Deuteronomy 11 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: On-and-Off Salvation

On-and-off salvation never appears in the Bible. Scripture contains no example of a person who was saved, then lost, then re-saved, then lost again. Where there is no assurance of salvation, there is no peace; no joy. Is this the life God creates? God's grace creates a confident soul who declares, I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
1 John 5:13 says, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." Trust God's hold on you! His faithfulness does not depend on yours. His performance is not predicated on yours. His love is not contingent on your own. Your candle may flicker-but it will not expire!
From GRACE

Deuteronomy 11

So love God, your God;
    guard well his rules and regulations;
    obey his commandments for the rest of time.

2-7 Today it’s very clear that it isn’t your children who are front and center here: They weren’t in on what God did, didn’t see the acts, didn’t experience the discipline, didn’t marvel at his greatness, the way he displayed his power in the miracle-signs and deeds that he let loose in Egypt on Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land, the way he took care of the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots, burying them in the waters of the Red Sea as they pursued you. God drowned them. And you’re standing here today alive. Nor was it your children who saw how God took care of you in the wilderness up until the time you arrived here, what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how the Earth opened its jaws and swallowed them with their families—their tents, and everything around them—right out of the middle of Israel. Yes, it was you—your eyes—that saw every great thing that God did.

8-9 So it’s you who are in charge of keeping the entire commandment that I command you today so that you’ll have the strength to invade and possess the land that you are crossing the river to make your own. Your obedience will give you a long life on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors and their children, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10-12 The land you are entering to take up ownership isn’t like Egypt, the land you left, where you had to plant your own seed and water it yourselves as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. It’s a land that God, your God, personally tends—he’s the gardener—he alone keeps his eye on it all year long.

13-15 From now on if you listen obediently to the commandments that I am commanding you today, love God, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you, he’ll take charge of sending the rain at the right time, both autumn and spring rains, so that you’ll be able to harvest your grain, your grapes, your olives. He’ll make sure there’s plenty of grass for your animals. You’ll have plenty to eat.

16-17 But be vigilant, lest you be seduced away and end up serving and worshiping other gods and God erupts in anger and shuts down Heaven so there’s no rain and nothing grows in the fields, and in no time at all you’re starved out—not a trace of you left on the good land that God is giving you.

18-21 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you’ll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth.

22-25 That’s right. If you diligently keep all this commandment that I command you to obey—love God, your God, do what he tells you, stick close to him—God on his part will drive out all these nations that stand in your way. Yes, he’ll drive out nations much bigger and stronger than you. Every square inch on which you place your foot will be yours. Your borders will stretch from the wilderness to the mountains of Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand in your way. Everywhere you go, God-sent fear and trembling will precede you, just as he promised.

26 I’ve brought you today to the crossroads of Blessing and Curse.

27 The Blessing: if you listen obediently to the commandments of God, your God, which I command you today.

28 The Curse: if you don’t pay attention to the commandments of God, your God, but leave the road that I command you today, following other gods of which you know nothing.

29-30 Here’s what comes next: When God, your God, brings you into the land you are going into to make your own, you are to give out the Blessing from Mount Gerizim and the Curse from Mount Ebal. After you cross the Jordan River, follow the road to the west through Canaanite settlements in the valley near Gilgal and the Oaks of Moreh.

31-32 You are crossing the Jordan River to invade and take the land that God, your God, is giving you. Be vigilant. Observe all the regulations and rules I am setting before you today.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, February 27, 2022

Today's Scripture
Isaiah 61:1–7
(NIV)

Announce Freedom to All Captives

1–7     61 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me

because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—

a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—

and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”

planted by God to display his glory.

They’ll rebuild the old ruins,

raise a new city out of the wreckage.

They’ll start over on the ruined cities,

take the rubble left behind and make it new.

You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks

and foreigners to work your fields,

But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”

honored as ministers of our God.

You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,

you’ll bask in their glory.

Because you got a double dose of trouble

and more than your share of contempt,

Your inheritance in the land will be doubled

and your joy go on forever.

Insight

Jesus read from Isaiah 61 not long after He began His public ministry (Luke 4:18–19). Then He proclaimed to an astonished synagogue audience in Nazareth, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). Interestingly, as He read Isaiah, Christ stopped before the last part of Isaiah 61:2, which reads, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” This omission was surely intentional. Jesus was likely signaling two things: He was declaring Himself to be the long-awaited One, and He was informing the people this wasn’t a time for judgment. It was the time for proclaiming good news, setting captives free, and comforting the brokenhearted. Salvation had arrived.

By: Tim Gustafson

The Joy of Good News

The Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news.
Isaiah 61:1

One evening in 1964, the Great Alaska earthquake shocked and writhed for more than four minutes, registering a 9.2 magnitude. In Anchorage, whole city blocks disappeared, leaving only massive craters and rubble. Through the dark, terrifying night, news reporter Genie Chance stood at her microphone, passing along messages to desperate people sitting by their radios: a husband working in the bush heard that his wife was alive; distraught families heard that their sons on a Boy Scout camping trip were okay; a couple heard that their children had been found. The radio crackled with line after line of good news—pure joy amid the ruin.

This must have been something like what Israel felt when they heard these words from the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” (61:1).  As they looked over the wasteland of their wrecked lives and grim future, Isaiah’s clear voice brought good news at the very moment when all seemed lost. God intended to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives. . . . [To] rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated” (vv. 1, 4). In the midst of their terror, the people heard God’s assuring promise, His good news.

For us today, it’s in Jesus that we hear God’s good news—this is what the word gospel means. Into our fears, pains, and failures, He delivers good news. And our distress gives way to joy. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where do you need to experience good news? When has God’s good news replaced your fear and worry with joy?

God, I need some good news. I hear bad news all the time. I need to hear what You say about things. I need the joy You bring.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 27, 2022
The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus

Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11

“The well is deep” — and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.

The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither

Bible in a Year: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56

Luke 4:1-30 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Grace-A Never Ending Supply

Grace is simply another word for God's tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. Grace comes to us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We've barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another. John 1:16 calls it "Grace upon grace."
We dare to stake our hope on the gladdest news of all! If God permits the challenge, he will provide the grace to meet it. We never exhaust his supply. He never says, "Stop asking so much! My grace reservoir is running dry." Heaven knows no such words. God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear you cry, and answer every question you ask. Would we expect anything less from God? Having given the supreme and costliest gift, Romans 8:32 says, "How can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?"
From GRACE

Luke 4:1-30

Tested by the Devil

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up he was hungry.

3 The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test: “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread.”

4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to really live.”

5-7 For the second test he led him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, “They’re yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure. I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they’re yours, the whole works.”

8 Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”

9-11 For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, “If you are God’s Son, jump. It’s written, isn’t it, that ‘he has placed you in the care of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone’?”

12 “Yes,” said Jesus, “and it’s also written, ‘Don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God.’”

13 That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity.
To Set the Burdened Free

14-15 Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure.

16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been raised. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s time to shine!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

22 All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was just a kid?”

23-27 He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”

28-30 That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Today's Scripture
Ephesians 2:19–22
(NIV)

So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, 20 gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, 21 kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.

Insight

What does it mean to be a dwelling for the Holy Spirit? (Ephesians 2:22). In the Old Testament, God’s glory resided in the tabernacle/temple, which represented His presence with His people, the Israelites. Today, God’s Spirit dwells in every individual believer in Jesus (John 14:17; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:19). But according to commentator Harold Hoehner, in Ephesians 2:21–22 Paul refers to the Holy Spirit’s corporate “dwelling,” His temple composed of all Jewish and gentile believers. He writes: “Paul has shown that though the Gentiles were formerly outside God’s household, they are now one ‘new man’ with Jewish believers. This new entity is like a temple . . . structured on the apostles and prophets, with Christ being the chief Cornerstone.” Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would “teach [them] all things and . . . remind [them] of everything” (John 14:26). He’s our powerful advocate and guide (John 15:26; Romans 8:14). By: Alyson Kieda

Part of the Family

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.
Ephesians 2:19

Downton Abbey was a popular British television drama that followed the fictional Crawley family as they navigated a changing social structure in early 1900s England. One of the key characters, Tom Branson, initially worked as the family’s chauffeur before shocking everyone by marrying the youngest Crawley daughter. Following a period of exile, the young couple returned to Downton Abbey and Tom became part of the family, gaining access to rights and privileges he had been denied as an employee.

We were once considered “foreigners and strangers” (Ephesians 2:19) and excluded from the rights given to those who are part of God’s family. But because of Jesus, all believers, regardless of their background, are reconciled to God and called “members of his household” (v. 19).

Being a member of God’s family brings incredible rights and privileges. We can “approach God with freedom and confidence” (3:12) and enjoy unlimited, unhindered access to God. We become part of a larger family, a community of faith to support and encourage us (2:19–22). Members of God’s family have the privilege of helping each other grasp the enormity of God’s lavish love (3:18).

Fear or doubt could easily make us feel like an outsider, keeping us from fully accessing the benefits of being part of God’s family. But hear and embrace once more the reality of God’s free and generous gifts of love (2:8–10) and bask in the wonder of being His. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

What are some other benefits of belonging to the household of God? How might you approach God in confidence today?

Heavenly Father, thank You for welcoming me into Your family as a child of God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Our Misgivings About Jesus

The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep." —John 4:11

Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.

My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.”

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Bible in a Year: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29

Deuteronomy 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Give Him What You Have - February 25, 2022

I remember the day that email entered the world. My computer illiteracy was so severe. I guess you could say I was overwhelmed.  You know the paralyzing, deer-in-the-headlights fear that surfaces when the information is too much to learn, the change is too great to make, the grief is too deep to survive, or the crowd is too numerous to feed.

John 6:11 says, “Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.” Before you count your money, bread, or fish, and before you count yourself out, turn and look at the one standing next to you. Count first on Christ. He can help you do the impossible. You simply need to give him what you have and watch him work.

Deuteronomy 10

God responded. He said, “Shape two slabs of stone similar to the first ones. Climb the mountain and meet me. Also make yourself a wooden chest. I will engrave the stone slabs with the words that were on the first ones, the ones you smashed. Then you will put them in the Chest.”

3-5 So I made a chest out of acacia wood, shaped two slabs of stone, just like the first ones, and climbed the mountain with the two slabs in my arms. He engraved the stone slabs the same as he had the first ones, the Ten Words that he addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. Then God gave them to me. I turned around and came down the mountain. I put the stone slabs in the Chest that I made and they’ve been there ever since, just as God commanded me.

* * *

6-7 The People of Israel went from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried. His son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. From there they went to Gudgodah, and then to Jotbathah, a land of streams of water.

8-9 That’s when God set apart the tribe of Levi to carry God’s Covenant Chest, to be on duty in the Presence of God, to serve him, and to bless in his name, as they continue to do today. And that’s why Levites don’t have a piece of inherited land as their kinsmen do. God is their inheritance, as God, your God, promised them.

10 I stayed there on the mountain forty days and nights, just as I did the first time. And God listened to me, just as he did the first time: God decided not to destroy you.

11 God told me, “Now get going. Lead your people as they resume the journey to take possession of the land that I promised their ancestors that I’d give to them.”

12-13 So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

14-18 Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.

19-21
You must treat foreigners with the same loving care—
    remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.
Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,
    back up your promises with the authority of his name.
He’s your praise! He’s your God!
He did all these tremendous, these staggering things
    that you saw with your own eyes.

22 When your ancestors entered Egypt, they numbered a mere seventy souls. And now look at you—you look more like the stars in the night skies in number. And your God did it.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, February 25, 2022

Today's Scripture
Proverbs 5:1–14
(NIV)

The Peril of Adultery

5    My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

1Lend your ear to my understanding,

2    That you may 2preserve discretion,

And your lips amay keep knowledge.

3    bFor the lips of 3an immoral woman drip honey,

And her mouth is csmoother than oil;

4    But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5    Her feet go down to death,

dHer steps lay hold of 4hell.

6    Lest you ponder her path of life—

Her ways are unstable;

You do not know them.

7    Therefore hear me now, my children,

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8    Remove your way far from her,

And do not go near the door of her house,

9    Lest you give your 5honor to others,

And your years to the cruel one;

10    Lest aliens be filled with your 6wealth,

And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

11    And you mourn at last,

When your flesh and your body are consumed,

12    And say:

“How I have hated instruction,

And my heart despised correction!

13    I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

14    I was on the verge of total ruin,

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Insight

The wisdom spoken of in the book of Proverbs is multi-faceted, so much so that in Proverbs 1:2–7 (which introduces the book) seven terms are used to reflect its breadth and brilliance: insight (v. 2)—the ability to see between issues; prudent behavior (v. 3)—wise dealing; prudence (v. 4)—good judgment or good sense; knowledge (vv. 4, 7); discretion (v. 4)—the ability to plan ahead and plot a course of action with foresight; learning and guidance (v. 5).

Another way of viewing these wisdom qualities is to see them as wisdom’s companions, similar to attendants at a wedding ceremony. Where wisdom goes, they go, for they are ever-connected to her. See Proverbs 8:12–14 for wisdom’s own testimony about some of her companions. By: Arthur Jackson

Avoid the Door

Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house.
Proverbs 5:8

The dormouse’s nose twitched. Something tasty was nearby. Sure enough, the scent led to a birdfeeder full of delicious seed. The dormouse climbed down the chain to the feeder, slipped through the door, and ate and ate all night. Only in the morning did he realize the trouble he was in. Birds now pecked at him through the feeder’s door, but having gorged on the seed, he was now twice his size and unable to escape.

Doors can lead us to wonderful places—or dangerous ones. A door features prominently in Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 5 on avoiding sexual temptation. While sexual sin may be enticing, he says, trouble awaits if it’s pursued (5:3–6). Best to stay far from it, for if you walk through that door you’ll be trapped, your honor lost, your wealth pecked away by strangers (vv. 7–11). Solomon counsels us to enjoy the intimacy of our own spouse instead (vv. 15–20). His advice can apply to sin more broadly too (vv. 21–23). Whether it’s the temptation to overeat, overspend, or something else, God can help us to avoid the door that leads to entrapment.

The dormouse must’ve been happy when the homeowner found him in her garden birdfeeder and freed him. Thankfully, God’s hand is also ready to free us when we’re trapped. But let’s call on His strength to avoid the door of entrapment in the first place. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What “door” leads to your greatest temptation? How will you avoid that door today?

Almighty God, help me avoid the door that leads to entrapment.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 25, 2022 
The Destitution of Service

…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15

Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.

The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

Bible in a Year: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 25, 2022

Too Busy To Notice - #9165

One of the highlights of my life was the opportunity to visit Israel. I actually tacked it on to a return trip from South Africa. I hired a private guide, and I went by myself to some sites where I could, well you know, like that old song says, "walk where Jesus walked." Now, I have to tell you, no site meant more to me than the place where many believers believe Jesus was crucified - "Skull Hill" it's called in the Bible. This particular hill lives up to that name with rock formations on the side of it that look very much like the features of a human skull. As I stood atop that hill, I imagined that awful scene that Good Friday. Suddenly I was distracted by the noise below me at the foot of the hill. It turns out that the municipal bus depot is down there. And there, in the shadow of this holy ground, are these plumes of bus exhaust, the chaos of passengers hurrying to make their connections, the total busyness of a city coming and going. It's like people are totally oblivious to what Jesus did for them on Skull Hill.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Busy To Notice."

Actually, you know what? It was like that when Jesus died on the cross. Skull Hill was on a road that was busy back then, and people probably passed by oblivious to the fact that the only Son of God was pouring out His life so they wouldn't have to die for their sins. But, then, nothing has really changed.

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Lamentations 1:12 and it asks a haunting question, "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?" I was walking by a church on North LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago and suddenly I noticed a sculpture just above my head; it portrayed Jesus hanging on the cross. And as I watched the cars zooming by and the pedestrians hurrying past, I was moved by the inscription above Jesus' head, "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

The truth is that many of us are moving at such a fast pace we become oblivious to what the Son of God did for us on the cross. Even those of us who at one time came to that cross with all our sin and all our guilt to make Christ our Savior from all that junk. Someone listening today, you've become too preoccupied to tell about what Jesus did when He died for us. Your life has become so taken over with the demands of your family, and your work, and your church responsibilities, that telling people that Jesus died for them has been crowded right out of your life. You've forgotten the cross and the life-or-death urgency of telling the people around you about it.

Or maybe you've become too preoccupied with your rat race to live in light of Jesus' cross. 1 Peter 2:24 says "(Christ) bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we might die to sins." But you're living as if you've forgotten that. You're tolerating some of the very sins your Savior died to remove. It's time for you to remember His cross and why He died for you.

And most dangerous of all, maybe you've been so preoccupied you have never responded to what Jesus did on the cross for you. The Bible asks, "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). You could miss heaven, not because you rejected Jesus, but because you neglected Jesus. You just never got around to making your spiritual trip to Skull Hill to have the sins of a lifetime finally forgiven by the Man who died for them - sins erased once and for all. Sins that will keep you out of heaven unless they're forgiven by the only One who can.

If you've never actually begun a personal relationship with Jesus, and you want that to change today, would you tell Him that right now? "Jesus, I'm yours." And then go check out our website, because there you'll find a very simple non-religious explanation of how to begin your relationship with Him. That website is ANewStory.com.

It's all too easy to run right past Jesus and right past His sacrifice for you, but that can cost you everything.

Deuteronomy 9 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Mustard Seed Confession - February 24, 2022

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.…Do you believe this Martha?” (John 11:25-26 NLT). Look to whom Jesus asked this question: a bereaved, heartbroken sister. Look at where Jesus stood as he asked this question: a cemetery. Look at when Jesus asked this question: Lazarus, his friend, was four days buried.

Martha replied, “Yes, Lord…I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God” (John 11:27 NLT).

Martha wasn’t ready to say Jesus could raise the dead. Even so, she gave him a triple tribute: the Messiah, the Son of God, and the one who has come into the world. She mustered a mustard-seed confession. Her expression of belief was enough for Christ. Yours is too.

Deuteronomy9 1-2 Attention, Israel!

This very day you are crossing the Jordan to enter the land and oust nations that are much bigger and stronger than you are. You’re going to find huge cities with sky-high fortress-walls and gigantic people, descendants of the Anakites—you’ve heard all about them; you’ve heard the saying, “No one can stand up to an Anakite.”

3 Today know this: God, your God, is crossing the river ahead of you—he’s a consuming fire. He will destroy the nations, he will put them under your power. You will oust them and very quickly wipe them out, just as God promised you would.

4-5 But when God pushes them out ahead of you, don’t start thinking to yourselves, “It’s because of all the good I’ve done that God has brought me in here to dispossess these nations.” Actually it’s because of all the evil these nations have done. No, it’s nothing good that you’ve done, no record for decency that you’ve built up, that got you here; it’s because of the vile wickedness of these nations that God, your God, is dispossessing them before you so that he can keep his promised word to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6-10 Know this and don’t ever forget it: It’s not because of any good that you’ve done that God is giving you this good land to own. Anything but! You’re stubborn as mules. Keep in mind and don’t ever forget how angry you made God, your God, in the wilderness. You’ve kicked and screamed against God from the day you left Egypt until you got to this place, rebels all the way. You made God angry at Horeb, made him so angry that he wanted to destroy you. When I climbed the mountain to receive the slabs of stone, the tablets of the covenant that God made with you, I stayed there on the mountain forty days and nights: I ate no food; I drank no water. Then God gave me the two slabs of stone, engraved with the finger of God. They contained word for word everything that God spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

11-12 It was at the end of the forty days and nights that God gave me the two slabs of stone, the tablets of the covenant. God said to me, “Get going, and quickly. Get down there, because your people whom you led out of Egypt have ruined everything. In almost no time at all they have left the road that I laid out for them and gone off and made for themselves a cast god.”

13-14 God said, “I look at this people and all I see are hardheaded, hardhearted rebels. Get out of my way now so I can destroy them. I’m going to wipe them off the face of the map. Then I’ll start over with you to make a nation far better and bigger than they could ever be.”

15-17 I turned around and started down the mountain—by now the mountain was blazing with fire—carrying the two tablets of the covenant in my two arms. That’s when I saw it: There you were, sinning against God, your God—you had made yourselves a cast god in the shape of a calf! So soon you had left the road that God had commanded you to walk on. I held the two stone slabs high and threw them down, smashing them to bits as you watched.

18-20 Then I flung myself down before God, just as I had at the beginning of the forty days and nights. I ate no food; I drank no water. I did this because of you, all your sins, sinning against God, doing what is evil in God’s eyes and making him angry. I was terrified of God’s furious anger, his blazing anger. I was sure he would destroy you. But once again God listened to me. And Aaron! How furious he was with Aaron—ready to destroy him. But I prayed also for Aaron at that same time.

21 But that sin-thing that you made, that calf-god, I took and burned in the fire, pounded and ground it until it was crushed into a fine powder, then threw it into the stream that comes down the mountain.

22 And then there was Camp Taberah (Blaze), Massah (Testing-Place), and Camp Kibroth Hattaavah (Graves-of-the-Craving)—more occasions when you made God furious with you.

23-24 The most recent was when God sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, ordering you: “Go. Possess the land that I’m giving you.” And what did you do? You rebelled. Rebelled against the clear orders of God, your God. Refused to trust him. Wouldn’t obey him. You’ve been rebels against God from the first day I knew you.

25-26 When I was on my face, stretched out before God those forty days and nights after God said he would destroy you, I prayed to God for you, “My Master, God, don’t destroy your people, your inheritance whom, in your immense generosity, you redeemed, using your enormous strength to get them out of Egypt.

27-28 “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; don’t make too much of the stubbornness of this people, their evil and their sin, lest the Egyptians from whom you rescued them say, ‘God couldn’t do it; he got tired and wasn’t able to take them to the land he promised them. He ended up hating them and dumped them in the wilderness to die.’

29 “They are your people still, your inheritance whom you powerfully and sovereignly rescued.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, February 24, 2022

Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1
(NIV)

The Believer’s Freedom

23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.z “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.a

25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,b 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”f c

27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before youd without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.e 29 I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedomf being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?g

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.h 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble,i whether Jews, Greeks or the church of Godj—33 even as I try to please everyone in every way.k For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many,l so that they may be saved.m

11 Follow my example,n as I follow the example of Christ.o

Insight

In addition to today’s passage (1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1), Paul also dealt with the topic of conscience and freedom in Romans 14. There he upheld the great privilege of freedom in Christ. Yet in both passages, he warned against causing others to stumble. In Romans he wrote, “Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (14:13). And 1 Corinthians 10:24 says, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” Our overarching guide should be our love for our neighbors and for God.By: Tim Gustafson

Follow the Leader

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1

No words. Just music and moving. During a twenty-four-hour Zumba marathon amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people from around the globe worked out together and virtually followed instructors from India, China, Mexico, America, South Africa, parts of Europe, and several other places. These diverse individuals were able to move together without any language barriers. Why? Because instructors of the exercise craze Zumba, created in the mid-1990s by a Colombian aerobics instructor, utilize nonverbal cues to communicate. Class instructors move, and students follow their lead. They follow with no words uttered or shouted.

Words can sometimes get in the way and create barriers. They may cause confusion such as the Corinthians experienced, as noted in Paul’s first letter to them. It was confusion brought about by differing views of disputable matters pertaining to the eating of particular foods (1 Corinthians 10:27–30). But our actions can transcend barriers and even confusion. As Paul says in today’s passage, we should show people how to follow Jesus through our actions—seeking “the good of many” (10:32–33). We invite the world to believe in Him as we “follow the example of Christ” (11:1).

As someone once said, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.” As we follow Jesus’ lead, may He guide our actions to cue others to the reality of our faith. And may our words and actions be done “all for the glory of God” (10:31).

Reflect & Pray

What nonverbal faith cues are you showing others through your actions? How are people able to see Christ in your words and actions?

Father God, thank You for the example of Jesus. Show me how to follow Him in actions and in words every day.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 24, 2022
The Delight of Sacrifice

I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… —2 Corinthians 12:15

Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.

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: Numbers 9-11; Mark 5:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 24, 2022
God's Strange Road to Power - #9164

He's got a black belt in three different martial arts. That's the highest level of achievement in a martial art. Of course, I told him I have a black belt, too. I wear it with my dark suit. He didn't seem to be impressed by that, but I decided I definitely wanted him on my side. He told me that his training gives him the ability to fight back and defend himself from any position he's in. Well, except one - face down on the ground. He said that is the one position in which he is totally powerless.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Strange Road to Power."

Being in a powerless position makes you so weak, so vulnerable, so unable to do anything about the situation. But it is also, in the strange ways of God, the most powerful position on earth. Just ask General Joshua from the book in the Old Testament that bears his name.

In Joshua 5, beginning with verse 13, Joshua is in what may be the most intimidating, potentially fearful situation of his life at that point. He has bravely led God's people into Canaan, only to be confronted with the massive walled city of Jericho, looming before God's people as a seemingly impossible obstacle between them and the land that God has promised them. As their commanding General, Joshua has gone to scout out his mission impossible.

The Bible says: "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you for us or for our enemies?' 'Neither,' he replied, 'but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.' Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence" - see, there it is. That's that position of total powerlessness. "And (he) asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?' The commander of the Lord's army replied, 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.' And Joshua did so."

Many Bible scholars believe this Commander of the Lord's forces is actually the Son of God making one of His several pre-Bethlehem appearances in Old Testament times. No angel would have accepted worship, and Joshua calls him "my Lord." And Joshua falls on the ground, facedown. This is a guy who was very competent, very successful, very skilled. He'd never surrendered to anybody. But this day he surrenders. That's going to turn out to be the secret of winning. From this moment of total surrender, of total powerlessness before the Lord, comes God's unusual plan for conquering Jericho. But before there could be the conquest of Jericho, there had to be the conquest of Joshua.

And before there can be the conquest of the Jericho that looms before you right now, there's got to be the conquest of you. God allows things into our life that will bring us to the end of ourselves where all your experience, our wisdom, our connections, our persuasion are useless in getting an answer. Maybe God's brought you to this moment of total helplessness, not so you would give up, but so you would give over the controls to Him unconditionally. There is no condition God can do more with than our admission of powerlessness. Now you're out of the way finally, and now you can see what God can do!

And as you stand facing the walls of your Jericho that you can't possibly conquer, it's time for your unconditional surrender to your Lord. Admit your powerlessness. Don't be afraid to be broken. Often it's the breaking of a man that is the making of a man. Let God shine His holy light on the dark corners of you that you've never let Him touch.

And tear up that contract you want God to sign; the one with all the ways you've wanted things to be. Give Him a blank piece of paper, pre-signed by you to do whatever He writes on it. You're at the end of your power, but you're at the beginning of His. Surrendering is the way to winning, and powerlessness is the most powerful position in the world.

Deuteronomy 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Will Stand Up for You - February 23, 2022

Ever had anyone stand up for you? The answer is yes. Jesus stands at this very moment, offering intercession on your behalf. “Grant Mary the strength to face this interview!” “Issue to Tom the wisdom to be a good father!”

“Where is Jesus?” the bedridden, enfeebled, impoverished, overstressed, and isolated ask. Where is he? He is in the presence of God, praying for us. Jesus prayed for Peter, he stood up for Stephen, and he promises to pray and stand up for you. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is the sinless and perfect high priest. And when he speaks, all of heaven listens.

Deuteronomy 8

Keep and live out the entire commandment that I’m commanding you today so that you’ll live and prosper and enter and own the land that God promised to your ancestors. Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth. Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that God disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.

6-9 So it’s paramount that you keep the commandments of God, your God, walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him. God is about to bring you into a good land, a land with brooks and rivers, springs and lakes, streams out of the hills and through the valleys. It’s a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs and pomegranates, of olives, oil, and honey. It’s land where you’ll never go hungry—always food on the table and a roof over your head. It’s a land where you’ll get iron out of rocks and mine copper from the hills.

10 After a meal, satisfied, bless God, your God, for the good land he has given you.

11-16 Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God,

the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery;
the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;
the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock;
the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

17-18 If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.

19-20 If you forget, forget God, your God, and start taking up with other gods, serving and worshiping them, I’m on record right now as giving you firm warning: that will be the end of you; I mean it—destruction. You’ll go to your doom—the same as the nations God is destroying before you; doom because you wouldn’t obey the Voice of God, your God.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Today's Scripture
Psalm 8
(NIV)

For the director of music. According to gittith.b A psalm of David.

1 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your namem in all the earth!

You have set your gloryn

in the heavens.o

2 Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a strongholdp against your enemies,

to silence the foeq and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,r

the work of your fingers,s

the moon and the stars,t

which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?c u

5 You have made themd a little lower than the angelse v

and crowned themf with glory and honor.w

6 You made them rulersx over the works of your hands;y

you put everything under theirg feet:z

7 all flocks and herds,a

and the animals of the wild,b

8 the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,c

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!d

Insight

Psalm 8 lifts God as the Lord of all creation (v. 9). The psalmist confesses that the sky with its moon and stars—seen by the nations around Israel as gods—is simply the “work of [God’s] fingers” (v. 3).

In light of God’s immense power, the psalmist is humbled and amazed by the high place God has given humanity, who are entrusted to care for creation (vv. 6–8) and are “crowned . . . with glory and honor” (v. 5). The description we find in Psalm 8 of the dignity given to human beings is especially remarkable when compared to other ancient Near Eastern literature, which describe men and women as created to be slaves for the gods who then wavered over whether their existence was worth the trouble. By: Monica La Rose

The Challenge of the Stars

What is mankind that you are mindful of them?
Psalm 8:4

In the early twentieth century, Italian poet F. T. Marinetti launched Futurism, an artistic movement that rejected the past, scoffed at traditional ideas of beauty, and glorified machinery instead. In 1909, Marinetti wrote his Manifesto of Futurism, in which he declared “contempt for women,” praised “the blow with the fist,” and asserted, “We want to glorify war.” The manifesto concludes: “Standing on the world’s summit we launch once again our insolent challenge to the stars!”

Five years after Marinetti’s manifesto, modern warfare began in earnest. World War I did not bring glory. Marinetti himself died in 1944. The stars, still in place, took no notice.

King David sang poetically of the stars but with a dramatically different outlook. He wrote, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3–4). David’s question isn’t one of disbelief but of amazed humility. He knew that the God who made this vast cosmos is indeed mindful of us. He notices every detail about us—the good, the bad, the humble, the insolent—even the absurd.

It’s pointless to challenge the stars. Rather, they challenge us to praise our Creator. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What current philosophies or movements can you think of that leave no room for God? What reminds you of your Creator, and how does that prompt you to praise Him?

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge Your love for me with feelings of amazement, awe, and humility. Who am I? Thank You for loving me!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The Determination to Serve

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… —Matthew 20:28

Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “…ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.

Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

Bible in a Year: Numbers 7-8; Mark 4:21-41

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Undeniable Evidence - #9163

Cindy got off to a great fast start spiritually. Well, in a way she did, because it took about two years of her coming to my Campus Life Club before she finally chose Christ as her Savior. But after that she really took off. In fact, she came over to my house not long after she made her commitment and said, "Ron, could you give me an argument to convince my big sister, Megan, that this is real?" What had happened was that Cindy came home talking about Jesus, and Megan said, "Oh, right! Sure, of course! Last week it was a drug, next week it will be a boyfriend. This week it's Jesus. You'll get over it, Cindy."

Well, Cindy needed to know how to convince her. She needed an argument she thought. I said, "Well, maybe I could give you one. But I'd rather you'd do this. Ask yourself this question, 'What change could I ask Jesus to make in me that my big sister, Megan, would have to notice?'" She said, "I've got it!"

Two weeks later she came back, and I said, "Well, how did it go with the Lord and with Megan?" She said, "Oh great! I gave God the chair." Right! "I gave God the chair?" She said, "Well see, we've got this big, red overstuffed chair in our living room. It's right by the picture window and right in front of the TV set. And Megan and I always start by arguing over this chair ... like who's going to get it. So I just said, 'Lord, help me be unselfish about this chair.'"

Wouldn't you know, that began to get Megan's attention. She said, "Cindy, what's happened to you?" Two years later ... I guess these girls are on two year cycles here. Megan came to me. She said, "Ron, Cindy and I just wanted you to know I've just given my life to Christ." I said, "Oh that's awesome!" She said, "Yeah, but we've got a question. Now, who gets the chair?" That is a true story my friend.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from chapter 5, verse 15 of Matthew. "People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Notice here it doesn't say they will hear your good beliefs and praise your Father in heaven. They will see your good deeds.

Now, here's 1 Peter 2:12. It's sort of a companion verse. "Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and then glorify God on the day He visits us." So these people who start out criticizing you end up praising your God. Why? It's not the beliefs. It's not meetings that interest people in your Jesus. It's your changed life. It's the difference He makes.

Maybe you need to ask yourself in light of the lost people in your world, "What change could I ask Jesus to make in me that they would have to notice?" So if you're concerned for a parent who doesn't know the Lord, why don't you ask yourself, "How can I give them a better son? How can I give them a better daughter?" That's what they ought to get out of me being a Christian is a better son or daughter, more time with them, more help around the house, more respect. That's a change a parent would notice.

Maybe you're a parent and you've got a son or daughter who doesn't know the Lord. Ask yourself, "What change could I have Jesus make in me as a mom or dad that my son or daughter would sure notice?" Who could be against anything that gives them a better parent or a better child? Maybe you're an employee and you want to reach your employer. Now you get the drift here I think. "Lord, how could I change? Make me more reliable, more on time, more conscientious; whatever they would notice; a better friend, a better neighbor. In other words, be different in the way that would matter most to the lost person you want to take to heaven with you.

Now, for Cindy it was the chair in the living room. Listen! Give the people around you a new and improved model of you, made possible daily by a Savior named Jesus. But be new in their language. It will win you the right to introduce them to the One who's changed you. See, they can't see Jesus, but they're looking at you. So, show them in living color the life-changing difference-making power of Jesus Christ, a change that matters to them. You know why? Because that is undeniable evidence.

Luke 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Speak Words of Truth - February 22, 2022

Admonishment is high-octane encouragement. The word literally means “putting in mind.” To admonish is to deposit truth into a person’s thoughts. It might take the form of discipline, encouragement, or affirmation. It may be commendation or correction. Above all, admonishment is truth spoken into a difficult circumstance. It inserts the chlorine tablet of veracity into the algae of difficulty.

Admonishment speaks up. Yes, we hold the hand of the struggler. Yes, we bring water to the thirsty. And yes, yes, yes, we speak words of truth into moments of despair. Dare we sit idly by while Satan spreads his lies? By no means! Ephesians 6, verse 11: “Put on the full armor of God.”

Luke 3

A Baptism of Life-Change

 In the fifteenth year of the rule of Caesar Tiberius—it was while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; Herod, ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, ruler of Abilene; during the Chief-Priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—John, Zachariah’s son, out in the desert at the time, received a message from God. He went all through the country around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of life-change leading to forgiveness of sins, as described in the words of Isaiah the prophet:

Thunder in the desert!
“Prepare God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.
Everyone will be there to see
The parade of God’s salvation.”

7-9 When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It’s your life that must change, not your skin. And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’ Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there—children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.”

10 The crowd asked him, “Then what are we supposed to do?”

11 “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.”

12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?”

13 He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.”

14 Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He told them, “No harassment, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.”

15 The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, “Could this John be the Messiah?”

16-17 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

18-20 There was a lot more of this—words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them. The Message! But Herod, the ruler, stung by John’s rebuke in the matter of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, capped his long string of evil deeds with this outrage: He put John in jail.

21-22 After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”
Son of Adam, Son of God

23-38 When Jesus entered public life he was about thirty years old, the son (in public perception) of Joseph, who was—

son of Heli,

son of Matthat,

son of Levi,

son of Melki,

son of Jannai,

son of Joseph,

son of Mattathias,

son of Amos,

son of Nahum,

son of Esli,

son of Naggai,

son of Maath,

son of Mattathias,

son of Semein,

son of Josech,

son of Joda,

son of Joanan,

son of Rhesa,

son of Zerubbabel,

son of Shealtiel,

son of Neri,

son of Melchi,

son of Addi,

son of Cosam,

son of Elmadam,

son of Er,

son of Joshua,

son of Eliezer,

son of Jorim,

son of Matthat,

son of Levi,

son of Simeon,

son of Judah,

son of Joseph,

son of Jonam,

son of Eliakim,

son of Melea,

son of Menna,

son of Mattatha,

son of Nathan,

son of David,

son of Jesse,

son of Obed,

son of Boaz,

son of Salmon,

son of Nahshon,

son of Amminadab,

son of Admin,

son of Arni,

son of Hezron,

son of Perez,

son of Judah,

son of Jacob,

son of Isaac,

son of Abraham,

son of Terah,

son of Nahor,

son of Serug,

son of Reu,

son of Peleg,

son of Eber,

son of Shelah,

son of Kenan,

son of Arphaxad,

son of Shem,

son of Noah,

son of Lamech,

son of Methuselah,

son of Enoch,

son of Jared,

son of Mahalaleel,

son of Kenan,

son of Enos,

son of Seth,

son of Adam,

son of God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Today's Scripture
Colossians 4:7–10
(NIV)

    My good friend Tychicus will tell you all about me. He’s a trusted minister and companion in the service of the Master. I’ve sent him to you so that you would know how things are with us, and so he could encourage you in your faith. And I’ve sent Onesimus with him. Onesimus is one of you, and has become such a trusted and dear brother! Together they’ll bring you up-to-date on everything that has been going on here.

10–11     Aristarchus, who is in jail here with me, sends greetings; also Mark, cousin of Barnabas (you received a letter regarding him; if he shows up, welcome him);

Insight

Acts 15:36–41 portrays Paul as a hard-nosed project leader lacking empathy or kindness and intolerant of failure. But this isn’t the complete picture of who Paul was. Scripture also presents him with a pastoral heart. He showed his appreciation for people who worked with him, singling out individuals for special mention in his letters. Eighty to ninety people are variously designated as his “fellow workers” or “co-workers” (Romans 16:3, 9, 21; Colossians 4:11; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; Philemon 1:1, 24). Some are his fellow missionaries, and some are his interns and subordinates, ministry partners, traveling companions, fellow prisoners, and supporters. Colossians 4:7–18 gives us a window into Paul’s pastoral heart when he names ten of his co-workers from the church in Colossae for special mention. The apostle wasn’t just a great visionary leader; he was also a great mentor and a loving pastor and friend with a great capacity for caring for others and their ministry. By: K. T. Sim

Love Your Loved Ones

If he comes to you, welcome him.
Colossians 4:10

Amos was an overbearing extrovert, and Danny was a loner wracked with self-doubt. Somehow these eccentric geniuses became best friends. They spent a decade laughing and learning together. One day their work would receive a Nobel Prize. But Danny tired of Amos’ self-centered ways and told him they were no longer friends.

Three days later, Amos called with terrible news. Doctors had found cancer and given him six months to live. Danny’s heart broke. “We’re friends,” he said, “whatever you think we are.”

Paul was a hard-nosed visionary and Barnabas a soft-hearted encourager. The Spirit put them together and sent them on a missionary journey (Acts 13:2–3). They preached and started churches, until their disagreement over Mark’s desertion. Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance. Paul said he could no longer be trusted. So they split up (15:36–41).

Paul eventually forgave Mark. He closed three letters with greetings from or commendations for him (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1:24). We don’t know what happened with Barnabas. Did he live long enough to be reconciled with Paul in this life? I hope so.

Whatever your situation today, try to reach out to those with whom you may have had a falling out. Now is the time to show and tell them how much you love them.

Reflect & Pray

With whom do you need to reconcile? What can you do with your pain if that person is no longer living?

Father, help me to see that one primary purpose of life is to show love to those around me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance

Be still, and know that I am God… —Psalm 46:10

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).

Continue to persevere spiritually.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.  My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 4-6; Mark 4:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 22, 2022

The Bread for Tomorrow - #9162

They took good care of the little girl in the orphanage. But apparently there was never quite enough food, and the children were hungry most of the time. It's a country where there are a lot of orphans to take care of and not a lot of money to take care of them with. We heard recently about the couple who adopted this little four-year-old girl. That's who I was just talking about. We heard their story of how, in their first weeks of having that girl as a part of their family, she has, in their words, "been eating everything in sight." Eating, in fact, until she makes herself sick. It's pretty heartbreaking to think of how fearful she must be of never having enough to eat. Well, mom and dad had an idea. They make sure that she has a slice of bread she can hold onto whenever she wants to. And, you know what? That's helped a lot.

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

A child, who because of her past experiences, fears that she won't have what she needs ... and now she's finding a new security. What she's going to need in the future is already in her hands. That's a picture of you if you are a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What you're going to need tomorrow is as good as already in your hands. Your Heavenly Father promised many places in the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God that that would be the case.

Here are the familiar, and comforting, words of Psalm 23:1, maybe just the promise you need right now. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Your Lord is the Shepherd who makes sure that His sheep always have what they need, when they need it. Since He knows all of your needs, I think it's safe for you to say, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want for what I need physically, financially, maritally, emotionally, parentally, spiritually."

Many times there was something I thought I should have that He didn't give me, because, as I now know, it would have not been for my good. I was wrong about what I needed; He never is. Other times, I thought I needed something now, when God's timing was different and ultimately better. And still other times, He will supply a need before you've even realized how much you're going to need it. So God's care and provision is always based on what He knows, in His all knowingness, will be best for me to have and what will be the best time for me to have it.

But His promise is that the bread is in your hand, the guarantee that you will need for tomorrow is, in essence, already yours because He's already got it for you. He's promised, for example, that "your strength will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25). He says again in His Word that "His grace will always be sufficient for your situation" (2 Corinthians 12:9). He's promised that you can go anytime to His throne room and "find grace to help in your time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). He's promised that "God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). There is no greater security than that. You have His Word on it. The Bible is full of promises like that.

Maybe you've been let down by others in the past. I get that. And maybe you're often anxious about whether you'll have what you need and if you'll have it when you need it. You have God as your Heavenly Father, with you as His child, purchased with the life of His Son, that's unnecessary worry. Remember the hymn that says, "Oh what needless pain we bear. Oh what peace we often forfeit all because we do not carry everything to Him in prayer."

In a sense, it's an insult to the God you belong to to worry about whether you're going to have what you need. You are living with the greatest security in the world. You are literally living from hand to mouth. From His hand to your mouth, and what you need for tomorrow is as good as already in your hand.

Deuteronomy 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: That You May Believe - February 21, 2022

“The miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11 NLT).

John’s gospel could well have been subtitled That You May Believe. Why tell about the water-to-wine miracle? So you would believe that Jesus can restore what life has taken. Why walk on water, feed the thousands, and raise the dead? That you would believe God still calms the storms of life, still solves the problems of life, and still brings the dead to life.

Need grace? Jesus’ work of redemption is still finished. Need reassurance that it’s all true? Well the tomb is still empty. Need a second chance? The coal fire is still burning on the Galilean shore. All these events call on you to believe that this miracle-working God cares for you, fights for you, and will come to your aid.

Deuteronomy 7

When God, your God, brings you into the country that you are about to enter and take over, he will clear out the superpowers that were there before you: the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Those seven nations are all bigger and stronger than you are. God, your God, will turn them over to you and you will conquer them. You must completely destroy them, offering them up as a holy destruction to God.

Don’t make a treaty with them.

Don’t let them off in any way.

3-4 Don’t marry them: Don’t give your daughters to their sons and don’t take their daughters for your sons—before you know it they’d involve you in worshiping their gods, and God would explode in anger, putting a quick end to you.

5 Here’s what you are to do:

    Tear apart their altars stone by stone,
    smash their phallic pillars,
    chop down their sex-and-religion Asherah groves,
    set fire to their carved god-images.

6 Do this because you are a people set apart as holy to God, your God. God, your God, chose you out of all the people on Earth for himself as a cherished, personal treasure.

7-10 God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. God stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations. But he also pays back those who hate him, pays them the wages of death; he isn’t slow to pay them off—those who hate him, he pays right on time.

11 So keep the command and the rules and regulations that I command you today. Do them.

12-13 And this is what will happen: When you, on your part, will obey these directives, keeping and following them, God, on his part, will keep the covenant of loyal love that he made with your ancestors:

    He will love you,
    he will bless you,
    he will increase you.

13-15 He will bless the babies from your womb and the harvest of grain, new wine, and oil from your fields; he’ll bless the calves from your herds and lambs from your flocks in the country he promised your ancestors that he’d give you. You’ll be blessed beyond all other peoples: no sterility or barrenness in you or your animals. God will get rid of all sickness. And all the evil afflictions you experienced in Egypt he’ll put not on you but on those who hate you.

16 You’ll make mincemeat of all the peoples that God, your God, hands over to you. Don’t feel sorry for them. And don’t worship their gods—they’ll trap you for sure.

17-19 You’re going to think to yourselves, “Oh! We’re outnumbered ten to one by these nations! We’ll never even make a dent in them!” But I’m telling you, Don’t be afraid. Remember, yes, remember in detail what God, your God, did to Pharaoh and all Egypt. Remember the great contests to which you were eyewitnesses: the miracle-signs, the wonders, God’s mighty hand as he stretched out his arm and took you out of there. God, your God, is going to do the same thing to these people you’re now so afraid of.

20 And to top it off, the Hornet. God will unleash the Hornet on them until every survivor-in-hiding is dead.

21-24 So don’t be intimidated by them. God, your God, is among you—majestic God, awesome God. God, your God, will get rid of these nations, bit by bit. You won’t be permitted to wipe them out all at once lest the wild animals take over and overwhelm you. But God, your God, will move them out of your way—he’ll throw them into a huge panic until there’s nothing left of them. He’ll turn their kings over to you and you’ll remove all trace of them under Heaven. Not one person will be able to stand up to you; you’ll put an end to them all.

25-26 Make sure you set fire to their carved gods. Don’t get greedy for the veneer of silver and gold on them and take it for yourselves—you’ll get trapped by it for sure. God hates it; it’s an abomination to God, your God. And don’t dare bring one of these abominations home or you’ll end up just like it, burned up as a holy destruction. No: It is forbidden! Hate it. Abominate it. Destroy it and preserve God’s holiness.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, February 21, 2022
Today's Scripture
Exodus 3:7–10
; 4:10–15
God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

9–10     “The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.”

    Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”

11–12     God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.”

13     He said, “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!”

14–17     God got angry with Moses: “Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he’s on his way to meet you. When he sees you he’s going to be glad. You’ll speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step.

Insight

Moses offered several objections to being the one chosen to lead Israel out of Egypt: he was unworthy (Exodus 3:11), had inadequate knowledge of God (v. 13), lacked any special powers (4:1), and had a speech impediment (v. 10). In each case, God responded by pointing Moses to a deeper understanding of God rather than focusing on himself. For it’s ultimately God’s presence and power that qualifies people (3:12), not their personal strengths and weaknesses. By: Monica La Rose

Never Say “Can’t”

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.
Exodus 4:12

Jen was born without legs and abandoned at the hospital. Yet she says being put up for adoption was a blessing. “I am here because of the people who poured into me.” Her adoptive family helped her to see she was “born like this for a reason.” They raised her to “never say ‘can’t’ ” and encouraged her in all her pursuits—including becoming an accomplished acrobat and aerialist! She meets challenges with an attitude of “How can I tackle this?” and motivates others to do the same.

The Bible tells the stories of many people God used who seemed incapable or unsuited for their calling—but God used them anyway. Moses is a classic example. When God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he balked (Exodus 3:11; 4:1) and protested, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” God replied, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? . . . Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (4:10–12). When Moses still protested, God provided Aaron to speak for him and assured him He would help them (vv. 13–15).

Like Jen and like Moses, all of us are here for a reason—and God graciously helps us along the way. He supplies people to help us and provides what we need to live for Him. By:  Alyson Kieda

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt incapable or ill-equipped for a task or role you felt God calling you to fill? How did God help you?

God, I’m so glad you didn’t leave me here on this earth to do it all on my own. Thank You for Your love and guidance and the people You’ve placed in my life

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 21, 2022 
Do You Really Love Him?

She has done a good work for Me. —Mark 14:6

If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.

Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? “She has done a good work for Me.”

There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “…but perfect love casts out fear…” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.  Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 1-3; Mark 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 21, 2022

When the Party Turns to Pig Slop - #9161

We entered a new era when our daughter entered college, and we discovered there was one word sweeter than any other to a student away at college - not money, no, no - home. Now, there's a lot of jokes about kids getting in contact with home from college. You know the one about the young woman who wrote to her parents and said, "I haven't heard from you for a while. Please send money so I'll know you're okay." Yeah, right.

There are jokes about it, but actually our daughter loved to call home when she was there and no money was involved. There was one number she knew that she could call no matter how she was feeling. And she loved even more to come home. There was one time when she was flying back to school; she waited a half day allowing herself to get bumped from a flight so she could get a free ticket. She said, "Man, I'll wait all day if I have to, to get a free ticket to get back home. You know, when you get away, home really looks good.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When the Party Turns to Pig Slop."

Our word for today from the Word of God (you probably know) comes from Luke 15, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 13. You know about the son who went to his father and asked for his inheritance, and then the Bible says, "...not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he'd spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs."

Now, that story might be more than a story for you. Maybe there's a modern prodigal somewhere in your life; a friend, a family member who in some way is wandering from the Lord ... or maybe it's you. Listen to the homecoming. In verse 18 the prodigal says, "I will set out and go back to my father." See, he knows where home is. And in verse 20 it says, "While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, was filled with compassion for him, ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." What a tremendous ending to this story!

You notice his Dad did not chase him in his rebellion, but he did continue loving him. Well, there's a life principle here that maybe you might need to be reminded of today. It's something you need to remember as someone you love is drifting. When the party turns to pig slop, you look for the person who never stopped loving you.

Some people have to drive to the end of their dead-end street - all the way to the end - before they start to turn around. The question is, "Can you love them while they're driving down that dead-end street?" Unconditional love usually wins in the end. In the meantime, that loved one may test your love to the limit. In fact, they may drive you to Jesus for the love you don't even have any more. But no matter how far they get, keep loving them. In fact, when a person is the least lovable, that's when they need your love the most.

Now, you don't approve of the sin. In fact, you can gently express how it's hurting you, and them, and God. But then keep your arms open. You tell that person, more than ever, "I love you." Touch him, write to him, remember their special days, find ways to help them. This street they're on? It will come to an end, maybe with a crash. But crawling out of the wreckage many wanderers have said, "Who is there that never stopped loving me?" And they run to that person.

Maybe today you know there's a great distance between you and the Heavenly Father, and He stands ready to meet you and greet you and welcome you home to the relationship you were made for with Him. It took Jesus' death on the cross to make that possible. But if you grab Jesus as your hope of getting to God and getting to heaven, you could come home today to that relationship. Our whole website's there to help you do that. Check it out - ANewStory.com.

That homing instinct in the human heart knows where to go when everything else has failed. You go to the person who's never stopped loving you. His name is Jesus.