Job 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What’s Done is Done

What do you do with your failures? Could you do it all over again, you’d do it differently. You’d be more patient. You’d control your tongue. You’d finish what you started. You’d get married first. But as many times as you tell yourself, “What’s done is done,” what you did can’t be undone.

That’s part of what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). He didn’t say, “The wages of sin is a bad mood.”  Or “The wages of sin is a hard day.” Read it again.  “The wages of sin is death.”  Sin is fatal.

What do you do?  Don’t we all long for a father who will love us?  A father who cares for us in spite of our failures? We have that kind of a father.  A father whose grace is strongest when our devotion is weakest.  Your failures are not fatal, my friend!

from Six Hours One Friday

Job 19

JOB ANSWERS BILDAD

I Call for Help and No One Bothers

1–6  19 Job answered:

“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,

pounding me with these harangues?

Time after time after time you jump all over me.

Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?

Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,

what business is that of yours?

Why do you insist on putting me down,

using my troubles as a stick to beat me?

Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,

he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.

7–12  “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;

I call for help and no one bothers to stop.

God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;

he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.

He destroyed my reputation,

robbed me of all self-respect.

He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!

Then he yanked out hope by the roots.

He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!

He treats me like his worst enemy.

He has launched a major campaign against me,

using every weapon he can think of,

coming at me from all sides at once.

I Know That God Lives

13–20  “God alienated my family from me;

everyone who knows me avoids me.

My relatives and friends have all left;

houseguests forget I ever existed.

The servant girls treat me like a bum off the street,

look at me like they’ve never seen me before.

I call my attendant and he ignores me,

ignores me even though I plead with him.

My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.

I’m repulsive to my family.

Even street urchins despise me;

when I come out, they taunt and jeer.

Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;

my dearest loved ones reject me.

I’m nothing but a bag of bones;

my life hangs by a thread.

21–22  “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.

God has come down hard on me!

Do you have to be hard on me, too?

Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?

23–27  “If only my words were written in a book—

better yet, chiseled in stone!

Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—

and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.

And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—

see God myself, with my very own eyes.

Oh, how I long for that day!

28–29  “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,

get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’

Forget it. Start worrying about yourselves.

Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,

for judgment is most certainly on the way.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 15, 2025

by Monica La Rose

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Psalm 119:17-32

Be generous with me and I’ll live a full life;

not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road.

Open my eyes so I can see

what you show me of your miracle-wonders.

I’m a stranger in these parts;

give me clear directions.

My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!—

insatiable for your nourishing commands.

And those who think they know so much,

ignoring everything you tell them—let them have it!

Don’t let them mock and humiliate me;

I’ve been careful to do just what you said.

While bad neighbors maliciously gossip about me,

I’m absorbed in pondering your wise counsel.

Yes, your sayings on life are what give me delight;

I listen to them as to good neighbors!

25–32  I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse!

Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?

When I told my story, you responded;

train me well in your deep wisdom.

Help me understand these things inside and out

so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.

My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn;

build me up again by your Word.

Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;

grace me with your clear revelation.

I choose the true road to Somewhere,

I post your road signs at every curve and corner.

I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;

God, don’t let me down!

I’ll run the course you lay out for me

if you’ll just show me how.

Today's Insights

The main theme of Psalm 119 is celebration of the law—the instruction of God—called the Torah. The longest psalm, it’s developed as an acrostic with twenty-two sections—each beginning with succeeding letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This structure was no doubt intended in part as a memory device to aid in the memorization of these important ideas. Each of those sections contains eight verses. It could be said that Psalm 119 is part of a trilogy of psalms that celebrate Torah (see also Psalms 1 and 19). The psalm is anonymous and lacks a superscription, but verse 1 gives a clear idea of the point of the song: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.”

Revered and Read

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18

Our home has a well-stocked, overflowing bookshelf. I have a weakness for beautiful books, especially nice hardcovers, and over the years more and more have been added to the collection. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time and energy to actually read nearly as many of the volumes as I’ve collected. They remain pristine, beautiful, and—sadly—unread.  

There’s a danger that our Bibles can become a bit like that. Essayist John Updike, speaking of the American classic Walden, commented that it risked being as “revered and unread as the Bible.” The difficulty of understanding ancient Scriptures written in different cultures than our own can tempt us to leave our Bibles on the shelf—beautiful, beloved, but unread.

It doesn’t have to be that way. As the psalmist does in Psalm 119, we can turn to God, asking Him to “open [our] eyes” to see Scripture’s riches (v. 18). We can find trustworthy teachers to help us “understand what [we’re] reading” (Acts 8:30). And believers have Christ’s Spirit to guide our hearts to see how it all points to Him (Luke 24:27; John 14:26).

Through Scripture, God can give us strength in times of sorrow (Psalm 119:28), protect us from deception (v. 29), and broaden our understanding of how to joyfully live (vv. 32, 35). The Bible is a priceless gift. May it be both revered and read.

Reflect & Pray

What resources help you understand the Bible? How has God used Scripture to shape your life?

Gracious God, please open my eyes to Your goodness as I read the gift of Scripture.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 15, 2025

The Discipline of Dismay

Those who followed were afraid. — Mark 10:32

When I first began walking with Jesus, I was sure I knew all about him. It was a delight to give everything up for his sake, to fling myself out on a risky path of love. Now, I’m not so sure. Jesus is striding ahead of me, and he looks strange: “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid” (Mark 10:32).

There is a side to Jesus that chills the heart and makes the spiritual life gasp for breath. This strange being, with his face set like flint and his striding determination, no longer appears as counselor and comrade. He has a point of view I know nothing about. At first, I was confident that I understood him, but now there is a distance between us; I can no longer be so familiar with my Lord. He is out ahead, and he never turns around.

Jesus Christ had to fathom every sin and every sorrow that could possibly afflict the human race: this is what makes him seem so strange. When we see him in this aspect, we don’t know him. He is a leader striding before us, and with dismay we realize that we don’t know how to follow him. We have no idea where he’s going, and the destination has become strangely far off. A sense of darkness surrounds us.

The discipline of dismay is a necessary part of discipleship. The danger is that we will try to escape the darkness by kindling a fire of our own. God says we must not: “Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord” (Isaiah 50:10). When the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over. Out of it will come a following of Jesus which is an unspeakable joy.

Deuteronomy 26-27; Mark 14:27-53

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

Job 18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: REAL REST - March 14, 2025

How we handle our tough times stays with us for a long time. When you’re tired of trying, tired of forgiving, tired of hard-headed people, how do you manage your dark days? With a bottle of pills? An hour at the bar, a day at the spa? Many opt for such treatments. So many, in fact, we assume they reenergize the sad life. But do they? They numb the pain, postpone the pain, but do they remove the pain?

Is there a solution? There is. Be quick to pray. Stop talking to yourself and talk to Christ, who says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest” (Matthew 11:28 MSG). God, who is never downcast, never tires of your down days. “Come to Me,” Jesus says, “and I’ll give you real rest.”

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 18

BILDAD’S SECOND ATTACK

Plunged from Light into Darkness

1–4  18 Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:

“How monotonous these word games are getting!

Get serious! We need to get down to business.

Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals?

You look down on us as if we don’t know anything.

Why are you working yourself up like this?

Do you want the world redesigned to suit you?

Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?

5–21  “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.

Their flame dies down and is extinguished.

Their house goes dark—

every lamp in the place goes out.

Their strong strides weaken, falter;

they stumble into their own traps.

They get all tangled up

in their own red tape,

Their feet are grabbed and caught,

their necks in a noose.

They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,

and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.

Terrors come at them from all sides.

They run helter-skelter.

The hungry grave is ready

to gobble them up for supper,

To lay them out for a gourmet meal,

a treat for ravenous Death.

They are snatched from their home sweet home

and marched straight to the death house.

Their lives go up in smoke;

acid rain soaks their ruins.

Their roots rot

and their branches wither.

They’ll never again be remembered—

nameless in unmarked graves.

They are plunged from light into darkness,

banished from the world.

And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—

nothing to show for their life on this earth.

Westerners are aghast at their fate,

easterners are horrified:

‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.

This is how the God-ignorant end up!’ ”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 14, 2025

by Leslie Koh

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 2:6-10

Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

7–10  Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Today's Insights

The creation account in Genesis says that “God created mankind in his own image” (1:27). Ephesians 2:10 also declares that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Jesus set the example for us during His earthly ministry by doing “many good works from the Father” (John 10:32). Peter elaborates and says: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, . . . he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38). As believers in Christ, the Spirit will provide the opportunities and empowerment to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and do good works. The fruit of the Spirit’s work in us is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Made to Do Good for God

We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Ephesians 2:10

At first, I ignored the card fluttering to the ground. The father and his little girl who dropped it were just twenty feet away, and I was late for work. Surely they would have realized it, I told myself. But they kept walking. My conscience got the better of me, and I went over to pick it up. It was a prepaid bus ride pass. When I gave it to them, their effusive thanks left me feeling unexpectedly satisfied. Why do I feel so good about doing such a small thing? I wondered.

It turns out that the human body produces chemicals that improve our mood when we’re kind to others. We’re made to feel good when we do good! That’s not surprising, because we were created by a good God who made us to be like Him.

Ephesians 2:10 shows us that blessing others is a part of our very purpose: “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This verse doesn’t simply give an instruction to do good; in a way, it also reflects a part of our God-made nature. We don’t have to be doing great things all the time. If we do something small to help others in our daily lives, we not only get the reward of satisfaction, but we also know that we’re pleasing God—doing exactly what He made us to do.

Reflect & Pray

Who needs a helping hand or an encouraging word? What kind word or simple gesture can you extend to a friend, colleague, or neighbor?

Dear Father, please open my eyes to see how I can be kind to someone today.

Learn how we can take hope to a lost and divided world.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 14, 2025

Obedience

You are slaves of the one you obey. — Romans 6:16

The first thing to do when confronting a habit or mindset that controls me is to face an unwelcome fact: I am responsible for being controlled, because at some point I gave in. If I am a slave to myself—to my habits and urges, my egotisms and selfishness—I am to blame, because I gave in to myself. Likewise, if I obey God, it’s because I’ve yielded myself to him.

We learn the truth of this in the most ridiculously small things. “I can give up that habit whenever I want,” you say. You cannot. Try it, and you will find that the habit absolutely dominates you. Give in to selfishness in childhood, and you will find it the most binding tyranny on earth. Yield for one second to any form of lust—to the thought “I must have this thing at once”—and you will be chained to that thing, even if you hate yourself for it.

No human power can break the bondage of a character that has been shaped by giving in. Only the power of the redemption is sufficient. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only one who can set you free, the Lord Jesus Christ: “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and … to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). It is easy to sing “He can break every fetter” and still be living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. Only Jesus can break the chains, and only when you let him. Yield yourself to the Lord, and he will set you free.

Deuteronomy 23-25; Mark 14:1-26

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 14, 2025

The Most Sinful Part of Your Body - #9960

I used to sing this little song in Sunday school. Actually, all of the kids sang it: "Be careful little eyes what you see." That was the first verse. And then we went on to "Be careful little ears what you hear." And then "Be careful little hands what you do." Of course, "Be careful little feet where you go," and so on. Actually, there is a practical truth hidden in that little song. It's about this thing called sin, which isn't just a church word or a preacher's word. I mean, it's real. I mean, your hands sin, your eyes sin, your ears sin; it's not just a concept.

I've always found it convenient to think of sin in terms of things that someone else is doing, right? Well, when I make a list of the worst sins there are, it's usually things that I don't do. Maybe you do. Then I realize the body part that should be voted most likely to sin. Suddenly I'm on the list.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Sinful Part of Your Body."

Here's our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the third chapter of the book of Romans. It's a very interesting passage because it's like a spiritual X-ray, and the doctor, if you want to put it that way, gives the conclusion of this X-ray and what he has discovered in chapter 3 verse 12 and then again in verse 23. In verse 12 he says, "All have turned away, all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." Then in verse 23 it's reiterated when he says, "For all have sinned..." I mean, there is no exception here. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The spiritual X-ray shows that we all have cancer - spiritual cancer.

Then he goes into more detail between verses 12 and 23 with how that sinful cancer shows up. Listen to these statements, "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Did you notice there are six statements here that show the kind of spiritual cancer we have, and they all are really like biological; they involve parts of the body? One had to do with the eyes; one had to do with our feet. The other four had to do with the same area of the body: the tongue, lips, mouth and throat. So it would appear that most sinning is done with your mouth. Isn't that interesting? The most spiritually infected part of your body - the cancer comes out through our mouth more often than anywhere else.

The Bible says, "No human being can tame the tongue." That's in James 3:8. We tend to think of sin in terms of adultery, abortion, murder, abuse, drugs, stealing. But this brings it right down to where I live, because the greatest sins - the most frequent sins - are sins of the tongue. Think about it, the hurt that you and I inflict on people, the things we say in anger, the putdowns, the lies, the criticism, the negative comments, the gossip. They all come through our mouth.

This indictment tells me two things. Number one: I really need a Savior because if sin is mostly sin done with my mouth and my tongue, I really need a Savior. And you may have never experienced what it is to have the man who died for you on a cross forgive you of every wrong thing, every hurting thing, every angry thing, every dirty thing you've ever said or done. It's so wonderful to be clean. He can do that for you!

Secondly, I must focus the lordship of Christ on my mouth and say, "Jesus, be Lord of what I say; how I talk. The cancer of sin has poisoned our daily speech, but David said, "The Lord put a new song in my mouth."

Don't you want this transforming relationship with Jesus Christ? He'll make you a whole new creation, the Bible says. Let me show you how at our website. Check out ANewStory.com because maybe this is the first day of your new story.

Job 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HOPE WE CANNOT RESIST - March 13, 2025

In a concentration camp, a guard announced a shovel was missing. Screaming at the men, he kept insisting someone had stolen it. He shouldered his rifle, ready to kill one prisoner at a time until a confession was made.

As the story continues, a Scottish soldier broke ranks, stood stiffly at attention, and said, “I did it.” The guard killed the man. As they returned to camp, the shovels were counted. The guard had made a mistake. No shovel was missing after all.

Who does that? What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn’t do? When you find the adjective, attach it to Jesus. Isaiah 53:6 (MSG) says, “God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him.” Christ lived the life we could not live and took the punishment we could not take to offer the hope we cannot resist.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 17

“My spirit is broken,

my days used up,

my grave dug and waiting.

See how these mockers close in on me?

How long do I have to put up with their insolence?

3–5  “O God, pledge your support for me.

Give it to me in writing, with your signature.

You’re the only one who can do it!

These people are so useless!

You know firsthand how stupid they can be.

You wouldn’t let them have the last word, would you?

Those who betray their own friends

leave a legacy of abuse to their children.

6–8  “God, you’ve made me the talk of the town—

people spit in my face;

I can hardly see from crying so much;

I’m nothing but skin and bones.

Decent people can’t believe what they’re seeing;

the good-hearted wake up and insist I’ve given up on God.

9  “But principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life,

sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger!

10–16  “Maybe you’d all like to start over,

to try it again, the bunch of you.

So far I haven’t come across one scrap

of wisdom in anything you’ve said.

My life’s about over. All my plans are smashed,

all my hopes are snuffed out—

My hope that night would turn into day,

my hope that dawn was about to break.

If all I have to look forward to is a home in the graveyard,

if my only hope for comfort is a well-built coffin,

If a family reunion means going six feet under,

and the only family that shows up is worms,

Do you call that hope?

Who on earth could find any hope in that?

No. If hope and I are to be buried together,

I suppose you’ll all come to the double funeral!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 13, 2025

by Amy Boucher Pye

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ezekiel 11:14-21

The answer from God came back: “Son of man, your brothers—I mean the whole people of Israel who are in exile with you—are the people of whom the citizens of Jerusalem are saying, ‘They’re in the far country, far from God. This land has been given to us to own.’

16–20  “Well, tell them this, ‘This is your Message from God, the Master. True, I sent you to the far country and scattered you through other lands. All the same, I’ve provided you a temporary sanctuary in the countries where you’ve gone. I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you’ve been scattered and give you back the land of Israel. You’ll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I’ll give you a new heart. I’ll put a new spirit in you. I’ll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you’ll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

21  “ ‘But not those who are self-willed and addicted to their rotten images and obscene idols! I’ll see that they’re paid in full for what they’ve done.’ Decree of God, the Master.”

Today's Insights

Just prior to today’s reading from Ezekiel 11, the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s glory. He looked on the throne of God in the holy of holies (10:1) and saw “the glory of the Lord” rise and move (v. 4). We see the movement of God’s glory from His inner sanctuary in the temple to its threshold and then from the threshold out into the city (vv. 4, 18). Finally, the glory of God left the city by the eastern gate (v. 19).

Ezekiel’s vision shows something the exiled Israelites may not have at first realized: their God went with them. He followed on the same road they traveled, which is why Ezekiel says, “I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone” (11:16).

A New Heart in Christ

I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19

Brock and Dennis were childhood friends, but as they grew up, Brock showed little interest in Dennis’ faith in Jesus. Dennis loved his friend and prayed for him because he knew the path he was going down was dark and depressing. In praying for Brock, Dennis adapted the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “Please God, remove from Brock a heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh” (see Ezekiel 11:19). He longed that Brock would walk in God’s way so he would flourish.

Ten years later, Dennis was still praying faithfully. Then he received a call from Brock: “I just gave my life to Jesus!” Dennis rejoiced, tears brimming, to hear his friend exclaim that he’d finally come to the end of himself and trusted God with his life.

In his prayers, Dennis focused on God’s promises to His people through Ezekiel. Although they’d turned from God with detestable practices, He said He would change their hearts: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (v. 19). With changed hearts, they would follow their God faithfully (v. 20).

No matter how far we’ve turned from God, He delights to give us warm and loving hearts. We need only to turn to Him with faith and repentance as we trust in Jesus to save us from our sins. 

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God melting any stubbornness or coldness within? How can you pray for a friend today?

Loving God, thank You for releasing me from my sin and shame.

Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 13, 2025

His Abandonment to Us

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16

We will never understand how to abandon ourselves to God until we understand how God abandoned himself to us. When God gave his Son in love to the world, he didn’t give just a part of himself. He gave all of himself, absolutely and entirely. He gave with total abandon, holding nothing back. We must beware of talking about abandonment if we don’t really know about it, and we won’t know—not until we realize the full meaning of John 3:16.

That God gave with total abandon is the very essence of salvation. Salvation isn’t merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. Salvation is deliverance out of self and into union with God. What I experience of salvation may be a sense of personal holiness, but what salvation actually means is that the Spirit of God has brought me into contact with God himself. I am thrilled by the contact with something infinitely greater than myself, and I wonder how it is possible. It is possible because God has given himself completely for our sake.

Abandonment is never self-conscious. If we are abandoned to God, our whole life is his. There is no awareness of striving to let go, no struggling to abandon. We aren’t torn between our old life and our new. We are simply given over to our Lord. Our entire existence is wrapped up in him, and the consequences of abandoning ourselves never enter into our thinking.

Deuteronomy 20-22; Mark 13:21-37

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Approved Unto God, 11 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 13, 2025

THE ANSWER UNDER YOUR NOSE - #9959

There are those moments when I make life much harder than it has to be, and in fact sometimes I wonder if I'm slipping. There was a time not too long ago when I looked frantically for my house keys. And, of course, I mobilized the whole family and said, "I've got to get out of here! I'm running late! Everybody go on a search mission; we've got to find my keys." I found them in the door right where I'd left them. I've been doing that since I was about 20.

Did you ever find your car keys missing and you run all over the place, and you find them in your own hand? Oh, you say, "Oops!" Or your glasses and they're on your face. It happens more often than you might think. The answer you've been looking for frantically might be right there in front of you. You might be surprised how close the answer is to what you've been looking for.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Answer Under Your Nose."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God about the answer under your nose is in John 14, beginning at verse 6. "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.' Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that would be enough for us.' Jesus answered, 'Don't you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?'"

This passage introduces us to what I call the Philip Syndrome. Philip has this problem - we read about it in the New Testament. He seems to have the tendency to miss an answer that is right in front of him. And who knows, you might be suffering from the Philip Syndrome. Remember back to the feeding of the five thousand? Philip said, "Lord, what are we going to do? We don't have near enough money, even if we go to a bank and get a loan. How are we ever going to feed all these people?" And Jesus said, "Why don't you go look for a lunch? The answer's right here. All we need's a lunch - go find a lunch."

Here He's looking for some special event. He says, "Lord, we want to see the Father. We want to have a big, spiritual event here." And Jesus said, "Look at Me! I'm right in front of you." The answer in John 14 was right in front of Philip. I wonder if the answer you've been waiting for, straining for, praying for could be right in front of you. For example, maybe you've been waiting for just the right person to come along to fill a very important slot. Why don't you look around at the people you already have right now instead of pinning all your hopes on somebody that Scotty's going to beam down from the Enterprise? Maybe the person you need has been right under your nose all along, and you haven't seen what they could do.

Or maybe you need to look again at your money and your resources, and find if there's a creative way to use what you already have instead of waiting for more. Maybe the answer you've been looking for, praying for is right there in the resources you already have if you just used them differently. Or look at yourself. Maybe you're the answer to your prayer. Maybe God wants you to do what you've been praying for somebody else to do.

Our ministry started in New York years ago when a young woman came up to me and said, "Ron, I've been praying for a year for somebody to be the first Youth For Christ staff worker." She said, "You know what? I think it's me." The answer was right under her nose.

Yeah, maybe you're the answer to your own prayer. Maybe God is leading you to stop doing something or to start doing something. You're just not obeying, you're hoping for something easy. Quit running around looking for an answer. Stand back! Maybe you've got it. Maybe the answer is right in front of you.

Matthew 10:1-20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN GIVEN GRACE - March 12, 2025

Forgiveness is not excusing, nor is it pretending. To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don’t excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. Revenge is God’s job.

By the way, how can we grace recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? It’s a huge issue in the Bible. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace.

In the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18, the master calls the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he says, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (Matthew 18:32-33 NIV). That’s a good question. We’ve been given grace – shouldn’t we freely give it?

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Matthew 10:1-20

The Twelve Harvest Hands

1–4  10 The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent:

Simon (they called him Peter, or “Rock”),

Andrew, his brother,

James, Zebedee’s son,

John, his brother,

Philip,

Bartholomew,

Thomas,

Matthew, the tax man,

James, son of Alphaeus,

Thaddaeus,

Simon, the Canaanite,

Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him).

5–8  Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:

“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.

9–10  “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.

11  “When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.

12–15  “When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry—but it’s no concern of yours now.

16  “Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.

17–20  “Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

by Elisa Morgan

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 12:21-26

Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

25–26  The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

Today's Insights

The concept of unity that Paul highlights in 1 Corinthians 12 depends on two things. The first is its diversity. Each part of the body has a different function, yet every part is vital. Paul wrote to a society steeped in slavery, and the church brought together groups of people unaccustomed to equality with each other—slave and free, Jew and gentile (v. 13). How could such a diverse body experience unity? Because of God’s Holy Spirit, who unites us in one purpose. This kind of unity was unique in the world. Paul tells us, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body . . . and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (v. 13). Whether great or small, each member is important for the body to perform properly. As Paul said, “God has put the body together” (v. 24). Many members. One body. One Spirit.

Elephant Helpers

There should be no division in the body, but . . . its parts should have equal concern for each other. 1 Corinthians 12:25

Reflect & Pray

When have you received help from the family of God? What will you do to help other believers today? 

Dear God, please help me to understand the vital value of each member in the body of Christ and show me how to both receive and give help so that together we’re stronger.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Our Abandonment to Him

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” — Mark 10:28

Jesus replies to Peter that the disciples will be amply rewarded for their sacrifice. But he also makes clear that their reason for following him shouldn’t be anything they’ll get in return. It must be entirely for Jesus himself: “for me and the gospel” (Mark 10:29).

Beware of an abandonment that has a self-interested spirit in it. Too often, we abandon ourselves to God because we want to be made holy or delivered from sin. We will be, if we are rightly related to him, but this demanding spirit is not in line with the essential nature of Christianity.

Abandonment is not for any thing at all. We’ve become so commercialized in our thinking that we go to God only when we want something. It’s as if we’re saying, “I don’t want you, God. I want myself: a clean, Spirit-filled version of myself. I want to be put on display in your showroom, and to be able to say, ‘See what God has done for me.’”

If we give something to God only because we want something in return, there is nothing of the Holy Spirit in our abandonment: it is miserable, commercial self-interest. To gain heaven, to be delivered from sin, to be made useful to God: real abandonment never considers these things. Real abandonment is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ himself.

When we are forced to choose between our natural relationships and Jesus Christ, most of us desert him. “I did hear your call, Lord,” we say. “But my spouse needs me; my mother needs me; my self- interest needs me.” “Such a person,” Jesus replies, “cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). It is always natural devotion that tests abandonment. Rise to the test, and God will embrace all those you hurt when you abandoned yourself to him.

Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 13:1-20

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. 

The Highest Good, 548 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

GETTING PASSENGERS OFF THE FATAL FLIGHT - #9958

Back when I was flying a great deal, people would often ask me where I lived, and I would frequently answer with the name of the airline I flew on the most. Now, when I hear of airplane crashes and disasters, it kind of hits me personally. I think it does anybody who has been a frequent flyer. Whether you're a flyer or not, though, there are images of certain airline tragedies that kind of forever imprint on your memory. One of those for me was the ValuJet crash in the everglades. It's been a number of years now, but the entire plane and all its passengers just vanished in the swamp.

But to one man, there's another image related to that crash. According to one news report, he used his I.D. to help his friend purchase his ticket for that flight. That friend didn't have sufficient I.D. with him at the time. And the man who bought the ticket watched his friend and all those other passengers boarding. The man who bought the ticket simply said, "I cannot forget their faces." And then he was quoted as saying, "If only there had been some signs of what was going to happen. If only I had known to warn them."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting Passengers Off the Fatal Flight."

Now, if anyone had a warning of what would have happened to that fatal flight, you know they would have done everything possible to keep the passengers from going. But seldom do we have such a warning. When it comes to when the people around us will go into eternity, we have all the signs, all the warning we need. God tells us in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, "Those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord."

Without the Savior, no one we know is going to be able to get to heaven. That means hell. Now, our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 24:11 - "Rescue those being led away to death. Hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"

See, if you know people on a flight that leads to death, your responsibility is obvious. Rescue them! But if you look around at most of Jesus' followers today, we're not in a rescue mode. There's little sense of the life-or-death urgency about introducing those around us to Jesus. We need to ask, "Do we really believe the people we know will be lost forever if they don't know Christ? Do we really believe they're spiritually dying?"

Someone suggested to me recently, they called Christians practical Universalists. Now, in theological circles, a Universalist basically is someone who believes that everyone will eventually make it with Christ or not. Practical Universalists probably don't believe that, they believe, as the Bible teaches, that people must have the Savior to go to heaven; they just don't act like it. They act like the people who think that folks are going to make it without Jesus. Yet the Bible says, "There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Without the man who died to pay for our sins, we'll have to pay for them.

What about the people you live with, you live close to, the people you work with, you go to school with? You see some of those faces? The Bible clearly teaches that sin has an eternal death penalty and that Jesus and only Jesus died to pay that death penalty. And that we will pay that death penalty for our sins if we don't accept the payment Jesus made because of His love for us.

The people around you are on a flight that ends in eternal death and you and I have the information that can save them. Pretty clear, our responsibility, huh? "Rescue those who are being led away to death." Begin to pray daily by name with life-or-death passion for the people around you. Ask God for the words and the opportunity to tell them about your Jesus.

You know what God's Word says, and He's the final word. You know where the Christ-less flight is headed. You can see their faces. Be the one who gets them off that fatal flight and onto the one that will take them to eternal life.

Job 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SEEING WITH DIFFERENT EYES - March 11, 2025

See your enemies not as failures, but as God’s projects.

God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven. He wears the robe and refuses to share the gavel. Paul wrote in Romans 12:19 (MSG), “Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. ‘I’ll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I’ll take care of it.’” Vigilantes displace and replace God. They say, “I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly. I’ll take this matter into my hands, thank you.”

No one had a clearer sense of right and wrong than the perfect Son of God. Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is his job. Give grace, but if need be, keep your distance. You can forgive the abusive husband without living with him. Forgiveness is not foolishness. Forgiveness is simply choosing to see your offender with different eyes.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 16

JOB DEFENDS HIMSELF

If You Were in My Shoes

1–5  16 Then Job defended himself:

“I’ve had all I can take of your talk.

What a bunch of miserable comforters!

Is there no end to your windbag speeches?

What’s your problem that you go on and on like this?

If you were in my shoes,

I could talk just like you.

I could put together a terrific harangue

and really let you have it.

But I’d never do that. I’d console and comfort,

make things better, not worse!

6–14  “When I speak up, I feel no better;

if I say nothing, that doesn’t help either.

I feel worn down.

God, you have wasted me totally—me and my family!

You’ve shriveled me like a dried prune,

showing the world that you’re against me.

My gaunt face stares back at me from the mirror,

a mute witness to your treatment of me.

Your anger tears at me,

your teeth rip me to shreds,

your eyes burn holes in me—God, my enemy!

People take one look at me and gasp.

Contemptuous, they slap me around

and gang up against me.

And God just stands there and lets them do it,

lets wicked people do what they want with me.

I was contentedly minding my business when God beat me up.

He grabbed me by the neck and threw me around.

He set me up as his target,

then rounded up archers to shoot at me.

Merciless, they shot me full of arrows;

bitter bile poured from my gut to the ground.

He burst in on me, onslaught after onslaught,

charging me like a mad bull.

15–17  “I sewed myself a shroud and wore it like a shirt;

I lay facedown in the dirt.

Now my face is blotched red from weeping;

look at the dark shadows under my eyes,

Even though I’ve never hurt a soul

and my prayers are sincere!

The One Who Represents Mortals Before God

18–22  “O Earth, don’t cover up the wrong done to me!

Don’t muffle my cry!

There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me,

in highest heaven, some Attorney who can clear my name—

My Champion, my Friend,

while I’m weeping my eyes out before God.

I appeal to the One who represents mortals before God

as a neighbor stands up for a neighbor.

“Only a few years are left

before I set out on the road of no return.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

by Matt Lucas

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Galatians 4:1-7

 Let me show you the implications of this. As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave. Though legally he owns the entire inheritance, he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation. That is the way it is with us: When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our own lives.

4–7  But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

Today's Insights

Huiothesia is used only five times in the New Testament (and only by Paul). This word, translated as “adoption to sonship” in Galatians 4:5, is packed with meaning. Huiothesia is a compound Greek word from huios (“son”) and thesia (“placing”). Adoption took place when a child (almost exclusively males in the ancient world) was placed in a family that lacked a suitable heir. With adoption came privileges, rights, and responsibilities of family membership. Paul used the term adoption, but the concept of family membership is also present in John’s writing: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! . . . Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2).

Heirs of God’s Salvation

As long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. Galatians 4:1

When Abigail’s parents died tragically in a car accident, she inherited a large real estate portfolio. She also learned that her parents had arranged to place the portfolio in a trust. For the time being, she could access only enough money for her college tuition. The rest would come when she was older. Abigail was frustrated, but she later realized her parents’ wisdom in planning a measured delivery of the inheritance.

In Galatians 4, Paul uses a similar example to illustrate Israel’s situation as promised heirs of God’s covenant with Abraham. God had made a covenant with Abraham to bless him, and circumcision was a sign of that promise (see Genesis 17:1-14). However, the sign wasn’t the promise. Abraham’s descendants would await a future descendant who would fulfill it. Isaac was born and pointed to the future birth of a Son who would redeem God’s people (Galatians 4:4-5).

Israel, like Abigail, had to wait until the “time set by his father” (v. 2). Only then could Israel take full possession of the inheritance. What they wanted immediately would arrive in due time with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. All who put their faith in Christ were no longer slaves to sin, “but God’s child” (v. 7). A new covenant has been established. We have access to God! We can call him “Abba, Father” (v. 6).

Reflect & Pray

If you profess Jesus as Savior, how are you no longer a slave to sin but a child of God? What does it mean to know Him as Father?

Loving Father, thank You for sending Your Son to address the sin problem of the world. 

Discover how salvation can impact every area of your life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Vision

I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. — Acts 26:19

When Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and told him to preach the gospel, there was nothing hesitant about Paul’s response: he obeyed, keeping the vision from heaven bright before him as he began fulfilling his commission (Acts 26:12–19). If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible; it means that we’ve been lax and careless in our spiritual lives. The only way to be obedient to the vision God sends is to give our utmost for his highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision, while working steadily to realize it. The test is to keep the vision in our sights not only during times of prayer and devotion but sixty seconds of every minute, sixty minutes of every hour.

“Though it linger, wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot rush the fulfillment of a vision; we have to live in its light until it accomplishes itself through us. Sometimes, after we receive a vision, we grow impatient. We go racing off into practical work, hoping to speed things along. Then the work becomes our focus, and we lose sight of the vision. We don’t even notice when it has been fulfilled! Working to realize the vision is necessary, but we must work steadily, without rush or force, and only when and where God chooses. Our ability to wait for the vision that lingers is a test of our loyalty to him.

After God gives a vision to his disciple, he always sends a whirlwind, flinging his disciple to the place where the seed of the vision will take root and grow. Are you ready to be sown, so that the vision can fulfill itself through you? The answer depends on whether or not you’re living in the light of what you’ve seen. Let God fling you out, and don’t go until he does. If you try to dictate where you’ll go, you’ll prove empty. But if you let God sow you, you will bring forth fruit.

Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye.

Disciples Indeed, 385 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Putting Broken Back Together - #9957

Do you remember Humpty Dumpty? Well, you might be in the middle of a Humpty Dumpty relationship right now. You remember he fell down, went to pieces and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. Maybe that's how you feel right now; there are pieces all around you, and there's no one to put them together. The wreckage? Well, it could be a broken relationship or maybe a breaking relationship with a parent, or a child, a husband, a wife, or a friend. If you're one of the King's men or women, there's actually something you can do to put the pieces back together again if you will.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Putting Broken Back Together."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God really has something to do with broken or breaking relationships. It says in Romans 12:17-18, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

Now, this says that there is a segment of any relationship that really is up to you. And as much as it depends on you; you cannot control the other person's response of course. But your part should always contribute to peace. Now, it's very easy to hide your responsibility for the brokenness of that relationship, or the strain, or the distance.

You can say, "Oh, listen, what good would it do? They're never going to change." Or, "He/she doesn't understand; they don't want to understand." Or how about this, "If I did talk to them, they'd never listen." Or, "Listen, you know, I've tried so hard. What's the use?"

Listen, that relationship is worth fighting for. You're going to carry with you wherever you go the remains of that broken relationship, like all the broken pieces of Humpty Dumpty, carried around inside of you. I wonder, would you take one more initiative? Would you try to build a paper bridge to that person? To be able to say, "As much as I could do, I have done." You know what I'm going to ask you to do? Write a letter.

Now, if you haven't written a letter to them yet, well then maybe you haven't done all you could. You see, when you write, here's what happens. It will be much clearer than if you don't write and you try to just say it, because when you just say it you get distracted. And they'll answer and you'll answer back. And also, if you'll write it they'll consider it a lot more seriously; they'll read it over and over again and they're not going to have to be thinking of what they're going to say next. So, you sort of have their full attention.

And I'd like to suggest to you five paragraphs in that letter with that person that, well, there's a strained relationship. I'll give you the opening sentence of each paragraph, and then it's up to you.

Paragraph number one, "I love you..." Start with that; explain your love for them. The second paragraph, "Thank you for..." Just begin to reflect on some of the things you do appreciate about them. I know there's a lot of things that frustrate you, bother you, but you never would have had a relationship with them if there weren't some things you appreciate about them too. Would you start to list those? "Thank you for..." The third paragraph begins with these very difficult words, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for my part of the brokenness; for anything I've contributed to a broken or strained relationship." The fourth paragraph says, "I wish we could... Here's how I'd like our relationship to be..." "Whatever's happened in the past, here's how I'd like it to be from now on." The last paragraph, "I promise..." "Here's my commitments to you." Okay, did you get that? "I love you," Thank you," "I'm sorry," "I wish we could," "I promise," and then you get on your knees and you lay that letter before the Lord and you pray over it.

And then you talk about it with the person after it arrives. Let them read it. Ask them if they would talk with you after it arrives. Look, what have you got to lose? And maybe it will be a new beginning. For some people I know it has been. And you will have fulfilled what the Scripture says, "As far as it depends on you, live at peace."

Give God a chance to take that relationship and mend it again, using that letter as a beginning, because that relationship is going to be a part of you wherever you go.

Job 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MAKE GOD YOUR REFUGE - March 10, 2025

He has a price on his head, no place to lay his head, but somehow he keeps his head. He turns his focus to God and finds refuge.

Refuge is a favorite word of David’s in the Psalms. But never did David use the word more poignantly than Psalm 57—a song of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. On his face, lost in shadows and thought, nowhere to turn. But then he remembers he is not alone. And from the recesses of the cave his voice floats: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul rests in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge” (Psalm 57:1 NKJV).

Make God your refuge. Not your job, not your spouse, not your reputation, or your retirement account. Make God your refuge. Let him encircle you. Let him be the foundation on which you stand. And that foundation will support you right into eternity.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 15

ELIPHAZ ATTACKS AGAIN

You Trivialize Religion

1–16  15 Eliphaz of Teman spoke a second time:

“If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a

windbag, belching hot air?

Would you talk nonsense in the middle of a serious argument,

babbling baloney?

Look at you! You trivialize religion,

turn spiritual conversation into empty gossip.

It’s your sin that taught you to talk this way.

You chose an education in fraud.

Your own words have exposed your guilt.

It’s nothing I’ve said—you’ve incriminated yourself!

Do you think you’re the first person to have to deal with these things?

Have you been around as long as the hills?

Were you listening in when God planned all this?

Do you think you’re the only one who knows anything?

What do you know that we don’t know?

What insights do you have that we’ve missed?

Gray beards and white hair back us up—

old folks who’ve been around a lot longer than you.

Are God’s promises not enough for you,

spoken so gently and tenderly?

Why do you let your emotions take over,

lashing out and spitting fire,

Pitting your whole being against God

by letting words like this come out of your mouth?

Do you think it’s possible for any mere mortal to be sinless in God’s sight,

for anyone born of a human mother to get it all together?

Why, God can’t even trust his holy angels.

He sees the flaws in the very heavens themselves,

So how much less we humans, smelly and foul,

who lap up evil like water?

Always at Odds with God

17–26  “I’ve a thing or two to tell you, so listen up!

I’m letting you in on my views;

It’s what wise men and women have always taught,

holding nothing back from what they were taught

By their parents, back in the days

when they had this land all to themselves:

Those who live by their own rules, not God’s, can expect nothing but trouble,

and the longer they live, the worse it gets.

Every little sound terrifies them.

Just when they think they have it made, disaster strikes.

They despair of things ever getting better—

they’re on the list of people for whom things always turn out for the worst.

They wander here and there,

never knowing where the next meal is coming from—

every day is doomsday!

They live in constant terror,

always with their backs up against the wall

Because they insist on shaking their fists at God,

defying God Almighty to his face,

Always and ever at odds with God,

always on the defensive.

27–35  “Even if they’re the picture of health,

trim and fit and youthful,

They’ll end up living in a ghost town

sleeping in a hovel not fit for a dog,

a ramshackle shack.

They’ll never get ahead,

never amount to a hill of beans.

And then death—don’t think they’ll escape that!

They’ll end up shriveled weeds,

brought down by a puff of God’s breath.

There’s a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies,

gets lies for interest,

Paid in full before the due date.

Some investment!

They’ll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens,

like buds sheared off before they bloom.

The godless are fruitless—a barren crew;

a life built on bribes goes up in smoke.

They have sex with sin and give birth to evil.

Their lives are wombs for breeding deceit.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 10, 2025

by Nancy Gavilanes

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Nehemiah 4:1-9

“I Stationed Armed Guards”

1–2  4 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews. In the company of his Samaritan cronies and military he let loose: “What are these miserable Jews doing? Do they think they can get everything back to normal overnight? Make building stones out of make-believe?”

3  At his side, Tobiah the Ammonite jumped in and said, “That’s right! What do they think they’re building? Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.”

4–5  Nehemiah prayed, “Oh listen to us, dear God. We’re so despised: Boomerang their ridicule on their heads; have their enemies cart them off as war trophies to a land of no return; don’t forgive their iniquity, don’t wipe away their sin—they’ve insulted the builders!”

6  We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall. The whole wall was soon joined together and halfway to its intended height because the people had a heart for the work.

7–9  When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairs of the walls of Jerusalem were going so well—that the breaks in the wall were being fixed—they were absolutely furious. They put their heads together and decided to fight against Jerusalem and create as much trouble as they could. We countered with prayer to our God and set a round-the-clock guard against them.

Today's Insights

Nehemiah is a gripping account of inspiring leadership during intense opposition. The Bible introduces us to other heroic figures during this time of exile and restoration. Daniel was betrayed by rival advisors but survived a den of lions (Daniel 6). His three Jewish friends were also betrayed yet endured a burning furnace (3:8-25). Esther stood up to a genocide planned by Haman, “the most powerful official in the empire” (Esther 3:1 NLT; see chs. 4-8). In a period when Israel wondered if they’d ever have security in their dispersion or in their homeland, God provided hope. He inspired courageous leaders and supernaturally protected His people by turning the tables on their enemies

Working Together for Jesus

We rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. Nehemiah 4:6

During a trip to Brazil with a short-term missions team, we helped construct a church building in the Amazon jungle. On the foundation, already laid, we assembled the various parts of the church like a giant LEGO set: supporting columns, concrete walls, windows, steel beams for the roof, and tiles on the roof. Then we painted the walls.

Some people were concerned because they wondered if we could build the church in time during monsoon season. But by God’s grace, the intense rain held off. With help from a few locals and despite various obstacles, we got the job done in record time.

When Nehemiah and the Israelites returned from exile to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, they faced many obstacles. When their enemies found out what they were doing, they were furious and insulted them (Nehemiah 4:1-3). But Nehemiah prayed and the people persevered together: “We rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart” (v. 6). When their foes threatened to attack, the Israelites prayed and kept guard as they worked (vv. 7-23). They rebuilt the wall in fifty-two days.

Sometimes we’re faced with a daunting task. Obstacles appear in our way, and we and our brothers and sisters in Christ can lose hope. But times like this can be a triumphant moment with God’s help. Trust Him to hold off the rainstorms and look to Him to overcome.

Reflect & Pray

Why is it hard to live in unity? How can you work together with others?

Dear God, please help me to seek unity with other believers in Jesus.

For further study, read Missing the Mission: Disciples in an Age of Abundance

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 10, 2025

Have a Message and Be One

Preach the word. — 2 Timothy 4:2

We aren’t saved to be mere mouthpieces for God; we’re saved to be his sons and daughters. God has no interest in turning his preachers into passive channels. He wants vigorous, alert, wide-awake men and women with all their powers and faculties intact. God’s disciples are spiritual messengers, not spiritual mediums, and the message they deliver must be part of themselves.

The Son of God was his message. His words were Spirit and life (John 6:63). As disciples, we must become the examples of what we preach; our lives must become the very sacrament of our message. It is natural to want to serve and give to others—that desire lies in most human hearts. But it takes a heart broken by the conviction of sin, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and crumpled into the purposes of God to turn a life into the sacrament of its message.

There is a difference between giving testimony and preaching. Anyone who is saved can give testimony. A preacher is someone who has answered the call of God and is determined to use every power to proclaim God’s truth. God takes his preachers out of their own ideas for their lives and shapes them for his use, just as the disciples were after Pentecost. Pentecost did not teach the disciples anything; it made them the embodiment of their message: “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

Before God’s message can liberate other souls, the liberation must be real in you. Gather the material you wish to preach, and set it alight. Let God have perfect liberty when you speak.

Deuteronomy 11-13; Mark 12:1-27

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. 

The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 10, 2025

Never Meant To Drive - #9956

It was quite a few years ago when I heard about this young man on Long Island who took his sister for a ride in the family car. You say, "Oh, big deal." Well, it's no big deal except that the boy was five years old. Yes, it's true! His mother was sick in bed and his little sister said, "I want to go to New York City." So he crawled up on top of the refrigerator, got his mother's car keys out of her purse, took his sister out, belted her in, put on his seat belt, and turned on the car. It's crazy but it's true! He drove to a stop light and stopped. Then he moved forward when he was supposed to.

Finally a policeman became involved. He had just seen a driverless car go by! So, he drove up behind it and turned on the siren. As soon as the young boy heard the siren he pulled the car over very neatly, got out and talked to the officer. It was pretty incredible. And fortunately, he didn't go very far.

This little amusing incident could have turned into a horrible tragedy. A five-year-old child has no business driving, and neither do you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Meant To Drive."

The Apostle Paul's lifelong struggle finally led him through some of the most intense pressure of his life. And then he let go, and he learned a liberating lesson. It's recorded for us in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 1. I'll begin reading at verse 8. He talks about "the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia." "We were under great pressure..." Maybe you can relate to some of this. "...far beyond our ability to endure, so we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened..." Now, he's found out the reason for it all, "...this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God."

Paul says, "I finally turned over the wheel to Jesus." You and I were never meant to drive just like that little five-year-old boy. Oh, we'll give God a lot. We'll give Him time, we'll give Him money, we'll give Him our talents, we'll give Him attendance at His meetings, we'll give Him service, and we'll hold offices. We'll give Him everything but control; that's the last bastion. Who's really in charge? For Paul there had to be some dents, some damage, some crashes until he finally relinquished control; until he said, "I quit relying on me, it is totally up to You, Lord."

We keep trying to negotiate a partnership with God, and God insists on nothing less than ownership. If you could see your life as God sees it, you might see this little guy or girl (that's you or me) trying to see over the steering wheel of your life, doing your best to drive. You can pull it off for a little while, but you know ultimately you're going to crash. In fact, maybe things are even swerving a little bit right now. Maybe you can hear the siren behind you. Maybe you're busy serving the Lord. Paul was. Maybe you know God's Word. Paul sure did. Maybe you've really proclaimed Christ as your Lord. Well, Paul had. But Paul also was still relying on his own strength, and education, and gifts, and brilliance. Thirty years in, he finally learned to really turn over the wheel fully to the Lord Jesus.

How many crashes will it take before you realize you really are doing the driving and that you were never meant to? He's calling you to a deeper "yieldedness" than you've ever allowed before. And it could be that you have never even considered giving Jesus the wheel of your life. The Bible says that sin really is us running our life instead of God running it; hijacking it from the One who gave it to us. Jesus went to a cross to make it possible for you to have every sin of your life forgiven and for Him to take your life where it was created to go.

Maybe you've never surrendered the wheel to Him. Why try to drive any longer? Tell Him today, "I'm not driving any more, Jesus. You are. From now on, I am Yours." Our website will help you know you belong to Him, finally. Go to ANewStory.com.

Life becomes a whole lot safer when you relinquish that steering wheel that you've been clenching so tightly and so long. You're a whole lot safer when you're the passenger and Jesus is driving.

Matthew 9:18-38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Do Something

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6”

Healing begins when you do something. God’s help is near and always available, but it’s given to those who seek it. Healing starts when you take a step. God honors radical, risk-taking faith.

When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble.

When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed.

And when a garment is touched by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee—Jesus stops!

He stops and responds.

Compared to God’s part, our part is minuscule—but necessary. We don’t have to do much, but we do have to do something! Faith with no effort is not faith at all!

Write a letter. Ask forgiveness.

Call a counselor. Call a mom!

Visit a doctor. Be baptized.

Feed a hungry person.

Pray. Teach. Go.

God honors radical, risk-taking faith. And He will respond.

Matthew 9:18-38

Just a Touch

18–19  As he finished saying this, a local official appeared, bowed politely, and said, “My daughter has just now died. If you come and touch her, she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, his disciples following along.

20–22  Just then a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on.

23–26  By now they had arrived at the house of the town official, and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and the neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Clear out! This girl isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.” They told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But when Jesus had gotten rid of the crowd, he went in, took the girl’s hand, and pulled her to her feet—alive. The news was soon out, and traveled throughout the region.

Become What You Believe

27–28  As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!”

29–31  He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. “Don’t let a soul know how this happened.” But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.

32–33  Right after that, as the blind men were leaving, a man who had been struck speechless by an evil spirit was brought to Jesus. As soon as Jesus threw the evil tormenting spirit out, the man talked away just as if he’d been talking all his life. The people were up on their feet applauding: “There’s never been anything like this in Israel!”

34  The Pharisees were left sputtering, “hocus-pocus. It’s nothing but hocus-pocus. He’s probably made a pact with the Devil.”

35–38  Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 09, 2025

by Brent Hackett

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Luke 10:38-42

Today's Insights

Luke 10:38-42 isn’t the only place we read of Jesus interacting with Mary and Martha. In John 11, Christ once again found His way to Bethany—but not for dinner. Lazarus was sick, and his sisters sent word to Jesus (vv. 1-3). In Luke, the setting was domestic (10:40); in John, the situation involved distress and death (11:3, 17). However, certain dynamics were present in both situations. In Luke 10:38-40, Martha is distracted with serving. In John 11:20-22, she’s distressed with grief. But in both cases, Christ put things into perspective (Luke 10:41-42; John 11:23-26). As for Mary, in Luke 10, she’s sitting at Jesus’ feet “listening to what he said” (v. 39). In John 11, she’s at His feet again but this time in desperate grief (v. 32). Christ provides the ultimate hope in our grief: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (vv. 25-26).

Resting in Christ

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things.” Luke 10:41

Several years ago, a study analyzed the link between teenage depression and the amount of sleep teens received each night. After reading the study, a young woman commented on the results: “I never seem to know when to stop—I push myself so hard that I end up making myself sick from lack of sleep and stress.” Then she said she wanted to know what it really meant to manage her time to honor God. What was the difference between busyness and fruitfulness?

Being busy is no guarantee for being productive, faithful, or fruitful. Yet we might think that being busy is what’s most important. In Luke 10:41, Jesus gently reminded Martha that she was “worried and upset about many things” and that her sister Mary’s choice of sitting “at the Lord’s feet” (v. 39)—a posture of discipleship—was the better choice.

In our desire to serve Christ, are we doing too much, thinking that He’ll notice us more if we do more? Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” However, it doesn’t say to burn ourselves out in His name. In Psalm 46:10, we hear this reminder: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Let’s take some time to slow down and spend time with Christ rather than focusing solely on our to-do list. Only then can we find true “rest for [our] souls” (Matthew 11:29).

Reflect & Pray

When have you been too busy to be faithful and fruitful? How can you find rest in Jesus to accomplish what He wants you to do?

Dear Jesus, please help me replace busyness with being still so I can know that You’re God and my life can be fruitful.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 09, 2025

Going with Jesus

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. — John 6:67

Our Lord’s words hit home most forcefully when he talks in simple ways. Like the disciples in this passage, we are aware of who Jesus is; we know him and love him. But he still asks if we are going to leave him. Why? Jesus wants to drive home that the attitude we have to maintain toward him is one of total trust and abandon. We must always be journeying forth in his name, following wherever he leads. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66). These disciples lost the bold and reckless commitment Jesus wanted them to have. They didn’t stop believing or fall back into sin, but they gave up their intimacy with him.

Many of us today are guilty of this. We may be spending ourselves and being spent in Jesus’s name, but we aren’t walking with him; we aren’t drawing close to him with perfect trust and confidence. Yet this is the one thing God holds us to steadily: that we be one with Jesus as Jesus is one with the Father.

After Christ is formed inside us, the discipline of our spiritual life centers on this question of oneness. If God gives you a clear and emphatic message about something he wants you to accomplish, let oneness be your guide in how to pursue it. Don’t struggle to find any particular method; don’t create a plan that isn’t his. Simply live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ, and God will bring about the thing he wants.

Never try to live in any way other than God’s, and remember that God’s way is absolute devotion to him. The certainty that I know I do not know—that is the secret of going with Jesus.

Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.

The Place of Help

Job 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Never Gives Up

God’s people often forget their God, but God never forgets them.  When Joseph was dropped into a pit by his own brothers, God didn’t give up. When Moses said, “Here am I, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up. When the delivered Israelites wanted Egyptian slavery instead of milk and honey, God did not give up. When Aaron was making a false god at the very moment Moses was with the true God, God did not give up.

And when human hands fastened the divine hands of Jesus to a cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady.  It was God, the God who never gives up on his people, who held them steady. He held them to the cross where, with holy blood, the divine hand wrote these words, “God would give up His only son before He’d ever give up on you!” (John 3:16)

from Six Hours One Frid

Job 14

If We Die, Will We Live Again?

1–17  14 “We’re all adrift in the same boat:

too few days, too many troubles.

We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,

transient as the shadow of a cloud.

Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?

Why even bother hauling me into court?

There’s nothing much to us to start with;

how do you expect us to amount to anything?

Mortals have a limited life span.

You’ve already decided how long we’ll live—

you set the boundary and no one can cross it.

So why not give us a break? Ease up!

Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.

For a tree there is always hope.

Chop it down and it still has a chance—

its roots can put out fresh sprouts.

Even if its roots are old and gnarled,

its stump long dormant,

At the first whiff of water it comes to life,

buds and grows like a sapling.

But men and women? They die and stay dead.

They breathe their last, and that’s it.

Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,

parched reminders of what once was,

So mortals lie down and never get up,

never wake up again—never.

Why don’t you just bury me alive,

get me out of the way until your anger cools?

But don’t leave me there!

Set a date when you’ll see me again.

If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question.

All through these difficult days I keep hoping,

waiting for the final change—for resurrection!

Homesick with longing for the creature you made,

you’ll call—and I’ll answer!

You’ll watch over every step I take,

but you won’t keep track of my missteps.

My sins will be stuffed in a sack

and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean.

18–22  “Meanwhile, mountains wear down

and boulders break up,

Stones wear smooth

and soil erodes,

as you relentlessly grind down our hope.

You’re too much for us.

As always, you get the last word.

We don’t like it and our faces show it,

but you send us off anyway.

If our children do well for themselves, we never know it;

if they do badly, we’re spared the hurt.

Body and soul, that’s it for us—

a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 08, 2025

by Tim Gustafson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Numbers 26:1-4, 20-22

Marching Orders

1–2  2 God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “The People of Israel are to set up camp circling the Tent of Meeting and facing it. Each company is to camp under its distinctive tribal flag.”

3–4  To the east toward the sunrise are the companies of the camp of Judah under its flag, led by Nahshon son of Amminadab. His troops number 74,600.

  The tribe of Manasseh will set up camp next to them, led by Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. His troops number 32,200.

22–23  And next to him is the camp of Ben-jamin, led by Abidan son of Gideoni.

Today's Insights

The Bible contains a variety of lists, including several genealogies. But rather than being boring data, they provide relevant information. Jewish genealogies typically don’t include women, but five are included in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1: Mary, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba). In addition, all except Mary were most likely gentiles. Some had histories that could have made them unmentionable in such a list. For example, Tamar slept with her father-in-law, Judah (Genesis 38), and Rahab was a prostitute (Joshua 2:1). Yet by their inclusion, we see that God used imperfect, sinful people to fulfill His purposes. It’s not surprising that we learn much from such lists, for 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The List Is Life

These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt. Numbers 26:4

Hunched over a manual typewriter, Itzhak Stern worked through the night, tapping out names—1,098 in all. The names comprised a list of Jewish workers protected from the Nazis by factory owner Oskar Schindler. Clutching the document, Stern declared, “The list is an absolute good. The list is life.” Those named on its pages would survive the Holocaust. In 2012, it was estimated that the descendants of the survivors numbered 8,500.

The Bible contains its share of lists. We tend to skip them. Too many names; too much repetition. We might even say today’s reading is . . . boring. “The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan . . .” (Numbers 26:20). Who cares?

God cares! “These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt,” says the historical record (v. 4). Soon the people would inhabit the land promised to them. And one day, Messiah would come from this very clan of Judah. The list is life, not only for the Jewish people but for all who trust in Jesus.

We know of Oskar Schindler’s list from the powerful film Schindler’s List and historical records. We know of God’s great salvation from the story recorded for us in the Bible. As we read the Scriptures, may His Spirit show us the worth of even the lists. They have something to say to us too.

Reflect & Pray

What portions of the Bible are the most boring to you? How might you read even these sections with new eyes?

Dear God, please help me read the Bible carefully. May Your Spirit guide me to see the value in each verse.

Gain the tools necessary to study any part of the Bible carefully.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 08, 2025

The Relinquished Life

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. — Galatians 2:20

It is impossible to be united with Christ unless we are willing to let go: to let go not only of sin but of our entire way of looking at things. In 1 Timothy 6:19, Paul writes that God wants us to “take hold of the life that is truly life.” But before we can take hold, we must let go. If we wish to be born from above in the Spirit, the first thing we have to let go of is pretending we’re something we’re not. What our Lord wants us to present to him isn’t goodness or honesty or endeavor; it’s real, solid sin. In exchange, he gives us real, solid righteousness. First, though, we must give up the idea that we are worthy of God’s consideration; we must give up the thought that we are anything at all. After we do, the Spirit will show us what else there is to relinquish. The giving up must happen repeatedly, in every phase. Every step of the way, we must give up the claim to our right to ourselves.

Am I willing to relinquish my hold on my possessions and affections? On everything? Am I willing to be identified with the death of Jesus? There is always a painful shattering of illusions before we finally do relinquish.

When we truly see ourselves as the Lord sees us, it isn’t the abominable sins of the flesh that shock us; it’s the awful nature of pride in our hearts against Jesus Christ. When we see ourselves in the light of the Lord, shame and horror and desperate conviction strike home. If you have come to the point where you must relinquish or turn back, go on through. Relinquish all, and God will make you fit for what he requires.

Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them.

Shade of His Hand, 1216 L