Psalm 118, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Chosen Children

Adoptive parents understand God's passion to adopt us. They know what it means to feel an empty space inside. They know what it means to hunt, to set out on a mission, and to take responsibility for a child with a dubious future. If anybody understands God's ardor for his children, it's someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. Adopted children are chosen children.

When the doctor handed Max Lucado to Jack Lucado, my dad had no exit option. He couldn't give me back in exchange for a better-looking or smarter son. But if you are adopted, your parents chose you. Surprise pregnancies happen. But surprise adoptions? Never heard of one. Your parents could have picked a different gender, color, or ancestry. But they selected you. They wanted you in their family…Congratulations!

From Dad Time

Psalm 118

Thank God because he’s good,
    because his love never quits.
Tell the world, Israel,
    “His love never quits.”
And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
    “His love never quits.”
And you who fear God, join in,
    “His love never quits.”

5-16 

Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
    from the wide open spaces, he answered.
God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;
    who would dare lay a hand on me?
God’s my strong champion;
    I flick off my enemies like flies.
Far better to take refuge in God
    than trust in people;
Far better to take refuge in God
    than trust in celebrities.
Hemmed in by barbarians,
    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
Hemmed in and with no way out,
    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;
    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.
I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
    when God grabbed and held me.
God’s my strength, he’s also my song,
    and now he’s my salvation.
Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
    in the camp of the saved?
        “The hand of God has turned the tide!
        The hand of God is raised in victory!
        The hand of God has turned the tide!”

17-20 

I didn’t die. I lived!
    And now I’m telling the world what God did.
God tested me, he pushed me hard,
    but he didn’t hand me over to Death.
Swing wide the city gates—the righteous gates!
    I’ll walk right through and thank God!
This Temple Gate belongs to God,
    so the victors can enter and praise.

21-25 

Thank you for responding to me;
    you’ve truly become my salvation!
The stone the masons discarded as flawed
    is now the capstone!
This is God’s work.
    We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
This is the very day God acted—
    let’s celebrate and be festive!
Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
    Oh yes, God—a free and full life!

26-29 

Blessed are you who enter in God’s name—
    from God’s house we bless you!
God is God,
    he has bathed us in light.
Adorn the shrine with garlands,
    hang colored banners above the altar!
You’re my God, and I thank you.
    O my God, I lift high your praise.
Thank God—he’s so good.
    His love never quits!

Our daily bread devotional 

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 3:5–8

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

your very bones will vibrate with life!

Insight

Humanity has an autonomy problem. From the beginning, the first man and woman chose to decide for themselves what was good and what was bad and denied their Creator His place as their God (Genesis 3:6–7).

Proverbs, like the rest of the Wisdom Literature in the Bible, offers a way back—a description of what life can look like when lived the way God intended. Proverbs 3:5–8 encapsulates that mission perfectly: if we trust ourselves and set our own paths in life, we’ll retread Adam and Eve’s road toward death. But if we instead trust our Creator, lean on Him and His guidance, and submit to Him, we’ll find life and peace. Verses 5–6 describe the road back toward life in Eden: trust God with everything and let Him direct our paths.

By: Jed Ostoich

Leap of Faith

In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6

As I prepared to ride a zip line from the highest point of a rainforest on the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia, fear welled up inside me. Seconds before I jumped from the platform, thoughts of everything that could go wrong filled my mind. But with all the courage I could muster (and few options for turning back), I released. Dropping from the pinnacle of the forest, I whizzed through the lush green trees, wind flowing through my hair and my worries slowly fading. As I moved through the air allowing gravity to carry me, my view of the next platform became clearer and, with a gentle stop, I knew I’d arrived safely.

My time on the zip line pictured for me the times God has us undertake new, challenging endeavors. Scripture teaches us to put our trust in God and “lean not on [our] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) when we feel doubt and uncertainty. When our minds are filled with fear and doubt, our paths can be unclear and distorted. But once we’ve made the decision to step out in faith by submitting our way to God, “he will make [our] paths straight” (v. 6). We become more confident taking leaps of faith by learning who God is through spending time in prayer and the Scriptures.

We can find freedom and tranquility even in life’s challenges as we hang on to God and allow Him to guide us through the changes in our lives.

By:  Kimya Loder

Reflect & Pray

What changes or challenges in your life require you to put total trust in God? What’s preventing you from taking that leap of faith?

Dear Father, please give me the wisdom and strength I need to trust You with my life.

My utmost for his highest

By Oswald Chambers

And After That What’s Next To Do?

…seek, and you will find… —Luke 11:9

Seek if you have not found. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss…” (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, “you ask amiss”; that is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. “…seek, and you will find….” Get to work— narrow your focus and interests to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? “…seek, [focus,] and you will find….”

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.

“…knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God…” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands…” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “…purify your hearts…” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament…” (James 4:9). Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves…” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “…to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Psalm 117, Bible reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lacado daily devotional 

THE INFECTION OF SIN - June 8, 2023 October 1347. A fleet returning from the Black Sea carries its death sentence for Europe. Most of the sailors are dead. The few who survive wish they hadn’t. Before it’s over, one-third of Europe’s population will be dead from bubonic plague.

25 million people died. No cure was know; no hope was offered. The healthy quarantined the infected; the infected counted their days. But was it humanity’s deadliest scourge? No. Scripture reserves that title for a darker blight.

It makes the plague seem like a cold sore. Sin sees the world with no God in it. The Bible says God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. Christ became that sin offering. He overcame the punishment for sin—death—through his glorious resurrection from the dead.

Read more 

Come Thirsty

Psalm 117 

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples.

2 

For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

Our Daily Bread

Today's Scripture:

Romans 5:1–5

Developing Patience

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Insight

The New Testament reveals much about the Holy Spirit. When we repent and receive Jesus as our Savior, God gifts us with the Spirit (Acts 2:38). Through Him, God pours His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5 (https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Rom%205.5)). In this way, our bodies become the Holy Spirit’s temple and He lives in us (1 Corinthians 6:19 . The Spirit gives us love, joy, peace (Galatians 5:22, encouragement (Acts 9:31) and hope (Romans 15:13) He also teaches us and guides us. Jesus told His disciples, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”

John 14:26. The Spirit enables us, like Peter, to speak boldly about Christ (

Acts 4:8. He also warns us (20:23) and gives us spiritual gifts (

Hebrews 2:4. The Spirit of truth, our Advocate, is with us forever (

John 14:16–17

By:Alyson Kieda

Strengthened through Trials

We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3–4

The memories flooded back when I rustled through some envelopes and glimpsed a sticker that said, “I’ve had an eye test.” In my mind I saw my four-year-old son proudly wearing the sticker after enduring stinging eyedrops. Because of weak eye muscles, he had to wear a patch for hours each day over his strong eye—thereby forcing the weaker eye to develop. He also needed surgery. He met these challenges one by one, looking to us as his parents for comfort and depending on God with childlike faith. Through these challenges he developed resilience.

People who endure trials and suffering are often changed by the experience. But the apostle Paul went further and said to “glory in our sufferings” because through them we develop perseverance. With perseverance comes character; and with character, hope (Romans 5:3–4 (https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Rom%205.3%E2%80%934)). Paul certainly knew trials—not only shipwrecks but imprisonment for his faith. Yet he wrote to the believers in Rome that “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). The apostle recognized that God’s Spirit keeps our hope in Jesus alive when we put our trust in Him.

Whatever hardships you face, know that God will pour out His grace a

nd mercy on you. He loves you.

By:Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

How have trials and challenges actually helped you trust God more? How could you commit yourself to His care in what you currently face?

Ever-loving God, You promise that You’ll never leave me. Help me to hold on to Your promises even when I’m struggling.

For further study, read A Better Way to Live 

.

My Utmost devotional By Oswald Chambers

What’s Next To Do?

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. —John 13:17

Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22. Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, w

hen God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…” (

John 7:17

).

A Word with You by Ron Hutchcraft

No Discount Disciples - #9499

I had 18 hours in the city of Rome. That's how long it was between my flight connections to Africa. I decided not to waste that time sleeping in the airport when I could be seeing one of the world's great cities. Right? And, my missionary friend, Dave, was kind enough to be my chauffeur and guide. With his help, I got a whirlwind tour that included the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, and some beautiful piazzas. But the highlight of my day in Rome was my visit to the Catacombs, those ancient caverns that wind beneath the streets of Rome. Dave's been there many times so he said he'd wait while I went in. Well, here were the caverns where some of the first Christians hid from the Roman soldiers who would take them to their execution for believing in Christ. And here's where they carved in the walls the ancient symbols of their faith - like the cross and the sign of the fish. Those symbols are still there as a silent testimony to their faithfulness. And here in the walls, they buried countless loved ones who'd been torn to pieces by lions in the Coliseum all because they would not renounce Christ for Caesar. As I emerged from those Catacombs, Dave said, "Well, what did you think?" All I could say was, "Our faith is very, very expensive."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Discount Disciples."

The way of Jesus that we claim to walk today was, indeed, very expensive for those first Christians; for millions who have suffered or died for the name of Jesus in every generation as well, including our own. And it cost Jesus everything. So who am I - who are we - that we should get off so cheap?

Jesus made it clear that there would be no discount disciples; those who could request a commitment to Him that didn't cost too much. What an insult to the man for whom it cost everything! Or to our brothers and sisters across the generations who've paid such a high price for following this same Savior. Jesus put the cost of following Him right up front in Luke 14:2, our word for today from the Word of God: "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple." In Luke 9:23 , He made clear that joining Jesus in carrying your cross was not a once-for-all decision, but one that has to be renewed every day. He said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Notice, He didn't say, "Take up your couch and follow Me." Somewhere we've gotten the twisted idea that following Jesus just means going to some of His meetings, believing His beliefs, throwing a little money His way, maybe taking on a couple of jobs for Him, and maybe even being called a couple of names because of Him. If the price tag gets much higher, we start to complain, to feel sorry for ourselves, to think about quitting. We are here today because of some real disciples who refused to quit, no matter what the cost. Because of a Savior who refused to quit, even when it meant the agony and humiliation of a cross.

Those who have experienced Jesus most deeply, most sweetly, are those who walk the way of the cross with Him. Don't be afraid to make the choices for Him that may cost you something. That's what taking up a cross means - expensive choices. That's what taking up a cross meant for Jesus. He is worth any price you pay for following Him, because as much as it may cost to follow Him, it costs a whole lot more not to follow Him.

After the Allied forces stormed ashore at Normandy on D-Day, charging into deadly German fire and land mines, General Eisenhower said, "There are no victories at discount prices." It was true at Normandy, and It's true in following Jesus. Beginning at the cross, it's always bee

n expensive and victorious. The hymn writer nailed it when he said: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, when others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?"

Psalm 116, Bible reading, and daily devotionals

 LIVING WATER - June 6, 2023

Your body is 80% fluid. Stop drinking and see what happens. Coherent thoughts vanish, skin grows clammy, and vital organs wrinkle. Deprive your heart of spiritual water, and your dehydrated heart will send desperate messages. Hopelessness, loneliness, resentment. Where do you find water for your soul? Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).

Let Christ be the water of your soul. Church activities might hide a thirst, but only Christ quenches it. Drink him. Receive Christ’s work on the cross, the energy of his Spirit, his lordship over your life, his unending, unfailing love. Drink deeply and often. And out of you will flow rivers of living water.

Read more 

Come Thirsty 

Psalm 116 

1-6 I love God because he listened to me,
    listened as I begged for mercy.
He listened so intently
    as I laid out my case before him.
Death stared me in the face,
    hell was hard on my heels.
Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn;
    then I called out to God for help:
“Please, God!” I cried out.
    “Save my life!”
God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
    our most compassionate God.
God takes the side of the helpless;
    when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

7-8 

    I said to myself, “Relax and rest.
    God has showered you with blessings.
    Soul, you’ve been rescued from death;
    Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;
    And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”

9-11 

I’m striding in the presence of God,
    alive in the land of the living!
I stayed faithful, though overwhelmed,
    and despite a ton of bad luck,
Despite giving up on the human race,
    saying, “They’re all liars and cheats.”

12-19 

What can I give back to God
    for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
    I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
    God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
    your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
    and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
    in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah!

Our daily bread reading, and devotion:

Today's Scripture:

Exodus 20:1–6 

The Ten Commandments

20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Insight

Although the wording is different, the New Testament reiterates the teaching of the first and second commandments—worship is reserved for God alone. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He replied, “The most important one . . . is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ ” (Mark 12:29–30. Paul’s teaching is in the same vein: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” . Mercy 

from God is the basis for dedication

 to

 God. John’s teaching is succinct but sure: “keep yourselves from idols”

1 John 5:21

By: 

Arthur Jackson 

Places of the Heart

You shall not make for yourself an image.

Exodus 20:4 

Here are some vacation tips: The next time you’re traveling through Middleton, Wisconsin, you might want to visit the National Mustard Museum. For those of us who feel that one mustard is plenty, this place amazes, featuring 6,090 different mustards from around the world. In McLean, Texas, you might be surprised to run across the Barbed Wire Museum—or more surprised there is such a passion for, well . . . fencing.

It’s telling what kinds of things we choose to make important. One writer says you could do worse than spend an afternoon at the Banana Museum (though we beg to differ).

We laugh in fun, yet it’s sobering to admit we maintain our own museums—places of the heart where we celebrate certain idols of our own making. God instructs us, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 (https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Exod%2020.3)) and “you shall not bow down to them or worship them” (v. 5). But we do anyway, creating our own graven gods, perhaps of wealth or lust or success—or of some other fill-in-the-blank “treasure” we worship in secret.

It’s easy to read this passage and miss the point. Yes, God holds us accountable for the museums of sin we create. But He also speaks of “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love [Him]” (v. 6). He knows how trivial our “museums” really are. He knows our true satisfaction lies only

 in our love for Him.

By:  

Kenneth Petersen

Reflect & Pray

What is an area of sin that you keep secret? How will you give it to God?

Dear God, I want You to be at the center of my life. Help me rid myself of the idols I keep.

My most for his highest by Oswald Chambers 

June 6th

“Work Out” What God “Works in” You

By Oswald Chambers (https://utmost.org/oswald-chambers-bio)

…work out your own salvation…for it is God who works in you… —Philippians 2:12-13 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A12-13)

Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.

The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Do I believe 

that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.

friend

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.  Conformed to His Image, 354 L

A word with you by Ron Hutchcraft 

WHY YOUR NEST DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT - #9497

Recently, a friend of mine had a ringside seat on a family of birds. They actually decided to nest under the roof on the porch. The fun part was watching the birth and development of those baby birds. My friend actually got to see them hatching out and then settling down into their nest. They all fit in there so nicely - at first. See, Mama kept filling their open mouths with more and more food, and the little birdies didn't stay little! They grew and the nest seemed to shrink. As it got more and more crowded, each baby did more and more wiggling around to kind of keep his position in the nest. Then they feathered out and they forgot about all of them sitting in the nest ever again! Well, they began to perch on the edges of the nest until they were pushed off the edge by their siblings in a battle for whatever food Mama brought. One by one, as crowding pushed those little birds to the edge - and then over the edge - they were forced to fly or die. They decided to fly. The last nester stayed in the nest for actually another full week, being fed as an only child by Mama Bird. Finally, Mama must have gotten disgusted with her nest-addicted child. She quit feeding him. First, there was a lot of squawking and fussing, and then even he abandoned the nest to finally touch the sky.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Your Nest Doesn't Feel Right."

We all know what those baby birds have to discover - that they weren't made to just hunker down in their comfortable nest. Neither are we. Those birds are destined to leave where it's safe so they can finally fly, and so are we.

In fact, God uses an example just like this to describe His loving plan for our lives. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 32:10-11 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Deuteronomy+32%3A10-11;&version=31;&interface=print). It says of a child of God, "He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions." The mother eagle actually removes all the cushioning in her nest, and that leaves her eaglets living on just the rocks and the sticks underneath. Ultimately, the stirring of that nest leads to their willingness to leave the nest where they had been so comfortable and then they ultimately take to the sky.

Maybe your nest isn't quite as comfy as it once was. Things are stirring - they're changing. In your environment and in your heart there's this gnawing restlessness that seems to say, "God's got more for you than this." He does, and He's making you restless for it because restlessness almost always precedes a great work of God. Your Lord's trying to move you into a new season of your life where you can make a far greater difference than you have ever made before.

But you'll miss it if you insist on staying where it's safe; financially safe, geographically safe, occupationally safe, where it's methodologically safe, socially safe. Abraham would never have discovered God's amazing plans for his life unless he was first willing to leave the safety and prosperity of a familiar and secure place. The disciples would have always been just another bunch of fishermen unless they had been willing to abandon the security of their career for the call of Jesus. Peter could have never known what it was to walk on water if he hadn't gotten out of the boat. Neither will you.

God has much more of Him that He wants you to experience, but it will only happen as you move beyond all your usual security blankets and you abandon yourself to total trust in Him. He has so much more He wants to do with your life, but it's beyond your comfort zone.

Like those baby birds, you weren't created to just hunker down in your safe, secure little nest -

 a nest that's becoming increasingly unsatisfying isn't it? You see, that's because you're destined to fly.

Psalm 115 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HERO OF HEAVEN - June 5, 2023

The hero of heaven is God. Angels don’t worship mansions or glittering avenues. God is not the grand marshal of the parade; he is the parade. He’s not the main event; he’s the only event. His Broadway features a single stage and star: himself. He hosts the only production and invites every living soul to attend. At this very moment God issues invitations by the millions. He says, “Come, enjoy me forever.”

Yet many people have no desire to do so. He speaks; they cover their ears. He commands; they scoff. They don’t want him telling them how to live. They regard his son as a joke and the cross as utter folly. They spend their lives telling God to leave them alone.

Jesus offers the invitation in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Live Loved

Read more Live Loved

Psalm 115

Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake,

    but for your name’s sake, show your glory.

Do it on account of your merciful love,

    do it on account of your faithful ways.

Do it so none of the nations can say,

    “Where now, oh where is their God?”

3-8 Our God is in heaven

    doing whatever he wants to do.

Their gods are metal and wood,

    handmade in a basement shop:

Carved mouths that can’t talk,

    painted eyes that can’t see,

Tin ears that can’t hear,

    molded noses that can’t smell,

Hands that can’t grasp, feet that can’t walk or run,

    throats that never utter a sound.

Those who make them have become just like them,

    have become just like the gods they trust.

9-11 But you, Israel: put your trust in God!

    —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!

Clan of Aaron, trust in God!

    —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!

You who fear God, trust in God!

    —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!

12-16 O God, remember us and bless us,

    bless the families of Israel and Aaron.

And let God bless all who fear God—

    bless the small, bless the great.

Oh, let God enlarge your families—

    giving growth to you, growth to your children.

May you be blessed by God,

    by God, who made heaven and earth.

The heaven of heavens is for God,

    but he put us in charge of the earth.

17-18 Dead people can’t praise God—

    not a word to be heard from those buried in the ground.

But we bless God, oh yes—

    we bless him now, we bless him always!

Hallelujah!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, June 05, 2023

Today's Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1–14

There’s a Right Time for Everything

There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

2-8 A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to lament and another to cheer,

A right time to make love and another to abstain,

A right time to embrace and another to part,

A right time to search and another to count your losses,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up,

A right time to love and another to hate,

A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

9-13 But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.

14 I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.

Insight

While some dispute Solomon’s authorship of Ecclesiastes, there’s good internal evidence to support it. In Ecclesiastes 1:1 we read, “The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Solomon was the only son of David to reign as king in Jerusalem, though the author identifies himself as “the Teacher” or “the Preacher.” Whereas Solomon’s sayings in the book of Proverbs offer wisdom for life in a broken world, Ecclesiastes focuses more on the difficulty of living in such a world. By: Bill Crowder

Seasons

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

I recently came across a helpful word: wintering. Just as winter is a time of slowing down in much of the natural world, author Katherine May uses this word to describe our need to rest and recuperate during life’s “cold” seasons. I found the analogy helpful after losing my father to cancer, which sapped me of energy for months. Resentful of this forced slowing down, I fought against my winter, praying summer’s life would return. But I had much to learn.

Ecclesiastes famously says there’s “a season for every activity under the heavens”—a time to plant and to harvest, to weep and to laugh, to mourn and to dance (3:1–4). I had read these words for years but only started to understand them in my wintering season. For though we have little control over them, each season is finite and will pass when its work is done. And while we can’t always fathom what it is, God is doing something significant in us through them (v. 11). My time of mourning wasn’t over. When it was, dancing would return. Just as plants and animals don’t fight winter, I needed to rest and let it do its renewing work.

“Lord,” a friend prayed, “would You do Your good work in Sheridan during this difficult season.” It was a better prayer than mine. For in God’s hands, seasons are purposeful things. Let’s submit to His renewing work in each one. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

When have you wanted a season to end before its time? What do you think God wants to do in you this season?

Father God, thank You for using every season for Your glory and my good.

For further study, read When God Says No: Broken Dreams to New Beginnings.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, June 05, 2023

God’s Assurance

He Himself has said….So we may boldly say… —Hebrews 13:5-6

My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ”

Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 23-24; John 15

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, June 05, 2023

JESUS - MORE THAN YOU EVER IMAGINED - #9496

All of a sudden The Son of God was in theaters all over the place. Actually, a movie by that name - Son of God. And based on its opening weekend, it was drawing a crowd. Of course that was not the first time something like that had happened. "The Passion of the Christ" turned out to be a blockbuster, too. Who would have guessed that?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jesus - More Than You Ever Imagined."

When I was growing up, a movie about Jesus' life wouldn't have shown folks much they didn't know. People knew a lot about Jesus. Not now. Lots of people need an introduction.

A lot of this movie was included in the highly successful TV mini-series called "The Bible." And when it portrayed the torture and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Twittersphere lit up with astonished comments. People were saying, in essence, "I had no idea Jesus went through all of this."

I have a good friend who ministers among his Native American people. He says, "My people consider Jesus an enemy." But he did manage to get a few of them to go with him to see "The Passion of the Christ" which vividly, of course, portrays the unspeakable ordeal that Jesus went through. Afterwards, there was an interesting comment from those folks. They said, "Now we know why you follow Him." Wow! I can tell you this, it sure is why I follow Him.

They didn't take His life. He's the Son of God. He'd have to give it. After all, He made the tree they nailed Him to. He made the men who nailed Him there. In His own words, "I lay down my life...no one takes it from Me" (John 10:17-18).

And all the evidence says that He is, in fact, exactly who He claimed to be - the Son of God. Perfect life, incredible miracles, scores of centuries-old Messianic prophecies fulfilled by His life, and an empty tomb. No religious leader can come back from the grave. That's got to be God.

So it really is the Son of God hanging on that cross. And if the Son of God is going to give His life, it's going to be for something really important. That's where it gets emotional for me, because one of the reasons He went through all that was me.

Along with every other person who has done life their way instead of God's way, which, according to the Bible, is every one of us. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). But sadly, even with the visual of a movie, it's still easy to miss the "personal-ness" of what Jesus came to do.

You can look at Jesus and just see a historical figure - which He clearly is. Or you can see Him as a religious figure, starting a religion to follow, and beliefs to believe. But He's so much more. What happened on that cross was intensely personal for each of us. Again, in the Bible's words, "He loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20); my personal Rescuer from the penalty of my personal sin. And He insists on a verdict from each of us about His death for our sins as that being the only hope of being forgiven and of ever entering God's heaven.

One day Jesus did a little "focus group" research with His disciples. He asked, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They gave Him the results of their latest poll. "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Nice answer, guys. But then Jesus drills down to what may be the most important question any of us could ever answer. It is our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16, verses 15 and 16, "'But what about you? Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"

My friend, the question has not changed. Jesus still moves in close and says- "What about you? Who do you say I am?" And He extends His nail-pierced hand and He waits for your answer, on which your eternity rests.

When you feel the tug of Jesus in your heart, He's come close to offer you the life that only He can give you. It's wise to grab Him while He's close. This might be that time for you. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours."

I hope you'll visit our website soon and let me show you the rest of the way to begin your personal relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com. It's time to get this settled.

Psalm 114, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Parent's Prayer

Each year God gives millions of parents a gift, a brand new baby.  Like no one else, parents can unlock the door to a child's uncommonness. As dads, we accelerate or stifle…release or repress, our children's giftedness. They will spend much of life benefitting or recovering from our influence. But remember, our kids were God's kids first.  We tend to forget this fact, regarding our children as our children, as though we have the final say in their health and future. We don't. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.

God never dismisses a parent's prayer.  Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you!

From Dad Time

Psalm 114

After Israel left Egypt,

    the clan of Jacob left those barbarians behind;

Judah became holy land for him,

    Israel the place of holy rule.

Sea took one look and ran the other way;

    River Jordan turned around and ran off.

The mountains turned playful and skipped like rams,

    the hills frolicked like spring lambs.

What’s wrong with you, Sea, that you ran away?

    and you, River Jordan, that you turned and ran off?

And mountains, why did you skip like rams?

    and you, hills, frolic like spring lambs?

Tremble, Earth! You’re in the Lord’s presence!

    in the presence of Jacob’s God.

He turned the rock into a pool of cool water,

    turned flint into fresh spring water.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, June 04, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 13:36–38; 21:18–19

36 Simon Peter asked, “Master, just where are you going?”

Jesus answered, “You can’t now follow me where I’m going. You will follow later.”

37 “Master,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow now? I’ll lay down my life for you!”

38 “Really? You’ll lay down your life for me? The truth is that before the rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.”

17-19 Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, “Follow me.”

Insight

Peter’s words to Jesus in John 13:37 show his misunderstanding of who his teacher really was. He sincerely intended to lay his life down for his king—but not if that king went willingly to his death. Peter was prepared to fight Roman oppressors, and he did. Or at least tried to.

In John 18—not long after Jesus had told Peter that he’d deny Him—they stood together in a garden surrounded by Roman soldiers. As if to prove his willingness to die for Jesus, Peter leapt into action, swinging a sword and attacking one of the men.

The disciples—and many believers in Jesus in the years since—didn’t understand His mission. He came not to gain power, dominance, and control but to set all those things aside. As John would write years later in the last book of the Bible, our King isn’t a conquering lion, but a slain lamb (Revelation 5:5–6).

By: Jed Ostoich

Courage to Stand for Jesus

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38

In ad 155, the early church father Polycarp was threatened with death by fire for his faith in Christ. He replied, “For eighty and six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. And how can I now blaspheme my king who saved me?” Polycarp’s response can be an inspiration for us when we face extreme trial because of our faith in Jesus, our King.

Just hours before Jesus’ death, Peter boldly pledged his allegiance to Christ: “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). Jesus, who knew Peter better than Peter knew himself, replied, “Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (v. 38). However, after Jesus’ resurrection, the same one who’d denied Him began to serve Him courageously and would eventually glorify Him through his own death (see 21:16–19).

Are you a Polycarp or a Peter? Most of us, if we’re honest, are more of a Peter with a “courage outage”—a failure to speak or act honorably as a believer in Jesus. Such occasions—whether in a classroom, boardroom, or breakroom—needn’t indelibly define us. When those failures occur, we must prayerfully dust ourselves off and turn to Jesus, the One who died for us and lives for us. He’ll help us to be faithful to Him and courageously live for Him daily in difficult places.  By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

When do you need extra doses of courage to stand for Jesus? What do you find helpful in your witness for Him?

Heavenly Father, forgive me when I shrink back in fear and betray You by my words or actions. I need Your strength to live boldly as a believer in Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, June 04, 2023

The Never-forsaking God

He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.

“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

So Send I You

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14

Psalm 113 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:Desperate Dads Go to Jesus

In Mark 5:23 we meet Jairus-a leader of the synagogue-one of the most important men in the community. But the man in this story is a humble man, saying again and again, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." He doesn't barter with Jesus. He doesn't negotiate. He doesn't make excuses. He just pleads!

There are times when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you're asking to receive. What could a man offer in exchange for his child's life? So there are no games, no haggling. Jairus asks for help. Jesus, who loves the honest heart, goes to give it. And God, who knows what it's like to lose a child, empowers His Son!

From Dad Time

Psalm 113

 Hallelujah!

You who serve God, praise God!

    Just to speak his name is praise!

Just to remember God is a blessing—

    now and tomorrow and always.

From east to west, from dawn to dusk,

    keep lifting all your praises to God!

4-9 God is higher than anything and anyone,

    outshining everything you can see in the skies.

Who can compare with God, our God,

    so majestically enthroned,

Surveying his magnificent

    heavens and earth?

He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,

    rescues the forgotten who’ve been thrown out with the trash,

Seats them among the honored guests,

    a place of honor among the brightest and best.

He gives childless couples a family,

    gives them joy as the parents of children.

Hallelujah!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, June 03, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 139:1–12

God, investigate my life;

    get all the facts firsthand.

I’m an open book to you;

    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;

    I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

    before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

    I can’t take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?

    to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there!

    If I go underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings

    to the far western horizon,

You’d find me in a minute—

    you’re already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!

    At night I’m immersed in the light!”

It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;

    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

Insight

God knows His people personally and intimately. This truth is evident in David’s words in Psalm 139. He says God created our “inmost being” (v. 13) and “all the days ordained for [us] were written in [His] book before one of them came to be” (v. 16). The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah affirmed this truth (Isaiah 49:5; Jeremiah 1:5). Later, Jesus declared, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14). In fact, He’s numbered the hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30)! The apostle Paul wrote, we “are God’s temple and . . . God’s Spirit dwells in [us]” (1 Corinthians 3:16). And he added, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (8:3). The best news is that He loved us first (1 John 4:19).  By: Alyson Kieda

Within God’s Reach

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7

After an officer searched me, I stepped into the county jail, signed the visitor’s log, and sat in the crowded lobby. I prayed silently, watching adults fidgeting and sighing while young children complained about the wait. Over an hour later, an armed guard called a list of names including mine. He led my group into a room and motioned us to our assigned chairs. When my stepson sat in the chair on the other side of the thick glass window and picked up the telephone receiver, the depth of my helplessness overwhelmed me. But as I wept, God assured me that my stepson was still within His reach.

In Psalm 139, David says to God, “You know me. . . ; you are familiar with all my ways” (vv. 1–3). His proclamation of an all-knowing God leads to a celebration of His intimate care and protection (v. 5). Overwhelmed by the vastness of God’s knowledge and the depth of His personal touch, David asks two rhetorical questions: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7).

When we or our loved ones are stuck in situations that leave us feeling hopeless and helpless, God’s hand remains strong and steady. Even when we believe we’ve strayed too far for His loving redemption, we’re always within His reach. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

How has knowing the vastness of God’s extensive reach affected your faith? How has He comforted you during a time when you felt hopeless and helpless?

Loving Father, help me to remember that You’re always willing and able to reach me and my loved ones.

Learn more about  trusting God in times of suffering.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, June 03, 2023

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him… —Psalm 25:14

What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself— to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer— “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)— that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us— He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

“Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed. Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, “Now, Lord, what is Your will?”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 19-20; John 13:21-38