Daniel 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IN JESUS’ JURISDICTION - June 17, 2024

Is the dread of death robbing you your joy of life? It can.

At the age of 37, Florence told her friends her life hung by a thread, and so she went to bed. And she stayed there—for 53 years! She did die, at the age of ninety. Except for three years, Florence cowered before the giant of death. During those years she made a name for herself, not as one who suffered, but as a friend of those who did. History’s most famous nurse, Florence Nightingale lived, as a slave of death.

What about you? Jesus came to deliver those who’ve lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Death sits in his jurisdiction. Psalm 139:16 (NLT) says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment laid out before a single day had passed.”

Daniel 5

The Writing of a Disembodied Hand

1–4  5 King Belshazzar held a great feast for his one thousand nobles. The wine flowed freely. Belshazzar, heady with the wine, ordered that the gold and silver chalices his father Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from God’s Temple of Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines, could drink from them. When the gold and silver chalices were brought in, the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, drank wine from them. They drank the wine and drunkenly praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

5–7  At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the lamp-illumined, whitewashed wall of the palace. When the king saw the disembodied hand writing away, he went white as a ghost, scared out of his wits. His legs went limp and his knees knocked. He yelled out for the enchanters, the fortunetellers, and the diviners to come. He told these Babylonian magi, “Anyone who can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means will be famous and rich—purple robe, the great gold chain—and be third-in-command in the kingdom.”

8–9  One after the other they tried, but could make no sense of it. They could neither read what was written nor interpret it to the king. So now the king was really frightened. All the blood drained from his face. The nobles were in a panic.

10–12  The queen heard of the hysteria among the king and his nobles and came to the banquet hall. She said, “Long live the king! Don’t be upset. Don’t sit around looking like ghosts. There is a man in your kingdom who is full of the divine Holy Spirit. During your father’s time he was well known for his intellectual brilliance and spiritual wisdom. He was so good that your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him the head of all the magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, and diviners. There was no one quite like him. He could do anything—interpret dreams, solve mysteries, explain puzzles. His name is Daniel, but he was renamed Belteshazzar by the king. Have Daniel called in. He’ll tell you what is going on here.”

13–16  So Daniel was called in. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel who was one of the Jewish exiles my father brought here from Judah? I’ve heard about you—that you’re full of the Holy Spirit, that you’ve got a brilliant mind, that you are incredibly wise. The wise men and enchanters were brought in here to read this writing on the wall and interpret it for me. They couldn’t figure it out—not a word, not a syllable. But I’ve heard that you interpret dreams and solve mysteries. So—if you can read the writing and interpret it for me, you’ll be rich and famous—a purple robe, the great gold chain around your neck—and third-in-command in the kingdom.”

17  Daniel answered the king, “You can keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

18–21  “Listen, O king! The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and a glorious reputation. Because God made him so famous, people from everywhere, whatever their race, color, and creed, were totally intimidated by him. He killed or spared people on whim. He promoted or humiliated people capriciously. He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox and was soaked by heaven’s dew until he learned his lesson: that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts anyone he wants in charge.

22–23  “You are his son and have known all this, yet you’re as arrogant as he ever was. Look at you, setting yourself up in competition against the Master of heaven! You had the sacred chalices from his Temple brought into your drunken party so that you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines, could drink from them. You used the sacred chalices to toast your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone—blind, deaf, and imbecile gods. But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.

24–26  “God sent the hand that wrote on the wall, and this is what is written: mene, teqel, and peres. This is what the words mean:

“Mene: God has numbered the days of your rule and they don’t add up.

27  “Teqel: You have been weighed on the scales and you don’t weigh much.

28  “Peres: Your kingdom has been divided up and handed over to the Medes and Persians.”

29  Belshazzar did what he had promised. He robed Daniel in purple, draped the great gold chain around his neck, and promoted him to third-in-charge in the kingdom.

30–31  That same night the Babylonian king Belshazzar was murdered. Darius the Mede was sixty-two years old when he succeeded him as king.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, June 17, 2024

Today's Scripture

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

Make sure foreigners and orphans get their just rights. Don’t take the cloak of a widow as security for a loan. Don’t ever forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there. I command you: Do what I’m telling you.

19–22  When you harvest your grain and forget a sheaf back in the field, don’t go back and get it; leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that God, your God, will bless you in all your work. When you shake the olives off your trees, don’t go back over the branches and strip them bare—what’s left is for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don’t take every last grape—leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in Egypt. I command you: Do what I’m telling you.

Insight

The laws for Israel in Deuteronomy 24:17-22 occur in a series of laws on how to live in the promised land. The point of the section is clear: provide for the poor, the needy, and the foreigner. An interesting corollary occurs, however, at the end of the previous chapter. Deuteronomy 23:24-25 permitted anyone—not merely the needy—to eat whatever they wished from a neighbor’s field. One day, Jesus’ disciples availed themselves of this provision (Matthew 12:1). Immediately, the Pharisees accused them of “doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath” (v. 2)—that is, “working.” Christ defended His disciples, saying, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (v. 8). They ate the grain merely because they “were hungry” (v. 1). Jesus noted that His Father desires “mercy” (feeding the hungry) over “sacrifice.” The Pharisees adhered to a legalistic interpretation of the law, in the process missing the generous Spirit who gave it. By: Tim Gustafson

Generous Faith

When you are harvesting in your field . . . leave [some] for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Deuteronomy 24:19

A few years ago, our church was invited to host refugees fleeing their country after a tumultuous change in political leadership. Entire families came with only what they could fit in a small bag. Several of our church families opened their homes, including some who had little room to spare. 

Their gracious hospitality reflects God’s triple command to the Israelites when they entered the promised land (Deuteronomy 24:19-21). As an agricultural society, they understood the importance of the harvest. The crops were essential to get them through until next year. This makes God’s command to “leave [some] for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow” (v. 19) also a request to trust Him. The Israelites were to practice generosity not by giving only when they knew they had enough but giving out of a heart that trusts God’s provision. 

Such hospitality was also a reminder “that [they] were slaves in Egypt” (vv. 18, 22). They were once oppressed and destitute. Their generosity was a reminder of God’s graciousness to them in freeing them from bondage.

Believers in Jesus are similarly urged to be generous. Paul reminds us, “Though [Christ] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). We give because He gave to us. By:  Matt Lucas

Reflect & Pray

When has someone helped you when you were in need? How will you give to others while trusting God’s provision for you?

Dear Father, please open my eyes to the needs of the marginalized in my community. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, June 17, 2024

The Uncritical Temper

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. — Matthew 7:1

Jesus says one simple thing about judging: Don’t. The average Christian is the most sharply critical individual. The human mind has a natural tendency to criticize, but spiritually nothing is accomplished by criticism. Only the Holy Spirit is in a position to point out what is wrong in someone, because only the Holy Spirit can do so without causing pain. When humans criticize, they only succeed in weakening and wounding.

It is impossible to enter into communion with God when we are in a critical mood. A critical mindset makes us hard and vindictive and cruel. It leaves us with the flattering idea that we are better than others. Jesus says that his disciples must cultivate the uncritical temper. This cultivation must happen again and again; we can’t do it once and be done with it.

There is no getting away from the penetrating gaze of Jesus. He tells us that if we see a speck in another’s eye, it means we have a plank in our own. Every wrong we see in another Jesus finds in us. Every time we judge another, we condemn ourselves (Romans 2:17–21). We must stop using a measuring stick for other people. There is always one fact more, in every person’s case, about which we know nothing.

When we decide to commit ourselves entirely to Jesus, the first thing God does is give us a spiritual spring-cleaning, showing us what we would be if it weren’t for his grace. After that, there is no possibility of pride left, nothing that allows us to go on criticizing others from a place of superiority. Once I realize what God has done for me, it is impossible to despair of anyone else.

Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. 

Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, June 17, 2024

How to Handle a Heavy Load - #9766

Our family was driving down the Interstate and I saw this familiar bumper sticker. I said, "Oh, that's nice." And then I began to pass the car. I could tell from behind, that it was obviously a mother and a child in the front seat. But the significance of the message on the bumper didn't hit me until I pulled alongside. I glanced over and it was obvious that the child had an evident disability, and that the mother had a very heavy burden. And I thought, "Boy, how does she cope with that responsibility?" And then I remembered her bumper sticker and I had my answer. It just might be an answer for you too.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Handle a Heavy Load."

Our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Deuteronomy 33:25, and it relates very directly to that bumper sticker, which we'll get to in a minute. The words were familiar, but it may be a reminder that you need to hear to make it through this very heavy load you've got. The words on the bumper sticker - you've probably seen it - simply said, "One day at a time."

Now, Jesus told us how to bear the cross of following Him. He said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone wants to come after Me, let him take up his cross..." You remember the next word? "...daily and follow Me." Now Deuteronomy 33:25 has this simple, profound, and enlightening statement, "Your strength will equal your years." It does not say that. It says, "Your strength will equal your days." God distributes strength to us in 24-hour allotments. You have no strength for tomorrow-today, or certainly for next week or next month or next year.

So, you're facing what appears to be, let's say, a mountain right now and you're saying, "I don't know how I'll get all this done!" Or, "I don't know how I'll make it through this crisis? I don't know how I'll cope." And the Lord says to you, "One day at a time. You don't have to take the mountain all at once. Don't try to handle that entire load at one time. Take it as I give it to you in 24-hour chunks."

My wife was very ill with hepatitis. She was in bed for nine months and it was like I lost my right arm - my partner, my strength, my great supporter. And I was Mr. Mom for our three kids as well as running a ministry. It had been about five weeks of trying to be Mom on top of everything else, and I remember my pastor's wife caught me at church and said, "How are you doing five weeks without your wife?" I said, "I didn't do five weeks, I did 35 days. That's the only way I knew to do it."

You know, you'll never have a day where you won't have enough strength. God promised that. You have His word on it. If the Lord sends you a 20-pound day, you'll get 20 pounds of strength. He sends you a 100-pound day, you'll get 100 pounds of strength - 100 pounds of His supernatural resources. But don't try to borrow tomorrow's trouble. You don't have the strength yet. You go thinking about that and worrying about that, and you'll run ahead of your supply lines. You'll have everything you need that day. So live as God designed you to live. Cope as He's equipped you to cope - in 24-hour slices of life.

If you do it one day at a time, you'll make it through this because God's mercies are new every morning.

Titus 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Loving the Child Who Drops the Ball

Dropping a fly ball may not be a big deal to most people, but if you're thirteen years old and have aspirations of the big leagues, it's a big deal. I was halfway home when my dad found me. He didn't say a word.  Just pulled over to the side of the road, and opened the passenger door. We both knew the world had come to an end.

I went straight to my room.  He went straight to the kitchen. Presently he appeared in front of me with cookies and milk.  And somewhere in the dunking of the cookies, I began to realize that life and my father's love would go on. If you love the guy who drops the ball, then you really love him. My skill as a baseball player didn't improve, but my confidence in Dad's love did. He never said a word. He showed up. He listened up.

From Dad Time

Titus 2

A God-Filled Life

1–6  2 Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives.

7–8  But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, incorruptible in your teaching, your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when he finds nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around.

9–10  Guide slaves into being loyal workers, a bonus to their masters—no back talk, no petty thievery. Then their good character will shine through their actions, adding luster to the teaching of our Savior God.

11–14  God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

15  Tell them all this. Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You’re in charge. Don’t let anyone put you down.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Today's Scripture

John 5:1-9

Even on the Sabbath

1–6  5 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

7  The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

8–9  Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

9–10  That day happened to be the Sabbath.

Insight

Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, “the Jewish leaders began to persecute him” (John 5:16). In response, He told them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (v. 17). This so incensed them that “they tried all the more to kill him” (v. 18). In their eyes, Christ deserved death because He wasn’t only breaking the Sabbath but blaspheming by calling God His Father. This Sabbath miracle wasn’t the only one that had the leaders up in arms. He also drove out a demon (Mark 1:21-28), healed a shriveled hand (Matthew 12:9-13), a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17), and a man “whose arms and legs were swollen” (14:2 nlt). The Jewish leaders were also angry because Jesus’ disciples picked grain on the Sabbath. He told them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). By: Alyson Kieda

Hope of Healing

At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. John 5:9

A new cause for hope has emerged for people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. German researchers have discovered a way to stimulate nerve growth to reconnect the neural pathways between the muscles and the brain. The regrowth has enabled paralyzed mice to walk again, and testing will continue to determine whether the therapy is safe and effective for humans. 

What science seeks to achieve on behalf of those who suffer paralysis, Jesus did through miracles. When he visited the pool at Bethesda, a place where many who ailed lingered in hopes of healing, Jesus sought out a man among them who “had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5). After confirming that the man did, indeed, wish to be healed, Christ instructed him to stand up and walk. “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (v. 9). 

We’re not promised that all our physical ailments will be healed by God—there were others at the pool who weren’t healed by Jesus that day. But those who put their trust in Him can experience the healing He brings—from despair to hope, bitterness to grace, hatred to love, accusation to a willingness to forgive. No scientific discovery (or pool of water) can offer us such healing; it only comes by faith. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

Where are you tempted to look for spiritual healing other than in God? How are you encouraged knowing that one day believers in Jesus will experience complete physical healing as well?

Thank You, dear God, for curing my greatest ailment—the plague of sin—and restoring my spiritual health through Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, June 16, 2024

What Do You Make of This?

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. — John 15:13

Jesus doesn’t ask us to die for him; he asks us to lay down our lives for him. When Peter said, “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37), he meant that he would give up every selfish pursuit and devote his energy, his life force, to following Jesus. Peter’s sense of the heroic was magnificent. It would be a bad thing to be incapable of making the kind of declaration Peter made. The way we understand our duty depends on our own sense of the heroic. If we think heroism means falling on our sword, we think wrongly. It is much easier to die than to lay down our lives day in and day out with the sense that we are answering a higher calling.

For thirty-three years, Jesus laid down his life to do the will of his Father. John says that we should imitate our Lord; we should lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). This isn’t easy. To humble ourselves for others in this way goes against human nature. But we weren’t made for brilliant moments alone. There was just one brilliant moment in the life of our Lord, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17). Before and after this moment, Jesus lived where we do—in the valley of the everyday.

“I have called you friends” (John 15:15). If we are friends of Jesus, we will deliberately and carefully lay down our lives for him. It is difficult—and thank God it is! Salvation is easy for us because it cost God so much. It is only right that putting salvation to work in our lives should be difficult. God saves us and gives us the Holy Spirit, then asks us to work out what he has worked in. He asks us to remain loyal to him, though everything around us would make us disloyal.

Remain loyal to your friend, and always remember that his honor is at stake in your life.

Nehemiah 4-6; Acts 2:22-47

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.

Not Knowing Whither

Daniel 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:He Made His Point

“I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.” John 15:15

We learn brevity from Jesus. His greatest sermon can be read in eight minutes (Matthew 5-7). . .He summarized prayer in five phrases (Matthew 6:9-13). He silenced accusers with one challenge (John 8:7). He rescued a soul with one sentence (Luke 23:43). He summarized the Law in three verses (Mark 12:29-31), and he reduced all his teaching to one command (John 15:12).

He made his point and went home.

Daniel 4

A Dream of a Chopped-Down Tree

1–2  4 King Nebuchadnezzar to everyone, everywhere—every race, color, and creed: “Peace and prosperity to all! It is my privilege to report to you the gracious miracles that the High God has done for me.

3  “His miracles are staggering,

his wonders are surprising.

His kingdom lasts and lasts,

his sovereign rule goes on forever.

4–7  “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home taking it easy in my palace, without a care in the world. But as I was stretched out on my bed I had a dream that scared me—a nightmare that shook me. I sent for all the wise men of Babylon so that they could interpret the dream for me. When they were all assembled—magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, witches—I told them the dream. None could tell me what it meant.

8  “And then Daniel came in. His Babylonian name is Belteshazzar, named after my god, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit. I told him my dream.

9  “ ‘Belteshazzar,’ I said, ‘chief of the magicians, I know that you are a man full of the divine Holy Spirit and that there is no mystery that you can’t solve. Listen to this dream that I had and interpret it for me.

10–12  “ ‘This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches, everything living was fed and sheltered by it.

13–15  “ ‘And this also is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a holy watchman descend from heaven, and call out:

Chop down the tree, lop off its branches,

strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Chase the animals from beneath it

and shoo the birds from its branches.

But leave the stump and roots in the ground,

belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow.

15–16  Let him be soaked in heaven’s dew

and take his meals with the animals that graze.

Let him lose his mind

and get an animal’s mind in exchange,

And let this go on

for seven seasons.

17  The angels announce this decree,

the holy watchmen bring this sentence,

So that everyone living will know

that the High God rules human kingdoms.

He arranges kingdom affairs however he wishes,

and makes leaders out of losers.

18  “ ‘This is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. It’s your turn, Belteshazzar—interpret it for me. None of the wise men of Babylon could make heads or tails of it, but I’m sure you can do it. You’re full of the divine Holy Spirit.’ ”

“You Will Graze on the Grass Like an Ox”

19  At first Daniel, who had been renamed Belteshazzar in Babylon, was upset. The thoughts that came swarming into his mind terrified him.

“Belteshazzar,” the king said, “stay calm. Don’t let the dream and its interpretation scare you.”

“My master,” said Belteshazzar, “I wish this dream were about your enemies and its interpretation for your foes.

20–22  “The tree you saw that grew so large and sturdy with its top touching the sky, visible from the four corners of the world; the tree with the luxuriant foliage and abundant fruit, enough for everyone; the tree under which animals took cover and in which birds built nests—you, O king, are that tree.

“You have grown great and strong. Your royal majesty reaches sky-high, and your sovereign rule stretches to the four corners of the world.

23–25  “But the part about the holy angel descending from heaven and proclaiming, ‘Chop down the tree, destroy it, but leave stump and roots in the ground belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow; let him be soaked with heaven’s dew and take his meals with the grazing animals for seven seasons’—this, O king, also refers to you. It means that the High God has sentenced my master the king: You will be driven away from human company and live with the wild animals. You will graze on grass like an ox. You will be soaked in heaven’s dew. This will go on for seven seasons, and you will learn that the High God rules over human kingdoms and that he arranges all kingdom affairs.

26  “The part about the tree stump and roots being left means that your kingdom will still be there for you after you learn that it is heaven that runs things.

27  “So, king, take my advice: Make a clean break with your sins and start living for others. Quit your wicked life and look after the needs of the down-and-out. Then you will continue to have a good life.”

The Loss and Regaining of a Mind and a Kingdom

28–30  All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, “Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!”

31–32  The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a voice out of heaven spoke, “This is the verdict on you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your kingdom is taken from you. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, enough time to learn that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts whomever he wishes in charge.”

33  It happened at once. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human company, ate grass like an ox, and was soaked in heaven’s dew. His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a hawk.

34–35  “At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:

“His sovereign rule lasts and lasts,

his kingdom never declines and falls.

Life on this earth doesn’t add up to much,

but God’s heavenly army keeps everything going.

No one can interrupt his work,

no one can call his rule into question.

36–37  “At the same time that I was given back my mind, I was also given back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that’s why I’m singing—I, Nebuchadnezzar—singing and praising the King of Heaven:

“Everything he does is right,

and he does it the right way.

He knows how to turn a proud person

into a humble man or woman.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Today's Scripture

Galatians 5:13-18

 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

16–18  My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

Insight

Being led by the Spirit is about freedom with responsibility. Galatians 5:13 states, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” We have freedom in Christ, but it’s not freedom to gratify self at the expense of others. Rather, it’s the freedom of not being enslaved to our own desires and being liberated to genuinely care for others. The contrast is found in verse 16: “walk by the Spirit” or “gratify the desires of the flesh.” In verse 17, we see the actual conflict: “The Spirit [desires] what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” The Spirit enables us to rise above the flesh and do what pleases God and not ourselves. By: Bill Crowder

Heart of Service

Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

When my “uncle” Emory passed away, the tributes were many and varied. Yet all those honors carried a consistent theme—Emory showed his love for God by serving others. Nowhere was this more exemplified than during his World War II military service, where he served as a corpsman—a medic who went into battle without a weapon. He received high military honors for his bravery, but Emory was most remembered for his compassionate service, both during and after the war.  

Emory’s selflessness lived out Paul’s challenge to the Galatians. He wrote, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13). But how? In our brokenness, we’re hardwired to put self first, rather than others, so where does this unnatural selflessness come from?

In Philippians 2:5, Paul offers this encouragement: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Paul describes Christ’s willingness to even experience death on a cross out of His great love for us. Only as His Spirit produces the mind of Christ in us are we set apart and enabled to sacrifice for others—reflecting the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made when He gave Himself for us. May we yield to the Spirit’s work in us. By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

When has someone sacrificially served you? How can you serve others, perhaps beginning with your own family?

Loving Father, thank You for the perfect example of Jesus and His sacrifice for me. Please help me to have the mindset of Jesus.

For further study listen to The Compassion of Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, June 15, 2024

The Test of Character

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge. — 2 Peter 1:5

You have inherited the divine nature, says Peter (2 Peter 1:4). Now focus your attention and form habits. Be diligent. Concentrate. No one is born with character, either naturally or supernaturally. We have to make character. Nor are we born with habits. We have to form habits based on the new life God has put into us. We aren’t meant to be shiny, illuminated versions of humanity, floating above everyone else. We’re meant to lead common, ordinary lives that exhibit the marvel of the grace of God. Our willingness to work at whatever task God gives us is how we add to our faith. We must work diligently, no matter how lowly or insignificant the task appears in the eyes of the world. Drudgery is the great test of character. The most significant obstacle to our spiritual development is that we look for big, important things to do, and will not do the thing that lies close at hand because we think it’s beneath us.

“Jesus . . . began to wash his disciples’ feet” (John 13:3, 5). There are times when there is no illumination in our lives, no thrill or excitement, just the daily routine with its ordinary tasks. Routine is God’s way of saving us between times of inspiration. Don’t expect God to give you thrills. Learn to live in the domain of drudgery by his power.

“Make every effort . . .” We say we don’t expect God to carry us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, but we act as though we do! The tiniest detail in which we obey has the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If we do our duty, not for duty’s sake but because we believe God is engineering our circumstances, the whole superb grace of God is ours through the atonement the very moment we obey.

Nehemiah 1-3; Acts 2:1-21

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. 

The Place of Help, 1032 L

Daniel 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FATHERHOOD - June 14, 2024

No one told me newborns make nighttime noises. All night long. They gurgle; they pant. They keep Daddy awake. One night I was on baby duty and Jenna’s breathing slowed. I leaned my ear onto her mouth to see if she was alive. When she burbled and panted, so did I. That’s when a tsunami of sobriety washed over me. We’re in charge of a human being!

I don’t care how tough you are. You may be a Navy SEAL who skydives behind enemy lines. Doesn’t matter. Moms have thirty-six weeks of reminders elbowing around inside them. Dads, our kick comes in the gut later. But it does come. And for me it came some years ago, in the midnight quiet of an apartment living room, as I held a human being in my arms.

Daniel 3

Four Men in the Furnace

1–3  3 King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet thick. He set it up on the Dura plain in the province of Babylon. He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, everybody who was anybody, to the dedication ceremony of the statue. They all came for the dedication, all the important people, and took their places before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

4–6  A herald then proclaimed in a loud voice: “Attention, everyone! Every race, color, and creed, listen! When you hear the band strike up—all the trumpets and trombones, the tubas and baritones, the drums and cymbals—fall to your knees and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Anyone who does not kneel and worship shall be thrown immediately into a roaring furnace.”

7  The band started to play, a huge band equipped with all the musical instruments of Babylon, and everyone—every race, color, and creed—fell to their knees and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

8–12  Just then, some Babylonian fortunetellers stepped up and accused the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! You gave strict orders, O king, that when the big band started playing, everyone had to fall to their knees and worship the gold statue, and whoever did not go to their knees and worship it had to be pitched into a roaring furnace. Well, there are some Jews here—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have placed in high positions in the province of Babylon. These men are ignoring you, O king. They don’t respect your gods and they won’t worship the gold statue you set up.”

13–15  Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought in. When the men were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t respect my gods and refuse to worship the gold statue that I have set up? I’m giving you a second chance—but from now on, when the big band strikes up you must go to your knees and worship the statue I have made. If you don’t worship it, you will be pitched into a roaring furnace, no questions asked. Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”

16–18  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

19–23  Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men from the army to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

24  Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?”

“That’s right, O king,” they said.

25  “But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!”

26  Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

27  All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!

28  Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

29  “Therefore I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this.”

30  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, June 14, 2024

Today's Scripture

Mark 5:21-34

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake,y a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.z 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders,a named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands onb her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleedingc for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes,d I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.e

30 At once Jesus realized that powerf had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.g Go in peaceh and be freed from your suffering.”

Insight

The four gospels include multiple miracles Jesus performed during His earthly ministry. Mark is often called the “action gospel” because of its focus on Christ’s deeds. Mark contains more miracles proportionately than the other gospel accounts. Mark 5 shows Jesus’ authority over demons (vv. 1-20), death (vv. 21-24, 35-43), and disease (vv. 25-34). His miracles also revealed His authority over nature and disabilities. John wrote, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). By: Alyson Kieda

Dilemmas and Deeper Faith

Daughter, your faith has healed you. Mark 5:34

During a Saturday morning Bible study, a father was perplexed because his beloved, wayward daughter had returned to the city, but he was uncomfortable with her in his home because of her behavior. Another attendee was not well in her body because the physical effects of long-term disease and aging had taken their toll. Numerous visits to numerous doctors had yielded minimal progress. She was discouraged. By divine design, Mark chapter 5 was the Bible passage they studied that day. And when the study was over, hope and joy were palpable.

In Mark 5:23, Jairus, a father with a sick child, exclaimed, “My little daughter is dying.” On His way to visit the girl, Jesus healed an unnamed woman of her long-term health issue, saying, “Daughter, your faith has healed you” (v. 34). Jairus and the woman, compelled by faith in Jesus, sought Him out and they weren’t disappointed. But in both cases, prior to meeting Jesus, things had progressed from “bad to worse” before getting better.

Life’s dilemmas don’t discriminate. Regardless of gender or age, race or class, we all face situations that perplex us and send us searching for answers. Rather than allowing challenges to keep us from Jesus, let’s strive to have them stir us to deeper faith in the One who feels it when we touch Him (v. 30) and who can make us well. By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

What current situation compels you to seek Jesus? What’s your heartfelt prayer today?

Dear Jesus, You know each painful situation in my life. Please make me strong in faith even when things go from bad to worse.

Uncover how we can work through life’s pain.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, June 14, 2024

Get a Move On

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. — John 15:4

The Spirit of Jesus has been put into me by the atonement. Now I must begin to construct, with patience and determination, a way of thinking that is exactly in line with my Lord’s. God will not make me think like Jesus; I have to do it myself, bringing every thought into captivity for him. “Remain in me” means to abide in Jesus in intellectual matters, in money matters—in everything that makes human life what it is.

Am I preventing God from making changes to my circumstances because I think it will disrupt my communion with him? If so, I’m being impertinent. I don’t need to carefully guard my schedule in order to spend time alone with God; I need to learn to abide in Jesus no matter the circumstance. It’s as easy to commune in a kitchen as it is in a prayer meeting.

Our Lord had an inner abiding that was never disturbed. He was at home with God wherever he found himself. He never chose his own circumstances but was obedient to his Father’s choices for him. Think of the amazing openness and acceptance with which our Lord met the events of his life! We come to the Father in a state of high excitement and anxiety, with none of the serenity of the life that is hid with Christ in God.

Consider the things that take you out of Christ. Are you always promising to start abiding in him later—once this or that crisis is resolved, once this or that task is completed? Get a move on! Begin to abide now. In the early stages, abiding requires continual effort, but eventually it becomes an unconscious habit. Decide to abide in Jesus now, wherever you are placed.

Ezra 9-10; Acts 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. 

Shade of His Hand, 1226 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, June 14, 2024

A Parent's Best Classroom - #9765

If you've flown commercially a lot. Well you've got to get used to the little presentation by the flight attendant and it can kind of get boring. Your attention might drift a little bit.

There was this one flight - we had a flight attendant who kept throwing in humorous surprises and fresh ways of saying things, everyone was listening to him. For example he said, "Now, we're preparing for landing and you need to put your seats in the upright, most uncomfortable position." See, they never say that! I thought that was good! We all laughed. And then I liked the part where he said, "The captain has turned on the seat belt sign, which is an indication he has finally found the airport." I love it! It sounds unpredictable. This man knew something about communication. If you have important information to communicate, don't be so predictable.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Parent's Best Classroom."

God has given moms and dads some really important announcements for them to make to their children. He actually talks about them in Deuteronomy 6, and I'll begin reading at verse 5: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Then impress them on your children."

Well, we try to do that. If you're a Christian parent, I'm sure you try to impress the ways of God, the teachings of God, the boundaries of God on your children. But sometimes our children respond with the same kind of, well, disinterest that I did to those predictable airline announcements. "Yeah, here we go again!" They know what you're going to say before you say it. So maybe it isn't enough that we teach our children about the Lord. We need to do it in ways and in places where it's not so predictable, so maybe we'll have their full attention.

In the rest of Deuteronomy 6:7, Moses tells how to do that. "Talk about them (that's God's commandments) when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up." See, sometimes we get immune to hearing Biblical truths the way they've always been presented, in places we always hear them. We've got like practiced responses to a sermon, or to family devotions, or to Christian meetings. We know what to expect. We know how we're supposed to act. It's predictable.

But there's something disarming about God-talk in the middle of everyday activity - the classroom of everyday life: when we're walking, riding, getting ready for bed at night. See, the best place for your son, or daughter, or grandchild to see God at work might be on the baseball field. Or on the way to the store with you, suddenly some question comes up that gives you a teachable moment. Grab that! Maybe it's debriefing their day over a Big Mac, or maybe it's in those more mellow bedtime moments, riding along with you all the places you chauffeur them. That's the classroom of everyday life, the best place to learn about the God that I hope, as the Bible says, "you love with all your heart."

Don't just depend on formal settings to get the job done, not when you want to introduce God to your child. They may shut down for the formal announcements. But look for God together in the ordinary, the relaxed, the casual, the everyday. As a parent, you have the blessed responsibility of passing on God's announcements to kids that He has trusted to you. Make sure those announcements aren't just true. Make sure they're interesting.

I think if I had not begun a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by the time I had kids, I would have been driven into His arms. Because so much they need me to be I couldn't be for them, too much selfishness, too much anger, too much hurting, too much "me." And I've found as a Dad in Jesus, a Savior who keeps His promise, "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old is gone. A new life has begun." All my failures, all my mistakes, all my sins forgiven, and the power to finally be the parent I want to be.

If you're ready to say, "I'm not all my kids need. I need that Savior for my sin," Tell Him today, "Jesus I'm yours." Go to our website and find out there how to be sure you've begun a relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com.

You know, Jesus comes into you, He comes into your family and things will never be the same.

Titus 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IT’S THE FATHER - June 13, 2024

One of my favorite childhood memories is greeting my father as he came home from work. My brother and I would take our positions on the couch and watch cartoons, always keeping one ear alert to the driveway. Even the best “Daffy Duck” would be abandoned when we heard his car.

I’d run to meet Dad and get swept up in his big arms.  He’d put his big-brimmed straw hat on my head, and for a moment I’d be a cowboy. When we went indoors and opened his lunch pail, any leftover snacks—which he always seemed to have—were for my brother and me to split. What more could a five-year-old want?

But suppose my dad, rather than coming home, just sent some things home. No deal. That wouldn’t work. Even a five-year-old knows it’s the person, not the presents. It’s not the frills; it’s the father!

Titus 1

I, Paul, am God’s slave and Christ’s agent for promoting the faith among God’s chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I’ve been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself. Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!

A Good Grip on the Message

5–9  I left you in charge in Crete so you could complete what I left half-done. Appoint leaders in every town according to my instructions. As you select them, ask, “Is this man well-thought-of? Is he committed to his wife? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?” It’s important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God’s house, be looked up to—not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry. He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.

10–16  For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best:

The Cretans are liars from the womb,

barking dogs, lazy bellies.

He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Today's Scripture

Matthew 24:36-44

 “But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

37–39  “The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.

39–44  “The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

Insight

Jesus addressed the topic of His return in Matthew 24, where He makes two points. First, it will be unexpected. It will be “as it was in the days of Noah. . . . They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (vv. 37, 39). People will be “eating and drinking [and] marrying” (v. 38) and engaged in the mundane activities of life—working in a field or grinding at a mill (vv. 40-41). Second, because Jesus’ return will be unexpected, we’re to “keep watch” (v. 42). This isn’t a watchfulness that expects something to happen in the immediate future; rather, it’s being prepared for whatever may come. It’s the same watchfulness—being awake and alert—that Jesus asked of His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane: “Keep watch with me” (26:38, 40; see 43-46). By: J.R. Hudberg

Expecting Jesus

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:44

My friend Paul was awaiting the arrival of a technician to repair his refrigerator when he saw a text on his phone from the appliance company. It read: “Jesus is on his way and is expected to arrive at approximately 11:35 a.m.” Paul soon discovered the technician’s name was indeed Jesús (hay-SOOS).

But when can we expect Jesus the Son of God to arrive? When He came as a man two thousand years ago and suffered the penalty of our sin, He said that He’d be back—but only the Father knew the precise “day or hour” of His return (Matthew 24:36). What difference might it make in our day-to-day priorities if we did know the moment our Savior is coming back to earth? (John 14:1-3).

Jesus cautioned us to be ready for His return: “the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44). He reminded us to “keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (v. 42).

On the day of Christ’s return, we won’t get an alert on our phone to give us a heads-up. So, through the power of the Spirit working through us, let’s live each day with a perspective of eternity, serving God and taking advantage of every opportunity to share His message of love and hope with others. By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray

How are you motivated by Jesus’ imminent return? What can you expect when He comes again?

Father, as I patiently wait, please help me to obey You, pursue holiness, and to live in expectation of Christ’s return.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Consecrated to Him

Come, follow me. — Mark 1:17

One of the greatest barriers in coming to Jesus is the excuse we make of our temperament. We allow our natural inclinations—our likes and our dislikes, our affinities and our prejudices—to keep us from the Lord. The first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that he pays no attention to what we prefer. We have the idea that we can choose what to consecrate to God, that we can offer him our gifts. But we can’t consecrate what isn’t ours. There is only one thing we can consecrate to God, and that is our right to ourselves.

If you give God your right to yourself, he will make a holy experiment out of you—and God’s experiments always succeed. The one mark of a disciple is the moral originality, the spontaneous obedience to the Spirit, which comes from abandonment to Jesus Christ. In the life of a disciple, there is an amazing wellspring of originality all the time; the Spirit of God is a deep well, bubbling up, always new, always fresh. If we are drawing from this inexhaustible source, we know that it is God who engineers our circumstances. We never grumble or whine about what we have to face; we simply take what- ever comes with a reckless abandonment to Jesus.

If you want to count yourself as Jesus’s disciple, let God be as original with other people as he is with you. Don’t make a general rule out of your personal experience. If you abandon to Jesus when he says “Come,” he will continually say “Come” through you to others. You’ll go out into life echoing his invitation: “Come, follow me.” That is the result in every soul who has come to Jesus.

Have I come to Jesus? Will I come now?

Ezra 6-8; John 21

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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, 1330 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, June 13, 2024

When You've Been Hurt - #9764

I should have realized I was never going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. For example: volleyball - you lose the point when you can't return the shot; ping-pong - oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot - well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You've Been Hurt."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2. I'll be reading verse 21. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Now let's stop for just a minute here. Peter is saying that this world needs more of Jesus. And there are a lot of people around you who are desperate to have Jesus walk among them, and He can. He can walk into your office. He can walk into your school. He can be in your family through you, because He's in you.

Now, the Bible here says that Christ is our example, and the Greek word that's used there talks about a copy head on a school child's slate. And as they were learning their alphabet - alpha, beta, gamma, delta...the Greek alphabet - they would just simply copy the letter at the top and try to make their letter as much like the letter at the top as they could - an exact copy. Now, this says that Christ is our copy head. He's the one we're trying to make an exact replica of. We're trying to be as much like Him in our life as possible so that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him.

Now, when is it hardest to follow that example? When is it hardest to be like Jesus? Well, when it's most important to be. Verse 23: "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly."

The real proof that shows a person's real character is what he does when he's being shot at. Now, you notice what happened to Jesus here? He was insulted, but there was no retaliation.

They hurt Him and yet there were no threats coming back. Our Master was abusively, horribly treated. He was deeply hurt. And boy did He have the power to hurt back like you and I never will, and He chose not to!

Now, when are you most likely to sin? Well, probably when someone is really attacking you, criticizing you, coming after you, when they're firing something at you. Maybe you've been betrayed recently, or you've been deeply wounded verbally, or maybe you've even been hurt physically. Everything in you cries out, "I'll fix him!" "I'll fix her!" Your mind starts racing through ways that you can retaliate, ways you can even the score. And now here comes the Jesus test. Does knowing Christ make any difference when it really counts?

In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath." Let God even the score - He's much better at it than you are. Jesus turned to His Father for justice. An eye for an eye is not the way of Jesus. Even from His cross He says of those who have nailed Him to that cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That's the example for us. When you refuse to return the shot, you refuse to shrink to the level of your attackers, you refuse to let them control you. And more importantly, you rise to the level of your Lord, who gives you the grace not to hurt back.

Life isn't tennis. In Christ you win if you don't return the shot. So, hold your fire!

Daniel 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A PARENT’S PRAYER - June 12, 2024

Each year God gives millions of parents a gift – a brand new baby. And dads make a decision. Make our children in our images? Or release our children to follow their God-given identities?

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. But we don’t. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God. In the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you.   

Daniel 2

King Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

1–3  2 In the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar started having dreams that disturbed him deeply. He couldn’t sleep. He called in all the Babylonian magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and fortunetellers to interpret his dreams for him. When they came and lined up before the king, he said to them, “I had a dream that I can’t get out of my mind. I can’t sleep until I know what it means.”

4  The fortunetellers, speaking in the Aramaic language, said, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream and we will interpret it.”

5–6  The king answered the fortunetellers, “This is my decree: If you can’t tell me both the dream itself and its interpretation, I’ll have you ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and your homes torn down. But if you tell me both the dream and its interpretation, I’ll lavish you with gifts and honors. So go to it: Tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

7  They answered, “If it pleases your majesty, tell us the dream. We’ll give the interpretation.”

8–9  But the king said, “I know what you’re up to—you’re just playing for time. You know you’re up a tree. You know that if you can’t tell me my dream, you’re doomed. I see right through you—you’re going to cook up some fancy stories and confuse the issue until I change my mind. Nothing doing! First tell me the dream, then I’ll know that you’re on the up and up with the interpretation and not just blowing smoke in my eyes.”

10–11  The fortunetellers said, “Nobody anywhere can do what you ask. And no king, great or small, has ever demanded anything like this from any magician, enchanter, or fortuneteller. What you’re asking is impossible unless some god or goddess should reveal it—and they don’t hang around with people like us.”

12–13  That set the king off. He lost his temper and ordered the whole company of Babylonian wise men killed. When the death warrant was issued, Daniel and his companions were included. They also were marked for execution.

14–15  When Arioch, chief of the royal guards, was making arrangements for the execution, Daniel wisely took him aside and quietly asked what was going on: “Why this all of a sudden?”

15–16  After Arioch filled in the background, Daniel went to the king and asked for a little time so that he could interpret the dream.

17–18  Daniel then went home and told his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what was going on. He asked them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy in solving this mystery so that the four of them wouldn’t be killed along with the whole company of Babylonian wise men.

Dream Interpretation: A Story of Five Kingdoms

19–23  That night the answer to the mystery was given to Daniel in a vision. Daniel blessed the God of heaven, saying,

“Blessed be the name of God,

forever and ever.

He knows all, does all:

He changes the seasons and guides history,

He raises up kings and also brings them down,

he provides both intelligence and discernment,

He opens up the depths, tells secrets,

sees in the dark—light spills out of him!

God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise!

You made me wise and strong.

And now you’ve shown us what we asked for.

You’ve solved the king’s mystery.”

24  So Daniel went back to Arioch, who had been put in charge of the execution. He said, “Call off the execution! Take me to the king and I’ll interpret his dream.”

25  Arioch didn’t lose a minute. He ran to the king, bringing Daniel with him, and said, “I’ve found a man from the exiles of Judah who can interpret the king’s dream!”

26  The king asked Daniel (renamed in Babylonian, Belteshazzar), “Are you sure you can do this—tell me the dream I had and interpret it for me?”

27–28  Daniel answered the king, “No mere human can solve the king’s mystery, I don’t care who it is—no wise man, enchanter, magician, diviner. But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries, and he has solved this one. He is letting King Nebuchadnezzar in on what is going to happen in the days ahead. This is the dream you had when you were lying on your bed, the vision that filled your mind:

29–30  “While you were stretched out on your bed, O king, thoughts came to you regarding what is coming in the days ahead. The Revealer of Mysteries showed you what will happen. But the interpretation is given through me, not because I’m any smarter than anyone else in the country, but so that you will know what it means, so that you will understand what you dreamed.

31–36  “What you saw, O king, was a huge statue standing before you, striking in appearance. And terrifying. The head of the statue was pure gold, the chest and arms were silver, the belly and hips were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were an iron-ceramic mixture. While you were looking at this statue, a stone cut out of a mountain by an invisible hand hit the statue, smashing its iron-ceramic feet. Then the whole thing fell to pieces—iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold, smashed to bits. It was like scraps of old newspapers in a vacant lot in a hot dry summer, blown every which way by the wind, scattered to oblivion. But the stone that hit the statue became a huge mountain, dominating the horizon. This was your dream.

36–40  “And now we’ll interpret it for the king. You, O king, are the most powerful king on earth. The God of heaven has given you the works: rule, power, strength, and glory. He has put you in charge of men and women, wild animals and birds, all over the world—you’re the head ruler, you are the head of gold. But your rule will be taken over by another kingdom, inferior to yours, and that one by a third, a bronze kingdom, but still ruling the whole land, and after that by a fourth kingdom, ironlike in strength. Just as iron smashes things to bits, breaking and pulverizing, it will bust up the previous kingdoms.

41–43  “But then the feet and toes that ended up as a mixture of ceramic and iron will deteriorate into a mongrel kingdom with some remains of iron in it. Just as the toes of the feet were part ceramic and part iron, it will end up a mixed bag of the breakable and unbreakable. That kingdom won’t bond, won’t hold together any more than iron and clay hold together.

44–45  “But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold.

“The great God has let the king know what will happen in the years to come. This is an accurate telling of the dream, and the interpretation is also accurate.”

46–47  When Daniel finished, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face in awe before Daniel. He ordered the offering of sacrifices and burning of incense in Daniel’s honor. He said to Daniel, “Your God is beyond question the God of all gods, the Master of all kings. And he solves all mysteries, I know, because you’ve solved this mystery.”

48–49  Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position in the kingdom, lavished him with gifts, and made him governor over the entire province of Babylon and the chief in charge of all the Babylonian wise men. At Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to administrative posts throughout Babylon, while Daniel governed from the royal headquarters.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Today's Scripture

Psalm 139:13-18

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

before I’d even lived one day.

17–22  Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!

God, I’ll never comprehend them!

I couldn’t even begin to count them—

any more than I could count the sand of the sea.

Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

Insight

Like a potter, God shaped man from clay (Isaiah 64:8) and breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7; Job 12:10). Humans are the only creatures privileged to be created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27), setting us apart from other creatures. Each person is a unique individual, possessing the mental, emotional, and spiritual consciousness of our Creator and the capacity to have a personal relationship with Him. The Old Testament patriarch Job may be the first person to acknowledge that “[God’s] hands shaped me and made me. . . . [You clothed] me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews” (Job 10:8, 11). David, celebrating himself as one of God’s masterpieces, says that he’s been “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God (Psalm 139:14). By: K. T. Sim

God’s Created Masterpiece

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

Although neuroscience has made great progress in understanding how the brain works, scientists admit they’re still in the early stages of understanding it. They understand brain architecture, some aspects of its function, and regions that respond to environment, activate our senses, generate movements, and contain emotions. But they still can’t figure out how all these interactions contribute to behavior, perception, and memory. God’s incredibly complex, created masterpiece—humanity—is still mysterious.

David acknowledged the marvels of the human body. Using figurative language, he celebrated God’s power, evidenced by His sovereign control over the entire natural process of being “knit . . . together in [his] mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). He wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful” (v. 14). The ancients viewed the development of a child inside the mother’s womb as a great mystery (see Ecclesiastes 11:5). Even with limited knowledge of the marvelous complexities of the human body, David still stood in awe and wonder of God’s amazing work and presence (Psalm 139:17-18).

The marvelous and wonderful complexity of the human body reflects the power and sovereignty of our great God. Our only responses can be praise, awe, and wonder! By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

How does the intricate design of your body lead you to praise God? In what creative ways could you thank Him today?

Dear God, I praise You for making me so fearfully and wonderfully complex. What an amazing Creator You are!

Learn more about What Is Worship? Living in Response to God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Come with Me

They said, “Rabbi . . . , where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went . . . and they spent that day with him. — John 1:38-39

Some of us never spend more than a day with Jesus before our worries and self-interest come flooding in. We break our fellowship with the Lord, imagining that it is impossible to abide in him when circumstances are hard. We have to learn that there is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.

“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (John 1:42). God writes our new name in the places where he has erased our pride and self-sufficiency. Some of us have the new name only in spots—like spiritual chicken pox. When we have our best spiritual mood on, we act like saints. But don’t look at us when we’re not in that mood!

Disciples are those who have the new name written all over them. Their pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased. Pride is the deification of self, but there are many forms of pride. Today, many of us are prideful not like the Pharisee, who was obsessed with his own virtue, but like the tax collector, who was so humble he “would not even look up to heaven” (Luke 18:13). To say “Oh, I’m no saint” sounds humble to human ears, but humility before people may be unconscious blasphemy before God. It means that you think God can’t make you righteous, that you’re so weak and hopeless the atonement can’t reach you.

Why aren’t you righteous? Either you don’t want to be or you don’t think God can accomplish it. There would be no problem, you say, if God had taken you to heaven the instant you were saved. That is just what he will do! “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). Make no excuses. Let Jesus be everything, and he will take you home with him not only for a day but for always.

Ezra 3-5; John 20

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. 

Conformed to His Image, 357 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Hard to Hear News - You Really Should Listen - #9763

When you eat in a hurry you sometimes leave some traces of the meal on your face, and you sort of wear your food. There are some crumbs maybe, or some tomato sauce, or this little spot of chocolate. Of course, you don't know it.

Now I have to eat on the run a lot of times, and that means sometimes you might be able to tell. Of course, I don't mean to carry it around with me. I mean, you know, my wife or my son in the past have told me, "You know, you've got food on your face!" Well, I want to tell you it's embarrassing to hear, but I need to hear it. Of course I don't always say "thank you" to them. Sometimes this smart alec just says, "Oh, yeah, you know, I'm saving it for later when I need a snack." Well that doesn't seem to please them, but I have to say that I do clean it up after someone points it out to me. Of course, if I'm not looking my best, I'd rather hear it from someone who cares about me, right?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Hard to Hear News - You Really Should Listen."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 27:6 and here is what it says, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Now I don't like that word "wounds." It's not a pleasurable word. But it says, "The wounds from a friend can be trusted." What makes these wounds bearable, this bad news that they're giving us, is that it's from someone who cares about us.

You know, it's like when someone in my family says, "Ron you've got food on your face," or someone you care about says, "Excuse me, but um, do you know you're unbuttoned?" or, "you're unzipped," or, "you've got a spot there." Now, look, do you like hearing that? No, it's not fun to hear it. It's embarrassing. But wouldn't you rather know than not know? Would you like those who love you to tell you even if it's not fun to hear? Well, of course you would!

See, what's more important, is when we have emotional or spiritual (shall we say) food on our face. Our personality is unzipped, our personality is unbuttoned. If you care about someone, you will lovingly tell that person even the unpleasant, inconvenient truth, and if you're smart you'll respond appreciatively to bad news that comes from a good friend.

Now we're talking about constructive criticism here, not tearing someone down, but constructive criticism. The responsibility of a Christian friend is to hold up a mirror and say, "Man, look at your strengths. Do you know what you've got going for you? I love it when you do that." Then at other times it's our responsibility to say, "You know, here's something that might slow you down, that might keep good things from happening." It's okay to point out weaknesses if you've pointed out strengths. First, you tell them about what they're doing right. But then there are gentle ways to tell them about the other part. "I'm not sure you know how this comes across. I'm afraid it might sound this way to other people. Can I just let you know how that is?" Or, "I'm concerned about what this could do if it keeps happening. That's why I want to tell you about it." "Look, this is going to be hard for me to say and it's going to be hard for you to hear, but you know what? I love you enough to tell you what I'm about to tell you." Don't let your friends self-destruct because you're afraid to tell them the truth.

The Bible talks about speaking the truth in love. And it says to let your speech always be seasoned with grace. Now, when you're the one receiving the criticism, will you listen? Will you find the grace to thank them for telling you? Then weigh what they've said even if maybe they're only ten percent right. Maybe you should look at the ten percent.

Ask for their prayer to ask God to help you change in that area. Someone just loved you enough to tell you what someone should have told you maybe a long time ago. Don't jump on your friend. Don't jump on your family member for holding up a mirror. Don't stone the messenger. Deal with what is in the mirror that they held up. Don't attack them. See, if you're not looking your best, it's good to know that, and to hear it from someone who loves you enough to tell you.

Daniel 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DESPERATE DADS GO TO JESUS - June 11, 2024

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 an humble man, who says 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. So Jairus asks for help. And 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.

 Daniel 1

Daniel Was Gifted by God

1–2  1 It was the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon declared war on Jerusalem and besieged the city. The Master handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the furnishings from the Temple of God. Nebuchadnezzar took king and furnishings to the country of Babylon, the ancient Shinar. He put the furnishings in the sacred treasury.

3–5  The king told Ashpenaz, head of the palace staff, to get some Israelites from the royal family and nobility—young men who were healthy and handsome, intelligent and well-educated, good prospects for leadership positions in the government, perfect specimens!—and indoctrinate them in the Babylonian language and the lore of magic and fortunetelling. The king then ordered that they be served from the same menu as the royal table—the best food, the finest wine. After three years of training they would be given positions in the king’s court.

6–7  Four young men from Judah—Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—were among those selected. The head of the palace staff gave them Babylonian names: Daniel was named Belteshazzar, Hananiah was named Shadrach, Mishael was named Meshach, Azariah was named Abednego.

8–10  But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet. The head of the palace staff, by God’s grace, liked Daniel, but he warned him, “I’m afraid of what my master the king will do. He is the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you are not as healthy as the rest, he’ll have my head!”

11–13  But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see.”

14–16  The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.

17–19  God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in both books and life. In addition, Daniel was gifted in understanding all sorts of visions and dreams. At the end of the time set by the king for their training, the head of the royal staff brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar. When the king interviewed them, he found them far superior to all the other young men. None were a match for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

19–20  And so they took their place in the king’s service. Whenever the king consulted them on anything, on books or on life, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom put together.

21  Daniel continued in the king’s service until the first year in the reign of King Cyrus.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 22:15–24

The Key of the Davidic Heritage

15–19  The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important. God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!

20–24  “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.

Insight

Isaiah 22 contains a warning against Shebna, the palace administrator, because he believed he was self-sufficient (vv. 17-19). God said He’d replace him with someone who would rely on Him instead: “I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position. . . . I will summon my servant, Eliakim . . . . I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him” (vv. 19-21). When we meet these two individuals again, Eliakim is identified as the palace administrator and Shebna is called the secretary (36:3, 22; 37:2). By: J.R. Hudberg

Shebna’s Grave

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Revelation 14:13

Irish poet W. B. Yeats wanted to be buried “Under Ben Bulben,” a stately flat-topped mountain after which he titled one of his last poems. The poem’s final line is etched onto his gravestone: “Cast a cold eye / On life, on death. / Horseman, pass by!”

Much speculation has taken place over what this means. Perhaps it’s the poet’s acknowledgment of the reality of both life and death. Regardless, Yeats got his wish about where he was buried and what his gravestone would say. But the cold truth is that life goes on without us, indifferent to our departure.

During a dire time in Judah’s history, Shebna, a “palace administrator,” made a tomb for himself to ensure his legacy after death. But God, through His prophet Isaiah, told him, “Who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?” (Isaiah 22:16). The prophet told him, “[God] will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die” (v. 18).

Shebna had missed the point. What matters isn’t where we’re buried; what matters is who we serve. Those who serve Jesus have this immeasurable comfort: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13). We serve a God who’s never indifferent to our “departure.” He anticipates our arrival and welcomes us home! By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What does your life say about who you're serving? How do you want to be remembered?

Father in heaven, please help me live my life anticipating the time I’ll be with You in eternity.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Getting There

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. — Matthew 11:28

Do I want to get to this place of rest? I can, right now. The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words “Come to me.” Not “Do this, don’t do that” but “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my life will be brought into accordance with my deepest desires. I will cease sinning, and I will hear the song of the Lord begin.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart. You will do anything besides the simple, childlike thing. But if you want to stop sinning, you must be simple enough to come and commit yourself to what Jesus says. The attitude of coming is one of complete surrender; you let go of everything and commit all to him.

Jesus Christ makes himself the touchstone for our lives. Look at how he uses the word come. At the most unexpected moments, he whispers, “Come to me.” The instant you hear his voice, you are drawn to him, changed by him. Personal contact with Jesus changes everything.

“And I will give you rest.” Jesus isn’t saying that he’ll put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep. He’s saying, “I will get you out of bed—out of the inertia and the exhaustion, out of the state of being half dead while you are alive.” He’s saying, “I will fill you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity.”

Sometimes we get pathetic; instead of accepting the will of the Lord with confidence, we start talking about “suffering” it. Where is the majestic vitality of the Son of God in that?

Ezra 1-2; John 19:23-42

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. 

Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Forgetting Is Freedom - #9762

Forgetting can get you into a lot of trouble. Like forgetting someone's name, or maybe forgetting an appointment, or maybe you forgot your homework. Or, "The dog ate it." Yeah, uh-huh, or you wouldn't want to forget your wedding anniversary. Oh, no... No, that can cause trouble. But forgetting is a basic skill for people who want to be emotionally free and spiritually alive. Oh, some kinds of forgetting really help. No, not the accidental kind. We're talking about the deliberate kind.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Forgetting Is Freedom."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is about deliberate forgetting and it's in Philippians 3:13. Paul is actually using an Olympic runners' example when he says, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Did you notice that word forget? He says, "Like a good runner, I'm not looking back." I know when you look back you lose the race. So you keep your eyes on the track, you keep your eyes on the tape, you keep your eyes on the goal. Don't waste any energy looking at the ground you've already covered. "Forget what is behind..."

See, that is actually a fundamental characteristic of a Christian who's going to make daily progress in his relationship with Christ - the ability to forget. Forget what? Well, three things about the past that we tend to keep remembering. First of all, if you're going to grow spiritually you have to forget your past achievements. Earlier in Philippians 3, Paul listed all of his great spiritual achievements, which are greater than anything I think you or I could list. And he said, "None of them really matter. They're like garbage."

There was an airline that said, "We've got to earn our wings every day." Well, that's kind of how it is spiritually. You can't run on spiritual memories. You know, "I'm okay today because of some great yesterdays I had spiritually." You've got to be restless for more progress, so forget the past achievements.

Secondly, you've got to forget the past failures. You might have said, "Well, I really, really was going real well out there. I was humming for the Lord, and all of a sudden things caved in and I goofed. And I don't know if I can ever get back on track. I think I can't." It's like Peter when he'd fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus said, "Go out there and fish again. You'll catch more than you ever have or ever dreamed." Forget the past failures. Get up! None of those failures have to matter today.

And the other thing then that you're going to have to forget if you're going to make spiritual progress is past damages. You've been hurt, you've been wounded. You know what? Bitterness is a terrible bondage. It's like emotional cancer, and maybe right now it's hard for you to get out from under that person, those incidents that have hurt you. But if you're going to get on with your life spiritually and go for His gold, you've got to forget the past damages. You know, the Bible says, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." So get God's divine eraser and say, "God, help me to erase this and move on and set both of us free."

See, the enemy loves to have you dwell on the past. Do you know why? Because it can't be changed. He wants you to think about those past failures because you can't do anything about them. He wants you to think about those past damages because you can't change those, instead of what you can affect, which is this 24-hour period of time and a future that has yet to be written.

Turn the page on the previous chapters. Forget! Press for the gold and don't look back.