Israeld among you.e”

Insight

Isaiah 11 speaks of the Messiah who will deliver and save His people. With this deliverance and salvation in view, Isaiah 12 gives us two songs of praise that celebrate God’s grace and mercy (vv. 1–3) and proclaim the greatness and majesty of our Savior (vv. 4–6). Our salvation demands a response of personal praise and proclamation. We thank God for who He is and for what He’s done. And we’re instructed that the story of salvation must be told to the nations (v. 4). We’re called to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). And as we go, we echo the words of hymn writer Ernest Nichol, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light.” By: K. T. Sim

Sharing Jesus

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

Shortly after Dwight Moody (1837–99) came to faith in Christ, the evangelist resolved not to let a day pass without sharing God’s good news with at least one person. On busy days, he’d sometimes forget his resolution until late. One night, he was in bed before he remembered. As he stepped outside, he thought, No one will be out in this pouring rain. Just then he saw a man walking down the street. Moody rushed over and asked to stand under his umbrella to avoid the rain. When granted permission, he asked, “Have you any shelter in the time of storm? Could I tell you about Jesus?”

Moody embodied a readiness to share how God saves us from the consequences of our sins. He obeyed God’s instructions to the Israelites to proclaim His name and “make known among the nations what he has done” (Isaiah 12:4). Not only were God’s people called to “proclaim that his name is exalted” (v. 4), but they were also to share how He had “become [their] salvation” (v. 2). Centuries later, our call remains to tell the wonders of Jesus becoming a man, dying on the cross, and rising again.

Perhaps we heard about God’s love when, as Moody did, someone left their comfort zone to talk with us about Jesus. And we too, each in our own way, can let someone know about the One who saves.

By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

What has God done in your life that you can share with another? How has He equipped you to present the good news?

Jesus, thank You for setting me free from my sins. Help me to be ready to tell others of Your good news.

Read Evangelism: Reaching out through Relationships at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0913.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, August 31, 2021

“My Joy…Your Joy”

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. —John 15:11

What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?

Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God’s work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed. But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irritability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, “…the cares of this world,…choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in our cares. All that God has done for us is merely the threshold— He wants us to come to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who Jesus is.

Have the right relationship with God, finding your joy there, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Be a fountain through which Jesus can pour His “living water.” Stop being hypocritical and proud, aware only of yourself, and live “your life…hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A person who has the right relationship with God lives a life as natural as breathing wherever he goes. The lives that have been the greatest blessing to you are the lives of those people who themselves were unaware of having been a blessing.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ.  The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 132-134; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Hugging the Wrong Thing - #9037

Little Cindy had been a bad girl. She'd been sent from the dinner table to her room. After a little while, Mom and Dad thought the point had been made. They knew that children, of course, need to be assured of our love when we've disciplined them. So, Daddy went upstairs, opened the door to Cindy's room. Found her in bed, under her covers, snuggling with her arm wrapped tightly around her favorite dolly. Her father sat on the bed and he just gently said, "Cindy, I love you." Then he held out his arms to hug her. For a moment, the little girl just looked straight ahead and she hugged her dolly closer. But that couldn't last. Very soon, Cindy dropped her dolly and grabbed her Daddy in a big hug. Because a dolly is no substitute for a daddy!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hugging the Wrong Thing."

When little Cindy felt as if she couldn't have her Daddy's hugs, she resorted to something that couldn't be as good as a Daddy. Sadly, many grownups make that same kind of mistake - married grownups. We feel like we're not getting the love we need from the person that's our husband or wife, so we start hugging something else.

It's a strange, but all too common phenomenon. When we don't feel our mate is loving us in our language of love, they're not meeting our needs, we subconsciously start pouring ourself into something or someone else to fill that gap. And that's where the most important of all human relationships starts to drift, divide, and deteriorate. Pretty soon, two people who pledged that they would be one until death did them part are living in the same house but living in two different worlds.

We set ourselves up for that heartache when we start getting away from the Designer's blueprint for marriage, spelled out for the first husband and wife in history. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Genesis 2, beginning with verse 18. "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.' ... the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man ... a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." That's the total merging of two lives, and that's the Master Plan. He is for her, she is for him, and together they walk with God and rule what He has given them.

Tragically, sin entered the garden and entered their relationship and drove a wedge between them. Sin is still doing that, and we help it happen with our own neglect. If a woman feels she's not the center of her husband's priorities and his affections, she turns to her children or other relationships or other arenas to meet her need. If a man is not feeling secure in his wife's love, he'll look for affirmation and identity somewhere else, by "marrying" his work, marrying his hobby, or even with the attention of another woman.

If you sense that happening, now is the time to take your heart back to that altar where you pledged to make him or her your number one. Let your needs be known, gently not accusingly. And if necessary, seek out counseling together to get back to your first love. Or better yet, an even greater love.

Face the responsibility you have for the distance that's been developing. Put aside whatever "dolly" you've been hugging for security and wrap both arms around the person you pledged your life to. Yes, you have to work at this oneness that God created marriage to bring. But it is so worth the work; so worth the sacrifices. If you're married, God intended you to find in one another the harbor for which our hearts truly long.

Matthew 21:1-22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: Take Your Needs to Jesus - August 30, 2021

Jesus was attending a wedding with the disciples and his mother, Mary, when she approached him with a seemingly irrelevant problem. “‘They have no more wine,’ she told him” (John 2:3). Mary presented the problem, Jesus commanded a solution, and the wineless wedding was suddenly wine flush. And we are left with this message: our diminishing supplies, no matter how insignificant, matter to heaven.

Listen, if Jesus was willing to use divine clout to solve a social faux pas, how much more would he be willing to intervene on the weightier matters of life? He wants you to know that you can take your needs—all your needs—to him. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

Matthew 21:1-22

The Royal Welcome

 When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”

4-5 This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:

Tell Zion’s daughter,
“Look, your king’s on his way,
    poised and ready, mounted
On a donkey, on a colt,
    foal of a pack animal.”

6-9 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”

10 As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”

11 The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
He Kicked Over the Tables

12-14 Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:

My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.

Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.

15-16 When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. And haven’t you read in God’s Word, ‘From the mouths of children and babies I’ll furnish a place of praise’?”

17 Fed up, Jesus spun around and left the city for Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Withered Fig Tree

18-20 Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, “No more figs from this tree—ever!” The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, “Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?”

21-22 But Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don’t doubt God, you’ll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you’ll tell, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, August 30, 2021
Today's Scripture
2 Chronicles 34:1–8
(NIV)

 Josiaho was eight years old when he became king,p and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David,q not turning aside to the right or to the left.

3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the Godr of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 4 Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poless and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.t 5 He burnedu the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, 7 he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powderv and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

8 In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

Insight

Second Chronicles 34–35 build on the account given in 2 Kings 22–23; however, additional details are included in 2 Chronicles. For example, 2 Kings 22 shows Josiah’s actions as primarily taking place during the eighteenth year of his reign, but 2 Chronicles 34 details the breakdown of events between the eighth, twelfth, and eighteenth years. The varying details don’t indicate inaccuracies; rather, they present a more complete picture of the Bible with each book including a different emphasis: 2 Kings focuses on Josiah as a king whereas 2 Chronicles uses his story to present the importance of the Passover. By: Julie Schwa

Mercy and Grace

[Josiah] began to seek the God of his father David.
2 Chronicles 34:3

A stately sunflower stood on its own in the center of a lonely stretch of national highway, just a few feet from the fast lane. As I drove past, I wondered how it had grown there with no other sunflowers visible for miles. Only God could create a plant so hardy it could thrive so close to the roadway in the gray gravel lining the median. There it was, thriving, swaying gently in the breeze and cheerfully greeting travelers as they hurried by.

The Old Testament tells the story of a faithful king of Judah who also showed up unexpectedly. His father and grandfather had enthusiastically served other gods; but after Josiah had been in power for eight years, “while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David” (2 Chronicles 34:3). He sent workmen to “repair the temple of the Lord” (v. 8), and as they did they discovered the Book of the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament; v. 14). God then inspired Josiah to lead the entire nation of Judah to return to the faith of their ancestors, and they served the Lord “as long as [Josiah] lived” (v. 33).

Our God is the master of unanticipated mercies. He’s able to cause great good to spring up unexpectedly out of the hard gravel of life’s most unfavorable circumstances. Watch Him closely. He may do it again today. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

What mercies have you seen from God that you never anticipated? How does the thought that He’s able to bring about unexpected good give you hope today?

Heavenly Father, I praise You for never changing. Your mercies are “new every morning!” (Lamentations 3:23). Help me to look forward to what You have for me today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 30, 2021

Usefulness or Relationship?

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20

Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).

Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory…” (Hebrews 2:10).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.
The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Psalms 129-131; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 30, 2021
Removing the Toxic Waste - #9036

There's usually a political battle when the government wants to establish a toxic waste dump somewhere. Not too many people have been excited about having radioactive or otherwise toxic kind of material buried near them. The American government established what they called a "Super Fund" to pay for the cleanup of some of those areas, because they can be hazardous to people's health. I'll tell you what. I'd sure want it cleaned up if there was a toxic waste dump near where I live.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Removing the Toxic Waste."

People can accumulate toxic stuff, too, like toxic attitudes, reactions that give off kind of a spiritual radiation that pollutes the environment and it's hazardous to the spiritual health of other people.

In our word for today from the Word of God, He orders a cleanup of the toxic waste dump that we sometimes carry around right inside of us. In Colossians 3:8, God says this: "Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." So God's calling for zero tolerance of these hurtful ways of talking...these hurtful ways of treating people.

Later, He describes what we're like when we've started to clean up the toxic waste that we've been communicating. He says, "Clothe yourselves with compassion" - I'm liking this list better already - "kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:12-13). In short, let it go instead of letting it grow.

When we're being one of those "anger, malice, rage and slander" people, it's usually because we've become very good at being a "wrongologist." That's someone who's an expert on what's wrong with our friends, what's wrong with our church, what's wrong with our coworkers, our spouse, our family. When you regularly focus on the things that are wrong - and there are some in every person and every situation - you make yourself miserable a lot of the time, and it doesn't stop there. You radiate those toxins to the people around you and you bring them down, too!

"Wrongologists" tend to rewrite that old spiritual that says, "It's not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer." See, their song says, "It's my brother, it's my sister, it's not me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer." That's the opposite of the kind of things a new person in Christ is to be known for. Remember, "compassion (that means you give the other people the benefit of the doubt), kindness, humility (that means you're committed to serving other people, not judging them), and then gentleness (instead of harshness), and patience."

You know, Jesus didn't die to make you more religious. He died to make you like Him; to take on His characteristics. To treat people as He treated them, to lift people up, not tear them down. To bring joy and love and healing into the lives you touch, not negativity, not criticism.

Maybe you've allowed too much toxic waste to get buried in your heart. Would you talk to Jesus about that right now? Let Him help you remove all that toxic garbage that contaminates you and frankly everyone around you. Then, instead of polluting your environment, you can be a breath of fresh air!