Ezekiel 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD USES FAILURES - July 23, 2024

Failure finds us all. Failure is so universal that we must wonder why more self-help gurus don’t address it. Bookstores overflow with volumes on how to succeed, but you’ll look a long time before you find a section called “How to Succeed at Failing.”

Maybe no one knows what to say. But God does. His book is written for failures. It is full of folks who were foul-ups and flops but got a second chance. David was a moral failure, yet he became a man after God’s own heart. Jonah was in the belly of a fish when he prayed his most honest prayer and then saw revival in Nineveh.

Perfect people? No. Perfect messes? You bet. Yet God used them all. A surprising and welcome discovery of the Bible is this: God uses failures.

Ezekiel 3

Warn These People

1  3 He told me, “Son of man, eat what you see. Eat this book. Then go and speak to the family of Israel.”

2–3  As I opened my mouth, he gave me the scroll to eat, saying, “Son of man, eat this book that I am giving you. Make a full meal of it!”

So I ate it. It tasted so good—just like honey.

4–6  Then he told me, “Son of man, go to the family of Israel and speak my Message. Look, I’m not sending you to a people who speak a hard-to-learn language with words you can hardly pronounce. If I had sent you to such people, their ears would have perked up and they would have listened immediately.

7–9  “But it won’t work that way with the family of Israel. They won’t listen to you because they won’t listen to me. They are, as I said, a hard case, hardened in their sin. But I’ll make you as hard in your way as they are in theirs. I’ll make your face as hard as rock, harder than granite. Don’t let them intimidate you. Don’t be afraid of them, even though they’re a bunch of rebels.”

10–11  Then he said, “Son of man, get all these words that I’m giving you inside you. Listen to them obediently. Make them your own. And now go. Go to the exiles, your people, and speak. Tell them, ‘This is the Message of God, the Master.’ Speak your piece, whether they listen or not.”

12–13  Then the Spirit picked me up. Behind me I heard a great commotion—“Blessed be the Glory of God in his Sanctuary!”—the wings of the living creatures beating against each other, the whirling wheels, the rumble of a great earthquake.

14–15  The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn’t want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled.

16  At the end of the seven days, I received this Message from God:

17–19  “Son of man, I’ve made you a watchman for the family of Israel. Whenever you hear me say something, warn them for me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You are going to die,’ and you don’t sound the alarm warning them that it’s a matter of life or death, they will die and it will be your fault. I’ll hold you responsible. But if you warn the wicked and they keep right on sinning anyway, they’ll most certainly die for their sin, but you won’t die. You’ll have saved your life.

20–21  “And if the righteous turn back from living righteously and take up with evil when I step in and put them in a hard place, they’ll die. If you haven’t warned them, they’ll die because of their sins, and none of the right things they’ve done will count for anything—and I’ll hold you responsible. But if you warn these righteous people not to sin and they listen to you, they’ll live because they took the warning—and again, you’ll have saved your life.”

22  God grabbed me by the shoulder and said, “Get up. Go out on the plain. I want to talk with you.”

23  So I got up and went out on the plain. I couldn’t believe my eyes: the Glory of God! Right there! It was like the Glory I had seen at the Kebar River. I fell to the ground, prostrate.

24–26  Then the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. He said, “Go home and shut the door behind you.” And then something odd: “Son of man: They’ll tie you hand and foot with ropes so you can’t leave the house. I’ll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you won’t be able to talk and tell the people what they’re doing wrong, even though they are a bunch of rebels.

27  “But then when the time is ripe, I’ll free your tongue and you’ll say, ‘This is what God, the Master, says: …’ From then on it’s up to them. They can listen or not listen, whichever they like. They are a bunch of rebels!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Today's Scripture

Luke 15:11-13, 17-24

The Story of the Lost Son

11–12  Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’

12–16  “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had.

“That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

20–21  “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’

22–24  “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.

Insight

In the background of Jesus’ parable of a father’s embrace of his returned son are the religious leaders grumbling that Christ “welcomes sinners” (Luke 15:2; see also 5:30; 7:34). Yet it was “tax collectors and sinners” who “gather[ed] around to hear Jesus” (15:1). Listening to Christ and responding appropriately is a theme in Luke’s gospel (6:27, 47; 8:8; 9:35; 10:16; 11:28-31). Before this parable, Jesus told two others—of a “lost sheep” (15:4) and a “lost coin” (v. 9). In both parables, the theme is “rejoicing in heaven” (v. 7) over sinners returning. By: Monica La Rose

Time to Party

Let’s have a feast and celebrate. Luke 15:23

Our former church in Virginia held baptisms in the Rivanna River where often the sunshine is warm, but the water is frigid. After our Sunday service, we’d load into our cars and caravan to a city park where neighbors tossed Frisbees and kids mobbed the playground. We were quite a spectacle, traipsing to the river’s edge. Standing in the icy water, I would offer Scripture and immerse those being baptized into this tangible expression of God’s love. As they emerged, soaked to the bone, cheers and clapping erupted. Climbing up the bank, friends and family enveloped the newly baptized in hugs—everyone getting drenched. We had cake, drinks, and snacks. The neighbors watching didn’t always understand what was happening, but they knew it was a celebration.

In Luke 15, Jesus’ story of the prodigal son (vv. 11-32) reveals that it’s cause for celebration whenever someone returns home to God. Anytime someone says yes to God’s invitation, it’s time to party. When the son who’d abandoned his father returned, the father immediately insisted on showering him with a designer robe, a shiny ring, and new shoes. “Bring the fattened calf,” he said. “Let’s have a feast and celebrate” (v. 23). A massive, exuberant party including whoever would join the revelry was a fitting way “to celebrate” (v. 24). By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where have you seen transformation and healing happen? What could celebration in these moments look like?

Dear God, I have much to celebrate, and this joy flows from You and Your work in my life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The Life Side of Sanctification

. . . Christ Jesus, who has become for us . . . our righteousness, holiness and redemption. —1 Corinthians 1:30

The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me instantly—not gradually, but at the very instant when, by faith, Jesus Christ realizes sanctification in me. Sanctification is nothing less than the holiness of Jesus made manifestly mine.

Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. The one secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus but in letting his perfections manifest themselves in my physical body. Sanctification is “Christ in me.” It is Christ’s own wonderful life that is imparted to me by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in his word?

Sanctification means that Jesus gives me his patience, his love, his holiness, his faith, his purity, and his godliness. All these are manifested in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification isn’t drawing the power to be holy from Jesus; it’s drawing his own holiness from him. It’s having the very same holiness that was manifested in him manifested in me.

The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ. The mystery of sanctification is that all the perfections of Jesus are made available to me and, slowly but surely, I begin to live a life of indescribable order and sanity and holiness, a life “shielded by God’s power” (1 Peter 1:5).

Psalms 33-34; Acts 24

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word.

Disciples Indeed, 386 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

When God's Promises Turn Into Life Preservers - #9792

There's bad plaque and there's good plaque. The bad kind is that substance that builds up on your teeth that you see in all the toothpaste commercials. They're going to help you get rid of that. Oh, and then there's good plaque; that's the kind we have hanging on walls all over our house.

They're good plaques because they have different promises on them from God's Word. Right as you come into our house there's been a plaque on the wall that says, "All your children will be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children." That's Isaiah 54:13. And most homes have God's promises on plaques on the wall, or churches do. But plaques like that are meant to do more than hang on walls; they're actually meant to float.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When God's Promises Turn Into Life Preservers."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 119. I'm going to read verse 50. David says, "My comfort in my suffering is this: 'Your promise preserves my life.'" I love that. "Your promise preserves my life."

Not long ago I was talking to some friends of ours who had lost a relative in a tragic auto accident. I said to them, "Was His grace enough?" You know, one of the great promises of God in 2 Corinthians 12:9 is, "His grace is sufficient." There'll always be enough grace.

And they said, "Oh yeah, it sure was." And then together we began to remember some of those promises that make good wall plaques, like "Underneath are the everlasting arms." And then it dawned on me, those promises of God are nice words, but when a storm hits and you're sinking - like when a loved one dies for example - the promise of God becomes a lot more than a plaque. It becomes your life preserver, like someone drowning in the ocean, hanging on for dear life, and the promise is all you've got to hang onto.

David said, "My comfort in suffering is this, 'Your promise preserves my life.'" All you've got to hang on to. And the more you hold on to that promise, the more you live as if the promise is true and the more you can handle. We've got to have those promises in our heart so we can rip them off the wall and hang onto them when that sudden storm hits.

I talked not long ago to a burned out Christian leader. He's hanging on to a promise from the 23rd Psalm, "He restores my soul." I talked to a family who was recently hit by five medical blows within as many weeks. They're hanging on to Deuteronomy 33:25, "Your strength will equal your days." When my wife got ill and was sick with hepatitis, in bed for nine months, I wondered, "How in the world am I going to do it without my partner?" I hung on to that verse. Every day I said, "Your strength will equal your days, Ron. Your strength will equal your days." It did! It got me through.

So, learn those promises. They're your source of strength. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." That means you'll have everything you need. Maybe you need Philippians 4:19, "My God will supply all your needs." Or maybe that plaque that becomes a life preserver is 1 Corinthians 10:13, "God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able." Or are you hanging onto Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." How many times have I hung onto Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know."

Learn those promises, and then learn to lean on those promises. When your feelings are lying to you, when your world is upside down, grab a promise off the wall of your heart and rest all your weight on it. The promises of God are life preservers.

Exodus 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: At Peace with Yourself

There is a correlation between the way you feel about yourself and the way you feel about others. If you are at peace with yourself—you’ll get along with others. The converse is also true. If you are ashamed, embarrassed, or angry, other people are going to know it. The tragic thing is we tend to take it out on those we love unless the cycle is interrupted.

Which takes us to the question, “How does a person get relief?” Which takes us to one of the kindest verses in the Bible.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”

Be honest with Him. Admit you have soul secrets you’ve never dealt with. He’s just waiting for you to ask Him for help. You’ll be glad you did. Those near to you will be glad as well.

From When God Whispers Your Name

Exodus 5

Bricks Without Straw

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

19 The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

God Promises Deliverance
22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Read: Psalm 32:1-7

Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.[b]
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Footnotes:

Psalm 32:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 32:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 5 and 7.

Insight
For about a year after his adultery with Bathsheba, David refused to repent of his sins (covetousness, adultery, deceit, and murder) until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Sam. 11–12). David penned Psalms 32 and 51 thereafter. In today’s psalm, David speaks of the heavy burden of guilt in his year-long denial of sin (vv.3-4). He also tells of the joy of receiving God’s gift of forgiveness when, with a contrite heart, he confesses and repents (vv.1-2,5) and becomes receptive to God’s rule in his life (vv.7-11). Warning of God’s disciplining hand (v.4), David urges all who have sinned to repent without delay (v.6).

Lasting Regrets
By Bill Crowder

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. —Psalm 32:3

While I was talking with a gifted pianist, she asked me if I played any musical instruments. When I responded, “I play the radio,” she laughed and asked if I had ever wanted to play any instrument. My embarrassed answer was, “I took piano lessons as a boy but gave it up.” Now, in my adult years, I regret not continuing with the piano. I love music and wish I could play today. That conversation was a fresh reminder to me that life is often constituted by the choices we make—and some of them produce regret.

Some choices produce much more serious and painful regrets. King David discovered this when he chose to sleep with another man’s wife and then killed that man. He described the guilt that filled him as devastating, saying, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:3-4). But David acknowledged and confessed his sin to God and found forgiveness (v.5).

It is only from God that we can receive the grace of forgiveness when our choices have produced painful regrets. And only in Him do we find the wisdom to make better choices.

Father of mercies, forgive me for the foolish choices
I have made. Please enable me to be wiser in
my choices. Teach me the value of resting
in Your grace.
God’s forgiveness frees us from the chains of regret.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Sanctification (1)

This is the will of God, your sanctification. . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life . . . he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myself, and that is the place of death. Am I willing to be myself and nothing more? Am I willing to have no friends, no father, no brother, and no self-interest— simply to be ready for death? That is the condition required for sanctification. No wonder Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us falter. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ on this point. We say, “But this is so strict. Surely He does not require that of me.” Our Lord is strict, and He does require that of us.

Am I willing to reduce myself down to simply “me”? Am I determined enough to strip myself of all that my friends think of me, and all that I think of myself? Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God? Once I am, He will immediately sanctify me completely, and my life will be free from being determined and persistent toward anything except God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me (see 1 Corinthians 1:30).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Just the Two of Us - #7182

It had been a while since my wife and I had been able to have a vacation. In fact, it even took a few all-nighters to get us to a point where we could leave responsibly. But we did! It was a bit unusual for a vacation, because almost always there had been at least one of the three kids with us. But our daughter was married, our oldest son was involved in full-time ministry, and our youngest son was in college. It became a vacation like the pre-children days a very long time ago. See, for most of our year, the needs of our children shaped our daily schedules and the needs of many people. And most of our vacations we had to factor in what the kids would enjoy. We planned a lot of vacation days around them, as you probably have as a parent.

But suddenly we were waking up in the morning with just each other. It was great to ask just my wife, "What would you like to do today?" Every meal, every conversation, every choice, every activity-just us. And before everyone else, even our precious children, that's how it was. It was just us. We came back to the voices and needs of a lot of people again, but I want to live with that same bottom line, keeping my core relationship always at the center. But for a very special time, there were only two people in the whole world.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just the Two of Us."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 50:4. "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning; wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." Now, look, you may or may not be a morning person; you might even hate morning people. But this is the way to begin each new day; the Lord getting you up for another day He has made; morning by morning Him waking you up.
And then speaking to your heart in those untouched, unspoiled moments, His preparation for what only He knows is going to be coming that day. The verse makes me think about Mary. It says that she sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said. Now, there was a lot of hustle and bustle around her. Her sister, Martha, was getting everything ready for dinner. But for those moments, there were only two people in the world. Mary could say, "Jesus and me."
See, that's how God wants you to begin every day; spending focused, one-on-one, exclusive time with Him, remembering again who you are supposed to be living for. It's kind of like a short, spiritual vacation like I took with my wife, where for that short time there were only two people in the whole world. With that number one relationship clarified; the one with Jesus, your priorities are straight. You're ready to "seek first the kingdom of God." You can face the day's demands without wandering off course.
Jesus knows exactly what you need to know each new morning. He knows what temptations you're going to be hitting, what surprises good or bad, what people you're going to be with, what questions you're going to need the answers for. He knows what pressures are going to be squeezing you, and He wants to get you ready for all that. But you do have to reserve time as it says here to "listen like one being taught" morning by morning.
Are you doing that? He wants to whisper words in your heart, usually through the book He wrote. And as you listen to music about Him, you read verses about Him, you pour out your heart to Him, you are filling up on Jesus before facing the rest of the world.
It made such a difference for me to be with my wife alone; to remember how much she means to me, to hear no voice but hers. I need that with my Savior each new day and so do you. Life's bottom line needs daily reinforcement. It ultimately comes down to just two people-Jesus and you.

1 Timothy 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: An Itchy, Scratchy Burlap Sack

You have a sack. An itchy, scratchy burlap sack! You probably aren’t even aware of it, you may not have been told about it, but it was given to you.  You needed the sack to carry the rocks, boulders, pebbles. All are unwanted. Some were rocks of rejection. You thought you were good enough for the team, but the coach didn’t. The instructor didn’t. They and how many others? It doesn’t take long before you get a collection of stones. Make a bad choice…get called a few names…get abused.  And so the sack gets heavy with stones we don’t deserve, along with a few we do.

How can you have dreams for the future when all your energy is required to shoulder the past? Jesus says He is the solution for weariness of the soul. Go to Him. “Come to me, all who are weak and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  He already knows what your stones are. He’s just waiting for you to give Him your sack!

From When God Whispers Your Name

1 Timothy 2

Simple Faith and Plain Truth

1–3  2 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

4–7  He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.

8–10  Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.

11–15  I don’t let women take over and tell the men what to do. They should study to be quiet and obedient along with everyone else. Adam was made first, then Eve; woman was deceived first—our pioneer in sin!—with Adam right on her heels. On the other hand, her childbearing brought about salvation, reversing Eve. But this salvation only comes to those who continue in faith, love, and holiness, gathering it all into maturity. You can depend on this.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Acts 11:19-30

Those who had been scattered by the persecution triggered by Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they were still only speaking and dealing with their fellow Jews. Then some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had come to Antioch started talking to Greeks, giving them the Message of the Master Jesus. God was pleased with what they were doing and put his stamp of approval on it—quite a number of the Greeks believed and turned to the Master.

22–24  When the church in Jerusalem got wind of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on things. As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives. He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit’s ways. The community grew large and strong in the Master.

25–26  Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. He found him and brought him back to Antioch. They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.

27–30  It was about this same time that some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem. One of them named Agabus stood up one day and, prompted by the Spirit, warned that a severe famine was about to devastate the country. (The famine eventually came during the rule of Claudius.) So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out. They sent Barnabas and Saul to deliver the collection to the leaders in Jerusalem.

Insight

One advantage of the persecution the early believers in Jesus faced in Jerusalem and Judea was that they dispersed to other regions “spreading the word” as they went (Acts 11:19). The Jewish believers witnessed only to other Jews (v. 19), but some believers in Christ from Cyrene and Cypress “began to speak to Greeks also” (v. 20). Luke, who wrote the Acts account, tells us that “the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (v. 21). The attempt at stamping out Christianity served only to spread it. By: Tim Gustafson

The Winning Goal

A great number of people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:24

On February 5, 2023, Christian Atsu kicked the winning goal for his football (soccer) team in a match in Turkey. A star international player, he learned to play the sport as a kid running barefoot in his home country of Ghana. Christian was a believer in Christ: “Jesus is the best thing that ever happened in my life,” he said. Atsu posted Bible verses on social media, was outspoken about his faith, and put it into action by helping finance a school for orphans.

The day after his winning goal, a devastating earthquake shook the city of Antakya, once the biblical city of Antioch. Christian Atsu’s apartment building collapsed, and he went to be with his Savior.

Two thousand years ago, Antioch was the fountainhead of the early church: “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). One apostle, Barnabas, said to be “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit” (v. 24), was instrumental in bringing people to Christ: “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (v. 24).

We look to the life of Christian Atsu not to idolize him but to see in his example an opportunity. Whatever our circumstance in life, we don’t know when God will take us to be with Him. We do well to ask ourselves how we can be a Barnabas or a Christian Atsu in showing others the love of Christ. That, above all, is the winning goal. By:  Kenneth Petersen

Reflect & Pray

What does it mean to be a Barnabas to others? What opportunities do you have to talk about Jesus?

Dear God, I pray that You’ll give me opportunities to share my faith.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, July 21, 2024

The Gateway to the Kingdom

Blessed are the poor in spirit. —Matthew 5:3

Beware of thinking of our Lord as a teacher first. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, all he can do is tantalize me by holding up a standard I can’t meet. What’s the point of presenting me with an ideal I can’t come near? I’d be happier not knowing about it. What’s the good of telling me to be pure in heart, perfectly devoted to God, and willing to do more than my duty?

If the teachings of Jesus are going to be something more to me than ideals that lead to despair, I must know him as a savior first. When I am born again of the Spirit of God, I discover that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach; he came to make me what he teaches. The redemption means that Jesus Christ is able to put the disposition that ruled his own life into any life. All the standards God sets for us are based on this disposition.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) produces despair in those who haven’t been born again of the Spirit. This is the exact thing Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited idea that we can follow our Lord’s teaching without knowing him as our savior, we will despair. God will allow us to wander in ignorance until we meet some insurmountable obstacle and come to him in poverty, ready to receive.

The bedrock of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty—not possessions or making a decision to follow Jesus Christ, but a sense of total futility, a knowledge that we can’t even begin to follow God’s teaching on our own. That is the entrance; that is when Jesus says, “Blessed are you.” It does take us a long time to accept the fact that we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works.

Psalms 29-30; Acts 23:1-15

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R

Matthew 24:1-28, Bible reading and devotionals.

MaxLucado.com: God is Enough

Let’s face it–anxiety or worry have no advantages!  They ruin our health, rob us of joy, and change nothing!  Our day stands no chance against the terrorists of the Land of Anxiety.

But Christ offers a worry-bazooka.  Remember how He taught us to pray?  “Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11”  This simple sentence unveils God’s provision plan:  live one day at a time.

Worry gives small problems big shadows.  Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.”   And Romans 8:28 affirms: “Every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Most anxiety stems, not from what we need, but from what we want.  Philippians 4:4 says, “delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in Him at all times!”

If God is enough, you’ll always have enough!

From Great Day Every Day

Matthew 24:1-28
New International Version (NIV)
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Footnotes:

Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Isaiah 49:1-6

The Servant of the Lord

Listen to me, you islands;
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
    and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
    and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel to himself,
for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Footnotes:

Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be

Insight
Isaiah prophesied under Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, meaning that his ministry may have continued for more than 64 years. He was the son of Amoz (Isa.1:1), was married (his wife was referred to as “the prophetess,” 8:3), and had two sons, whose names symbolized the turbulent times in which Isaiah served his God. His first son’s name, Shear-Jashub (7:3), means “a remnant shall return” and his second son’s name, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:3), means “spoil quickly, plunder speedily.”

Small Ways In Small Places
By David H. Roper

For who has despised the day of small things? —Zechariah 4:10

Often I meet with people who serve in what they think are seemingly small ways in small places. They are frequently discouraged by loneliness, feeling that their acts of service are insignificant. When I hear them speak, I think of one of the angels in C. S. Lewis’ book Out of the Silent Planet. He said: “My people have a law never to speak of sizes or numbers to you. . . . It makes you do reverence to nothings and pass by what is really great.”

Sometimes culture says bigger is better—that size is the truest measure of success. It takes a strong person to resist that trend, especially if he or she is laboring in a small place. But we must not “pass by what is really great.”

It’s not that numbers aren’t important (after all, the apostles counted their converts; see Acts 2:41). Numbers represent living people with eternal needs. We should all work and pray for large numbers of people to enter the kingdom, but numbers mustn’t be the basis for self-esteem.

God doesn’t call us to find fulfillment in the amount of work we do for Him, or the number of people who are a part of that work, but in faithfully doing our work for His sake. Serving our great God with His strength in a small way is not a stepping-stone to greatness—it is greatness.

Lord, help me remember that there are no
small places or small people. All are precious
in Your sight. May I see the value of my work
and cherish it as You do.
Anyone doing God’s work in God’s way is important in His sight.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Dependent on God’s Presence

Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31

There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).

When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.

Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.

Exodus 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: 'Birthdays'

What is it about birthdays that causes us to quiver so? Certainly part of the problem is the mirror.  Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician. But the real pain is deeper.  Sometimes a dream-come-true-world has come true and it’s less than you’d hoped.  Regret becomes a major pastime.

Luke 17:33 says, “Whoever tries to keep his life safe will lose it, and the one who’s prepared to lose his life will preserve it.” “There are two ways to view life,” Jesus is saying, “those who protect it or those who pursue it.  The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their lives, but the most life in their years.”

You can take the safe route. Or you can hear the voice of adventure—God’s adventure. Adopt the child. Teach the class.  Change careers. Make a difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?

from He Still Moves Stones

Exodus 3

Moses and the Burning Bush

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[e] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[f] will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[g] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[h] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Footnotes:

Exodus 3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers
Exodus 3:12 The Hebrew is plural.
Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 102:18-28

Let this be written for a future generation,
    that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
    from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
    and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
    and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
    assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[a] he broke my strength;
    he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
    their descendants will be established before you.”

Insight
How comforting to know that God is always the same and never changes! Despite the twists and turns, ups and downs, and constant changes of our lives, we know that standing powerful and constant above it all is our God. The wonderful things that God has done for us must be preserved and told to others (v.18).

Whoppers Or Adventures?
By Randy Kilgore

But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. —Psalm 102:27

My grandfather loved to tell stories, and I loved to listen. Papaw had two kinds of tales. “Whoppers” were stories with a whiff of truth, but which changed with each new telling. “Adventures” were stories that really happened, and the facts never changed when retold. One day my grandfather told a story that just seemed too far-fetched to be true. “Whopper,” I declared, but my grandfather insisted it was true. Although his telling never varied, I simply couldn’t believe it, it was that unusual.

Then one day, while I was listening to a radio program, I heard the announcer tell a story that confirmed the truth of my grandfather’s tale. My grandfather’s “whopper” suddenly became an “adventure.” It was a moving moment of remembrance that made him even more trustworthy in my eyes.

When the psalmist wrote about the unchanging nature of God (102:27), he was offering this same comfort—the trustworthiness of God—to us. The idea is repeated in Hebrews 13:8 with these words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This can lift our hearts above our daily trials to remind us that an unchanging, trustworthy God rules over even the chaos of a changing world.

Our God is God—He does not change;
His truth, His love remain each day the same,
He’s faithful to His matchless name,
For God is God—He does not change. —D. DeHaan
Let the sameness of God waft over your heart with His peace in your storms.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Submission of the Believer

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13
Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.” No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me. It is a complete and effective domination, in which I acknowledge that “You are worthy, O Lord . . .” (Revelation 4:11). It is simply the unworthiness within me that refuses to bow down or to submit to one who is worthy. When I meet someone who is more holy than myself, and I don’t recognize his worthiness, nor obey his instructions for me, it is a sign of my own unworthiness being revealed. God teaches us by using these people who are a little better than we are; not better intellectually, but more holy. And He continues to do so until we willingly submit. Then the whole attitude of our life is one of obedience to Him.

If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant. Jesus showed this relationship by saying, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The Son was obedient as our Redeemer, because He was the Son, not in order to become God’s Son.

Exodus 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Sowing Seeds

Many parents aren’t proud of their family trees. The harvest was taken, but no seed was sown. Childhood memories bring more hurt than inspiration. If such is the case, put down the family scrapbook and pick up your Bible. John 3:6 reminds us, “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace.

Didn’t have a good father?  Galatians 4:7 says God will be your father. Didn’t have a good role model?  Ephesians 5:1 says, “You are God’s child whom He loves, so try to be like Him.”

You cannot control the way your forefathers responded to God. But you can control the way you respond to Him. The past does not have to be your prison. Choose well and someday—generations from now—your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank God for the seeds you sowed!

From When God Whispers Your Name

Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket[b] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,[c] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[d] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10

 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

Insight
The heart is the very basis of character, including the mind and will. Because of our sinful nature, the “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Jeremiah debunked the popular belief that people are basically good (cf. Job 25:4; Ps. 51:5). That God examines and tests the heart is the consistent teaching of Scripture (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 6:30; Ps. 139:1-2; Jer. 11:20; Rom. 8:27; Heb. 4:12-13). Although we might try to hide our innermost thoughts and motives from others, God sees. He alone knows the true character of every person. God searches and knows us, but loves us despite our inherent sinfulness.

Living Bridges
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. —Jeremiah 17:7

People who live in Cherrapunji, India, have developed a unique way to get across the many rivers and streams in their land. They grow bridges from the roots of rubber trees. These “living bridges” take between 10 to 15 years to mature, but once they are established, they are extremely stable and last for hundreds of years.

The Bible compares a person who trusts in God to “a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river” (Jer. 17:8). Because its roots are well-nourished, this tree survives soaring temperatures. And during drought it continues to yield fruit.

Like a firmly rooted tree, people who rely on God have a sense of stability and vitality despite the worst circumstances. In contrast, people who place their trust in other humans often live with a sense of instability. The Bible compares them to desert shrubs that are frequently malnourished and stand alone (v.6). So it is with the spiritual lives of people who forsake God.

Where are our roots? Are we rooted in Jesus? (Col. 2:7). Are we a bridge that leads others to Him? If we know Christ, we can testify to this truth: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord (Jer. 17:7).

Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall. —Thompson
Even strong trials cannot blow down a person who is rooted in God.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 18, 2014

The Mystery of Believing

He said, "Who are You, Lord? —Acts 9:5
Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.

There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.

Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (seeJohn 3:19-21).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 18, 2014

STOLEN DAUGHTERS - #7180

Our firstborn - our daughter - was only a few days old when I first called her "Princess." She's been my princess ever since. I cannot imagine the agony of having her snatched from her school and taken who knows where.

 That was the ordeal hundreds of Nigerian parents went through. Nearly 300 of their daughters were kidnapped from their school by terrorists. The kidnappers threatened to sell those girls for something like $12. Some daddy's princess, some mother's treasure, sold like cattle.

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

Demonstrations demanding action spread far beyond Nigeria. In fact, one national newscast said, "This has touched a nerve in women around the world." What a nightmare; your daughter stolen and taken to a very bad place. That's the kind of nightmare that I have shared with too many families.

After years of working with young people, my wife and I have grieved over a lot of stolen daughters. Thankfully not our own, but girls who - though they might still be there physically - have been taken away to a bad place morally, emotionally, or spiritually.

We've been there when a girl not yet a woman finds out she's going to be a mother; when a parent weeps over their daughter's life-scarring choices. I've been there when a parent has no idea where their daughter disappeared to. Been in the emergency room as a mom or dad waits as the doctors fight to save their girl who's overdosed.

Through it all, we've seen four ways that we can lose our daughters. First, missing dads: missing physically, or missing emotionally, leaving a girl unsure of her father's love, with this gaping daddy deficit. Which she will try to fill often by looking for love in all the wrong places and often getting lost.

And then there are misguided moms who let their little girls become "teenagers" long before they're ready. Break out the makeup, the clothes, and the styles of high school when she hasn't even finished elementary school. Psychologist Neil Postman called it "the disappearance of childhood." So many years ahead to be grown-up. Can't we let them have those few short years of being a child? If they act like they're 14 when they're ten, they'll be acting like they're 20 when they're 14 and often going to a very bad place.

Here's the third way we lose our daughters: selfish boys. Oh they know the words "I love you," but they really mean is, "I'll use you." Their hormones are in charge, and they're takers not givers. If we've let our daughters buy the lie that a guy gives them worth, they'll do almost anything to get one and keep one. Giving what they cannot get back only to end up used and not loved. We need to teach our daughters that any boy who says, "If you love me, you will let me" doesn't love you.

Unchallenged lies. Yes, that's the other way we lose our daughters. How about this one, "It's all about how you look." And Hollywood tells our girls, "Here's what you should look like." Leaving most girls looking in the mirror and seeing someone they think is "fat" or "ugly" and not worth much; desperate to please anyone who gives her a little attention and so easily lost.

I've always thought an inventor knows best about what he's made. Right? And our Inventor says, "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty...you should clothe yourselves with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty..." (1 Peter 3:3-4).

You know, the real worth of a girl is rooted in something that is in God's Word and our word for today from the Word of God, Ephesians 2:10, to say to our daughters, "We are God's workmanship." "You are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works God prepared in advance for you to do." No one on earth gives a girl her worth, and no one on earth can take it away.

Every daughter is a princess. Make sure she knows that. That's the best way to keep her safe.

Exodus 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: You Have a Choice

Early in the reign of King Josiah he made a brave choice. II Kings 22:2 tells us, "He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right." He flipped through his family scrapbook until he found an ancestor worthy of emulation.  He found David and resolved, "I'm going to be like him."
The principle?  We can't choose our parents, but we can choose our mentors. And since Josiah chose David, who had chosen God, things began to happen. Josiah broke up the idols. He broke down the altars. He was out to make a statement:  What my fathers taught, I don't teach. What they embraced, I reject. Josiah had found the God of David and made Him his own. God has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take. Choose well!
From When God Whispers Your Name

Exodus 1

The Israelites Oppressed

 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Hebrews 10:19-25
A Call to Persevere in Faith

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Insight
One of the great ongoing debates among Bible scholars involves the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews. In the early days of the church, it was generally regarded to have been written by the apostle Paul, but scholars disagree about its authorship today. Along with stylistic elements of the content that these scholars say does not match the writings of Paul, one often-cited argument against Pauline authorship is that Hebrews is anonymous, and Paul declared that he always signed his letters (2 Thess. 3:17). Some of the names offered as the possible human author of this inspired letter include Luke, Apollos, Barnabas, and Priscilla.

Lookin’ Good!
By Cindy Hess Kasper

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. —Hebrews 10:24

After trying on my new sunglasses in the car one day, my daughter handed them back and said, “These are not sunglasses, Mom. They’re just fashion lenses. Let me guess,” she teased, “you bought them because you look cute in them.”

Okay, I have to admit—my daughter knows me. I hadn’t given a passing thought to UV rays or even whether those glasses would actually block the sun. I just really liked the way they looked on me.

Most of us like to look good. We want to appear that we “have it all together”—with no struggles or fears or temptations or heartaches.

Trying to maintain a façade of perfection on our spiritual journey doesn’t help us or our fellow travelers. But sharing our lives with others in the body of Christ benefits us as well as others. When we are a bit more transparent, we may find people who are struggling in a similar situation. And as we enjoy a growing fellowship with God and become more aware of our own brokenness and inadequacy, God is able to use us more fully to help others.

Let’s allow God to strip away any pretense and “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 niv).

Wearing a mask that shows everything’s fine
Says that life’s struggles are not God’s design;
But when we’re open, transparent, and true,
People will trust God to meet their needs too. —Sper
Believers stand strong when they don’t stand alone.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 17, 2014

The Miracle of Belief

My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest degree; he was not speaking here out of a deep sense of humility, but was saying that when he preached the gospel, he would veil the power of God if he impressed people with the excellency of his speech. Belief in Jesus is a miracle produced only by the effectiveness of redemption, not by impressive speech, nor by wooing and persuading, but only by the sheer unaided power of God. The creative power of redemption comes through the preaching of the gospel, but never because of the personality of the preacher.

Real and effective fasting by a preacher is not fasting from food, but fasting from eloquence, from impressive diction, and from everything else that might hinder the gospel of God being presented. The preacher is there as the representative of God— “. . . as though God were pleading through us . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He is there to present the gospel of God. If it is only because of my preaching that people desire to be better, they will never get close to Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching of the gospel will result in making me a traitor to Jesus, and I prevent the creative power of His redemption from doing its work.

“And I, if I am lifted up. . . , will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 17, 2014

New Glasses - #7179

Our son-in-law is pretty used to the scenery in Wheaton, Illinois. He lived there until he graduated from college. But one day he saw something sort of new that got his attention. He and my daughter were driving along, and my son-in-law pulled up to this stop sign on the street that he'd seen hundreds of times. He looked at the street sign and he said, "Hey, you know, I'm used to that sign being dull. It's not supposed to be that clear. I can really read it!" You want to guess why it suddenly had a sharpness to it that he didn't remember? Same sign; it hadn't changed. He just got his new glasses.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "New Glasses."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 1. I'll begin reading at verse 35. Now, Jesus has just come through a full day of teaching, followed by a full night of healing many sick people and even dealing with the Devil in people's lives. So sleep must have felt awfully good that night, and I'll bet morning came quickly.
Well, here's what it says, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and His companions were looking for Him. When they found Him they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for You.' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So He traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Here is Jesus, surrounded by demands and decisions about priorities - needs all around Him. And in the midst of this relentless schedule there's one thing Jesus will not sacrifice - His Father time. Even if it costs Him sleep. After He's been with His Father, He comes away knowing what He has to do. "I must go preach in those other villages." It's as if He's been able to put on spiritual glasses to see His choices clearly for that day.
Well, in this simple daily meeting with God, Jesus is showing us - modeling for us - how we can sort out everything that's crowding in on us. See, you've got to be alone with God before you hear any other voices to discern what He wants from you that day before all those other people hit you. You need God's glasses to see the needs around you, and then which ones He wants you to say yes to and which ones He wants you to say no to.
Father time is time to get His orders from what you read in His Word; time to off-load all the burdens you're carrying so they don't have to distort your vision. It's time for you to let Him put in proper perspective the relatively little things that have become very big to you, and the really big things that you've allowed to become small. If you don't begin a day talking with and listening to your Heavenly Father, the other voices and the other choices will probably pull you right off course. The other voices frankly are louder than God's voice. That's why you need to be alone with Him to hear Him.
So, open God's Word early in the day and open your heart. Ask Him this: "Lord, help me to see what You see when you look at my family, when you look at my marriage, when you look at my need, when you look at my work. What do you see when you see that relationship, or this decision I have to make?" The question is this: "Is your daily time with your Lord optional or is it non-negotiable?" For Jesus, it was non-negotiable. How about you? Isn't it time to say, "Lord, no one can have my time with You. Beginning now, it will be each day the highest priority of my personal schedule."
Our son-in-law never knew how clear things could be until he looked at them through new glasses. Your life could be a lot less cloudy, a lot clearer, if you will begin each day with your Heavenly Father; looking at your world through His eyes.