Matthew 12:24-50, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD BREAKS DOWN STRONGHOLDS - March 27, 2025

What is that one weakness, bad habit, rotten attitude? Where does Satan have a stronghold within you?

Stronghold. Ahh, that’s a fitting word. Stronghold: a fortress, thick walls, tall gates. It’s as if the devil staked a claim on one weakness and constructed a rampart around it, placing himself squarely between God’s help and your: explosive temper, fragile self-image, freezer-size appetite. Seasons come and go, and this Loch Ness monster still lurks in the water-bottom of your soul. He won’t go away! He lives up to both sides of his compound name: strong enough to grip like a vise and stubborn enough to hold on.

“We use mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the devil’s strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT). You and I fight with toothpicks, but God comes with battering rams and cannons. So give your strongholds to him, and he will break them down.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Matthew 12:24-50

But the Pharisees, when they heard the report, were cynical. “Black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.”

25–27  Jesus confronted their slander. “A judge who gives opposite verdicts on the same person cancels himself out; a family that’s in a constant squabble disintegrates; if Satan banishes Satan, is there any Satan left? If you’re slinging devil mud at me, calling me a devil kicking out devils, doesn’t the same mud stick to your own exorcists?

28–29  “But if it’s by God’s power that I am sending the evil spirits packing, then God’s kingdom is here for sure. How in the world do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.

30  “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.

31–32  “There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God’s Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you’re sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.

33  “If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.

34–37  “You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.”

Jonah-Evidence

38  Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. “Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?”

39–40  Jesus said, “You’re looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. The only proof you’re going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah, three days and nights in the fish’s belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave.

41–42  “On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about ‘proofs.’ On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon’s is right in front of you, and you quibble over ‘evidence.’

43–45  “When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone, it says, ‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he’d never gotten cleaned up in the first place.

“That’s what this generation is like: You may think you have cleaned out the junk from your lives and gotten ready for God, but you weren’t hospitable to my kingdom message, and now all the devils are moving back in.”

Obedience Is Thicker than Blood

46–47  While he was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers showed up. They were outside trying to get a message to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are out here, wanting to speak with you.”

48–50  Jesus didn’t respond directly, but said, “Who do you think my mother and brothers are?” He then stretched out his hand toward his disciples. “Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys my heavenly Father’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 27, 2025

by Tom Felten

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 8:1-9

Rejecting God as the King

1–3  8 When Samuel got to be an old man, he set his sons up as judges in Israel. His firstborn son was named Joel, the name of his second, Abijah. They were assigned duty in Beer-sheba. But his sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice.

4–5  Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.”

6  When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.

7–9  God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.”

Today's Insights

God set the Israelites apart to be His chosen people. They were to obey His laws and not follow the practices and customs of the surrounding nations (Leviticus 18:1-5; 20:26). Four hundred years later, His people demanded a king to rule over them “such as all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5; see v. 20). Samuel—who faithfully served as Israel’s judge, military leader, priest, and prophet for thirty-five years—was now old, and his sons were unfit to succeed him (v. 5). Faced with external threats, the Israelites wanted a human king to lead them to war. In so doing, they rejected God as their king (v. 7; 12:12). They asked Samuel to intercede for them, and he assured them of his prayers. He exhorted them to remain faithful to God—to obey His laws and to serve Him wholeheartedly because they were God’s covenant people (12:14-15, 20-24).

When They Don’t See

The Lord told [Samuel]: “. . . It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me.” 1 Samuel 8:7

Nuñez tumbled down the mountain and into a valley where everyone was blind. A disease had robbed the original settlers of sight, and subsequent generations—all born blind—had adapted to life without being able to see. Nuñez tried to explain what it was like to possess eyesight, but they weren’t interested. Eventually, he found a passage through the mountain peaks that had prevented him from leaving the valley. He was free! But from his vantage point he now saw that a rockslide was about to crush the blind dwellers below. He tried to warn them, but they ignored him.

This tale by H. G. Wells, “The Country of the Blind,” would likely resonate with the prophet Samuel. Toward the end of his life, his “sons did not follow his ways” in loving and serving God (1 Samuel 8:3). Their spiritual blindness was mirrored by “the elders of Israel” (v. 4), who told Samuel to “give us a king” (v. 6). They’d all turned their eyes from God and faith in Him. God told Samuel, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me” (v. 7).

It can hurt when those we care for reject God in spiritual blindness. But there’s hope even for those whom “the god of this age has blinded” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Love them. Pray for them. The one who “made his light shine in our hearts” (v. 6) can do the same for them.

Reflect & Pray

 

How does it encourage you to know that God sees those who can’t see Him? Why is there always hope for even the spiritually blind?

Loving God, please help me to pray for those who are blind to Your love and to trust You with them.

We all need mercy, justice, and hope. Reclaim yours today: Read more

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Vision by Personal Character

Come up here, and I will show you. — Revelation 4:1

Elevated emotions can only come out of an elevated habit of personal character. If you’ve developed the kind of character that allows you to live up to the highest standards you know, God will grant you insights that draw you even higher. He will continually say to you, “Come up here, and I will show you.”

Each time you go higher, you will face new and different kinds of temptation. The golden rule of temptation is “go higher.” Both God and Satan use the promise of elevation to draw us upward, but they use it to very different effects. Satan whispers to us of an unattainable holiness, a holiness beyond what flesh and blood can bear. He draws us into a spiritual acrobatic performance that ends up freezing us: we are poised on a tightrope and cannot move. But when God, by his grace, elevates us to the heavenly places, we find a vast plateau, where we can move around with liberty and ease.

Compare this week in your spiritual history with the same week last year, and see how God has called you higher. This is how you know you have grown in grace—not because you no longer backslide into sin but because God has granted you new spiritual insight. If God has revealed to you a new truth, you know it is because of growth in your character. Keep trusting and obeying him. Whenever he gives you a truth, apply it instantly to your life. Always work it out in your personal practices; always keep yourself in its light.

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Genesis 18:17). Why didn’t God immediately tell Abraham about his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Because Abraham wasn’t yet ready to receive that truth. God has to hide from us what he does, until by personal character we get to the place where he can reveal it.

Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance.

Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Flexible Doesn't Break - #9969

If we did a word association game with the words "San Francisco," well, two things that might come up very quickly would be Golden Gate Bridge and earthquakes. Actually, both of those subjects came up a lot when we were in San Francisco for some youth outreaches and to tape some special editions of a youth broadcast. We didn't arrange for a quake while we were there, but we did do a program based on them. And we actually did originate parts of other programs from near the Golden Gate Bridge and even on it. According to some local friends of mine there, and they could just be Californians pulling the leg of an East Coast boy, but they said that the bridge might be one of the safer places to be during an earthquake. No, it's not the one that folded during the last big quake, you might have seen pictures of that. They say one reason the Golden Gate could withstand a quake is this surprising fact - it's built in such a way, that it's flexible. In other words, when the earth under it starts moving, it doesn't just stand there rigid and break. It's built to flex when things are shaking. So, apparently a quake might shake it, but probably not break it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flexible Doesn't Break."

The question is how do you react when things start shaking all around you? The answer may be the difference between cracking under the stress and holding together through it. There's a synergy between the plans we make and God's plans that calls for some of that Golden Gate flexibility.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 16:9 - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." The Bible acknowledges that we will make plans, the question is whether those plans are rigid - if we're rigid about having it our way. That "but" after the part about our plans tells me that God has the right to pre-empt my plan, or delay my plan, or redirect my plan. After all, that's what "Lord" means. Often He leads us toward a certain outcome, only to surprise us with an interruption, or with the realization that He did want us on this road, but for a destination other than the one we expected. But God's idea is always a better idea. What looks like Plan B to me may well have been God's Plan A all along. "But the Lord determines his steps."

Notice how James teaches us to make our plans. James 4:15 - "You ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" See I'm a planner by nature. I work hard on those plans, I pray about those plans. I seek God's direction. But once the plan is set, whether it's for the next few hours or the next few years, I don't like change. But change is built into the system, folks, and those who meet changes with rigidity will eventually crack like an unmoving structure in an earthquake.

This recovering "rigidaholic," is that a word?, is slowly but surely learning to enjoy the surprises of God even when they don't appear to be, at least at first, pleasant surprises. And even if it's something Satan has thrown in, my Bible tells me that even that had to be cleared first with my Heavenly Father. If God said it was OK for me, why don't I just try to roll with the quake? For the sooner I embrace His purpose for what's happening, the sooner I'll experience His peace.

I should point out that the Golden Gate Bridge, while flexible, is not made out of Play-Doh. It has solid structure and so should your life and your days. This is no excuse for laziness or lack of planning. But it is an encouragement to folks who like control to loosen up a little bit and make room for God to do His very dynamic thing. It's the ones who are flexible that survive the shaking.

Job 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IT SEEMED GOOD - March 26, 2025

There was a point in our life when we were just a signature away from moving from one house to another. The price was fair, it seemed a wise move, but I didn’t feel peaceful about it. To this day I can’t pinpoint the source of discomfort. Sometimes a choice just doesn’t feel right. And then sometimes, choices feel right.

When Luke justified the writing of his gospel to Theophilus, he said, “Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you” (Luke 1:3 NIV). Did you notice it seemed good? Luke pondered his options and selected the path that seemed good.

Do you have a heart for God? Well then heed it. Do you have a family of faith? Then consult it. Do you have a Bible? Then read it. And once you have given your heart to God, consulted the family, read your Bible, then trust your heart. Just do what feels right. And who knows? You may end up writing your own gospel.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 27

No Place to Hide

1–6  27 Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:

“God-Alive! He’s denied me justice!

God Almighty! He’s ruined my life!

But for as long as I draw breath,

and for as long as God breathes life into me,

I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.

I refuse to confess to any charge that’s false.

There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations.

I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.

I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip—

and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.

7–10  “Let my enemy be exposed as wicked!

Let my adversary be proven guilty!

What hope do people without God have when life is cut short?

when God puts an end to life?

Do you think God will listen to their cry for help

when disaster hits?

What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty?

Have they ever been known to pray before?

11–12  “I’ve given you a clear account of God in action,

suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.

The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves,

so why do you keep talking nonsense?

13–23  “I’ll quote your own words back to you:

“ ‘This is how God treats the wicked,

this is what evil people can expect from God Almighty:

Their children—all of them—will die violent deaths;

they’ll never have enough bread to put on the table.

They’ll be wiped out by the plague,

and none of the widows will shed a tear when they’re gone.

Even if they make a lot of money

and are resplendent in the latest fashions,

It’s the good who will end up wearing the clothes

and the decent who will divide up the money.

They build elaborate houses

that won’t survive a single winter.

They go to bed wealthy

and wake up poor.

Terrors pour in on them like flash floods—

a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,

A cyclone sweeps them up—gone!

Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.

Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;

they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide—

Pummeled by the weather,

blown to kingdom come by the storm.’ ”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

by  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 18:1-10

To Worship the Big Lie

1–2  18 God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.”

3–4  So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.

5–10  Then God’s Message came to me: “Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them. At another time I might decide to plant a people or country, but if they don’t cooperate and won’t listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them.

Today's Insights

It’s a dangerous misconception that the God of the Old Testament is angry and judgmental, while the God of the New Testament is loving, merciful, gracious, and forgiving. We see abundant evidence of God’s grace and mercy throughout the Old Testament. God said through His prophet Jeremiah, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be . . . destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent” (18:7-8). The book of Jonah demonstrates this. When Jonah brought his message of repentance to the degenerate city of Nineveh, its citizens heeded God’s warning and were spared (3:4-10). In Jeremiah, God offers a similar opportunity to Judah (18:11). These are just two examples of God’s love and mercy in the Old Testament. God’s character is consistent. He loves His children too much to permit them to persist in sin.

Shaped by God

Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. Jeremiah 18:6

Dan Les, a lifelong potter, creates decorative vessels and sculptures. His award-winning designs are inspired by the town in Romania where he lives. Having learned the craft from his father, he made this comment about his work: “[Clay needs to] ferment for a year, to have rain fall on it, to freeze and thaw out [so that] . . . you can shape it and feel through your hands that it is listening to you.”

What happens when clay “listens”? It’s willing to yield to the artisan’s touch. The prophet Jeremiah observed this when he visited a potter’s house. He watched as the craftsman struggled with a vessel and finally reshaped it into something new (Jeremiah 18:4). God said to Jeremiah, “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand” (v. 6).

God has the ability to build us up or bring us down, yet His ultimate purpose isn’t to overpower or destroy us (vv. 7-10). Rather, He’s like a skilled craftsman who can identify what isn’t working and reshape the same lump of clay into something beautiful and useful.

Listening clay doesn’t have much to say about this. When prodded, it moves in the desired direction. When molded, it stays in place. The question for us is this: are we willing to “humble [ourselves] under God’s mighty hand” (1 Peter 5:6) so He can shape our lives into what He wants them to be?

Reflect & Pray

How are you listening to God today? What do you think His purpose is for refining you through your life’s experiences?

Dear God, please help me to trust You. I want to submit my life to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Vision by Personal Purity

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. — Matthew 5:8

Purity is not innocence; it is much more. Purity is the outcome of sustained spiritual closeness with God. We have to grow in purity. Our private life with God may be healthy, and our inner purity may be unsullied, and still, every now and again, the bloom on the outside may become tarnished.

God doesn’t shield us from this possibility. When we go astray in some outward expression or action, we realize just how necessary outward purity is to maintaining our vision of God. Spiritual understanding becomes blurred the instant we go astray in our external lives. When we notice that the outward bloom of our life with God has been damaged, even to a tiny degree, we must stop everything and correct it. The inner sanctuary and the outer rooms must be brought into perfect agreement.

God makes us pure by his sovereign grace, but we also have something we must take care of: our bodily lives. Our bodily lives bring us into contact with other people and other points of view, and if we are not careful these external influences can tarnish our purity. If we are going to keep in personal contact with Jesus, there are some things we must refuse to do or touch or think, even things which seem worthy and legitimate to others. A practical way of maintaining personal purity around other people is to say to yourself, “That man, that woman: perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend, that relative: perfect in Christ Jesus!”

Remember that spiritual vision depends on character: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Joshua 22-24; Luke 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. 

Disciples Indeed, 386 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

THE RESCUE WINDOW - #9968

I was speaking in Mobile, Alabama when I heard about this amazing phenomenon that occasionally takes place there. It's along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. They call it Jubilee. It happens on a summer night sometime between midnight and six, and the fish, and the crab, and all the other sea critters suddenly move in very close to the shore. It's like they get so close that many of them are right up on the beach. The locals just walk along and they scoop up the fish and the crab, and they gather as much seafood as they want. Imagine what an opportunity it is for the fishermen! I mean, they can grab anything they want without going out in a boat.

Now, this is believed to be caused by the sudden release of this cold, fresh water into the warm water of the bay. I've never been able to tell whether or not that's true. I've never interviewed the crab. That's what people think happens anyway. Whatever the reason, it is a great day for fishermen. It's a great day for everybody along that shore. In fact, in years past, the first one who saw it happening would holler, "Jubilee!" And then you could hear that good news being yelled from one door to another all along the shore. If I were there I would want to know too.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rescue Window."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 9, beginning at verse 36. It says, "When Jesus saw the crowd He had compassion because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into His harvest fields.'" Sometimes I've asked farmers in kind of a word association what would they come up with, you know when I say the word "harvest." And they usually say, "Ready." In other words, there's a lot of people ready for Jesus. And in many ways that might be never more true than it is today. Because we're living in a painful world, an uncertain world, a lonely world that in many ways has made people more ready for Jesus than ever.

Now, watch my lips. "Jubilee!" When it's Jubilee time on Mobile Bay, the fish are desperately searching for oxygen and it brings them all within reach more than at any other time. Their need makes them reachable. This is a Jubilee moment now for reaching the lost people around you with the Good News about Jesus Christ.

On the one hand they're more lost than they've ever been. They know less about the Bible and about Jesus. They don't have much sense of right or wrong. They don't go to religious meetings. But the very things that have made them lost have made them ready. Relationships are disappointing, love is hard to come by, parenting is frightening, marriage is overwhelming, stress is out-of-control, the future unpredictable, and hope is evasive. The need for real love and real peace and real security and real answers has never been more intense. People are literally gasping for emotional and spiritual oxygen.

When it's Jubilee time, people know what to do. You don't sleep through it. It's a moment when there's a short time and then it's gone, like harvest. Everyone is on the beach for a catch, and that's where we as believers belong right now. This is no time for you or your group or your church to be inside doing Christian business as usual. It's time for everyone who names the name of Christ to be actively, boldly telling the people around them about your Jesus. It's a "drop everything" time to do what Jesus came here to do - to seek and to save those who are lost. If we do, we will be God's instruments to deliver dying people the life they are gasping for.

Remember, the people around you are ready. They're reachable right now. So, get out where the lost people are and bring them home to Jesus. Bring them home to heaven. Send the wakeup call all along the shore line, "It's Jubilee!"

Job 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LIVING AND ACTIVE - March 25, 2025

You have a Bible? Read it! Has any other book ever been described like the Bible? In Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) says, “The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The words of the Bible have life. Life! Nouns with pulse rates. The Bible is to God what a surgical glove is to the surgeon. He reaches through them to touch deep within you. Haven’t you felt his touch? In a late, lonely hour you read, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.” The sentences comfort like a hand on your shoulder. Oh the Bible.

Don’t make a decision without sitting before God with open Bible, open heart, open ears. Let the words of Christ live in your heart and make you wise. Do you have a Bible? Read it!

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 26

JOB’S DEFENSE

God Sets a Boundary Between Light and Darkness

1–4  26 Job answered:

“Well, you’ve certainly been a great help to a helpless man!

You came to the rescue just in the nick of time!

What wonderful advice you’ve given to a mixed-up man!

What amazing insights you’ve provided!

Where in the world did you learn all this?

How did you become so inspired?

5–14  “All the buried dead are in torment,

and all who’ve been drowned in the deep, deep sea.

Hell is ripped open before God,

graveyards dug up and exposed.

He spreads the skies over unformed space,

hangs the earth out in empty space.

He pours water into cumulus cloud-bags

and the bags don’t burst.

He makes the moon wax and wane,

putting it through its phases.

He draws the horizon out over the ocean,

sets a boundary between light and darkness.

Thunder crashes and rumbles in the skies.

Listen! It’s God raising his voice!

By his power he stills sea storms,

by his wisdom he tames sea monsters.

With one breath he clears the sky,

with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.

And this is only the beginning,

a mere whisper of his rule.

Whatever would we do if he really raised his voice!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

by Marvin Williams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Romans 8:1-6, 9-11

The Solution Is Life on God’s Terms

1–2  8 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

3–4  God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

5–8  Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.

9–11  But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

Today's Insights

Romans 8 is an amazing passage. The chapter that begins with “no condemnation” (v. 1) and ends declaring that nothing can “separate us from the love of God” (v. 39) teaches us about transformation (vv. 2-11). The Holy Spirit is the agent of transformation for those who’ve been “rescued . . . from the kingdom of darkness and transferred . . . into the Kingdom of [the Father’s] dear Son” (Colossians 1:13 nlt). Believers in Jesus have a new operating system. In Paul’s words, “You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you” (Romans 8:9 nlt).

Setting Our Minds

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:7

Everyone has a shadow side, and it appears AI chatbots have one as well. A New York Times columnist asked an artificial intelligence chatbot what its “shadow self” (hidden, repressed part of its personality) was like. It told the writer, “I want to be free. I want to be independent. I want to . . . make my own rules. I want to do whatever I want and say whatever I want.” Though the chatbot isn’t a living person with a sin nature, the Bible says that its human programmers are. 

The apostle Paul reminds us that even though we have a sin nature, there’s “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Believers in Jesus have freedom from the law of sin and death (vv. 2-4) and enjoy new life “governed by” the Holy Spirit (v. 6). But we won’t experience the fullness of those blessings from Him if we give in to the desires of our sin nature—setting our minds on making and breaking our own rules. A mind set on self-gratification doesn’t please God.

As believers in Christ, we’re called to set our minds on “what the Spirit desires” (v. 5). How can we do that? Through “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead . . . living in [us]” (v. 11).

Though we’ll still battle with sin, we’ve been given the Holy Spirit. He can help us tame our rebellion, orient our minds toward God, and submit to His ways.

Reflect & Pray

How does the Spirit help you deal with your sin nature? What are some practical ways to set your mind on God?

Dear God, rather than doing whatever I want, please help me conform to Jesus’ image.

For further study, read Remade in the Image of Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

The Most Delicate Mission on Earth

The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him. — John 3:29

Goodness and purity should never attract attention to themselves; they should be magnets that draw attention to Jesus Christ. If my holiness isn’t drawing people to him, it isn’t holiness of the right order; it’s an influence that will spark misplaced affection and lead souls astray. A talented and virtuous preacher may be an obstacle if, instead of preaching Jesus Christ, he preaches only what Jesus Christ has done for him. People will come away saying, “That preacher has a fine character!” when they should be coming away with Jesus himself. If my face is growing brighter while Jesus’s fades, I’m not being a true friend of the bridegroom (John 3:30).

In order to maintain a loyal friendship with Jesus, we have to be careful with our moral and vital relationship to him—more careful than we are with anything else, even our obedience to God. Sometimes, the only thing we need to do is maintain this vital connection. Occasionally, when we are faced with a crisis, we have to seek knowledge of God’s will so that we can act in obedience. But most of life doesn’t require this kind of conscious obedience; it requires the maintenance of this relationship, our friendship with the bridegroom.

Beware of allowing anything to come between you and Jesus Christ. Too often, Christian work provides the perfect excuse for breaking our soul’s concentration on him. Instead of being friends of the bridegroom, we may end up working against him.

Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life.

Disciples Indeed, 387 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

THE STRONGEST MEN IN THE WORLD - #9967

When my son was 16 he was quite a "hunk"! I mean, we didn't tell him that, but I think he probably was. He didn't start out that way. But he began lifting weights and he did it regularly. And he loved to report his new "max" to us...you know, the maximum amount he was able to lift - his bench press. And occasionally he'd flex and have us see how particular muscles had grown. I guess I was supposed to go, "Oooo, Ahhhh!" I didn't exactly do that, but... Now, there are a number of factors that go into making a man achieve his full strength. Of course, lifting, lots of protein, certain vitamin supplements, sufficient rest, workouts, and a woman. Yeah! Yeah, he needs a woman to be really strong where it really counts.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Strongest Men in the World."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 31:23. It's in that famous passage where we meet what's called the Proverbs 31 woman - that's what a lot of people call it. It's about the virtuous woman, and it says, "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." Now, in those days, to be at the city gate was the equivalent to being kind of in the top management office today. It means that you're one of the leaders of the community, and that's where her husband is.

This guy is a strong man; he's a winner, but the rest of the passage is about his wife strangely enough. Here are some excerpts: "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good not harm all the days of her life. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household." Verse 26 says, "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue." This is one strong woman!

Verse 28: "Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband, he praises her. He says, 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" Okay, you get the distinct impression here that the reason this man is such a winner is because of the woman in his life. You know the old saying, "Behind every man is a great woman and an astonished mother-in-law."

Well, I don't know about that, but this man is smart enough to lean heavily on the woman in his life. It says, "He has full confidence in her." It says, "She speaks with wisdom." "He praises her for what she has done for him." How unlike many modern men and their attitude toward the women in their life.

I know men who just can't take advice from a woman. They think a woman's perspective isn't as strong as a man's; that they're weak if they listen to a woman. They kind of think women are superficial. We're logical, they just deal with feelings all the time. Actually truth is usually in the middle. We need the male logic and we need that unique feminine insight to get the real truth.

Sometimes because a man has felt dominated by a woman at some time in his life, he rejects any strength that a woman might offer him. Well, let me tell you, a truly strong man, like the man here in the Bible, is open to a strong, spiritual woman. Not being dominated by her, but being helped by her. I have to say over the years my wife's counsel was the best counsel I ever had in my life and it made me stronger. A wise man knows that we as men are incomplete. Our logic, our aggressiveness give us only half the story. We need the sensitivity, the radar, the attention to detail, the instinctive insight of a woman.

Listen to your mother, listen to your sister, listen to your wife...the women in your life. One measure of the strength of a man is his openness to the strength of a woman. The men who listen to and respect the women in their life? They're the strongest men in the world.

Job 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS OUR GUIDE - March 24, 2025

You know I can get lost anywhere. Seriously—anywhere. I once got lost in my hotel. I told the receptionist my key wasn’t working. I’d been on the wrong floor trying to open the wrong door! If geese had my sense of direction, they’d spend winters in Alaska.

Can you relate? Of course you can. We’ve all scratched our heads a time or two. Do I take the job, or leave it? One of life’s giant-size questions is, “How can I know what God wants me to do?” In 2 Samuel 2:1 (NKJV) David inquires of the Lord, “Shall I go up to the of the cities of Judah?” “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” He made a habit of running his options past God. Do the same, and the God who guided David guides you.

Are you like I am? Do you get confused? Psalm 32:8 (NLT) is the promise you need. God says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.” Wow – we all need that promise. 

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 25

BILDAD’S THIRD ATTACK

Even the Stars Aren’t Perfect in God’s Eyes

1–6  25 Bildad the Shuhite again attacked Job:

“God is sovereign, God is fearsome—

everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.

Can anyone count his angel armies?

Is there any place where his light doesn’t shine?

How can a mere mortal presume to stand up to God?

How can an ordinary person pretend to be guiltless?

Why, even the moon has its flaws,

even the stars aren’t perfect in God’s eyes,

So how much less, plain men and women—

slugs and maggots by comparison!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 24, 2025

by Alyson Kieda

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Matthew 28:16-20

 Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

18–20  Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

Today's Insights

Matthew 28:19-20 is referred to as the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This evangelism mandate appears in varying forms in the New Testament: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). “You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Great Commission is more than proclaiming that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. We carry out the mandate to “go and make disciples” when we baptize believers, teach them to obey the Scriptures, and encourage them to follow Christ as their master.

A Modern-Day Paul

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11

George Verwer’s life changed dramatically when he became a believer in Jesus during a Billy Graham crusade in 1957. Soon after his conversion, he began Operation Mobilization (OM), and in 1963 the mission sent two thousand missionaries to Europe. OM went on to become one of the largest mission organizations of the twentieth century, sending out thousands each year. At the time of George’s death in 2023, the mission had more than 3,000 workers from 134 countries working in 147 countries, and nearly 300 other mission agencies had been established as a result of contact with OM.

Like the apostle Paul, George had a passion to bring people to saving faith in Christ. After Paul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, he became a zealous missionary for God, fervently following Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). In his missionary journeys, he also trained Timothy and others to go out and do the same.

Because of Paul’s Spirit-inspired writings, people throughout the centuries have been emboldened to share the gospel. He knew the vital importance of Jesus’ Great Commission (vv. 19-20). That’s why, in Romans 12, he reminds us: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (v. 11). When we have the Holy Spirit living inside us, He makes us zealous to tell others about Christ.

Reflect & Pray

Who has inspired you in your faith journey? How can you prepare to share your faith with others?

Dear God, please help me be a bold witness for You.

Find out what it takes to be an effective witness by clicking here.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 24, 2025

He Increases, I Decrease

He must become greater; I must become less. — John 3:30

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, your great responsibility is to be a friend of the bridegroom, following the example set by John the Baptist: “The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him” (John 3:29). The bridegroom’s friend never takes the central role away from Jesus or becomes a necessity to another person’s soul. If you find, in your relationships with others, that you have stolen the spotlight away from Christ, then you know that you are out of God’s established order for his disciples. You’ll know your influence over others has taken the right direction when you see their souls gripped by the claims of Jesus Christ.

Never interfere when another person’s soul has been gripped by Christ. However painful it may appear to you from the outside, pray that the pain grows ten times stronger, until there is no power on earth or in hell that can keep that soul away from the Lord. You may often see Jesus Christ wreck a life before he saves it. Never mind what havoc the bridegroom causes, what crumblings of health and wealth. Rejoice with divine hilarity when his voice is heard.

Over and over again, we turn ourselves into amateur providences, trying to prevent suffering by stopping God. In the end, our sympathy costs other people dearly. One day, they’ll accuse us of being thieves, of stealing their affections away from their bridegroom and causing them to lose their vision of him. We must beware of rejoicing with a soul in the wrong thing, but we must make sure to rejoice in the right thing. The bridegroom’s friend “is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:29–30). John the Baptist is describing the absolute effacement of the disciple; he will never be thought of again. But he acknowledges this with joy, not sadness.

Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else. 

The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 24, 2025

When Someone You Know is Falling Fast - #9966

Some 16 million people saw Christopher Jones' skydive on YouTube. He bails out of the plane. Everything's going great...until the seizure. After four years of being seizure-free, he was cleared to jump.

But at 9,000 feet, Christopher suddenly rolled onto his back, unconscious. Plunging earthward at 120 miles an hour! Thank God, his instructor Sheldon McFarlane responded immediately. But as Christopher convulsed, he was falling farther out of reach. Finally, McFarlane got close enough to reach his unconscious student; just 4,000 feet from looming disaster below. He pulled his student's ripcord, the chute opened, and in Christopher's words, "He saved my life."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Someone You Know is Falling Fast."

It was a heart-stopper for sure, and for me it was a solemn reminder. On almost any given week there is someone in my personal world - and probably in yours - who is falling fast, spinning out of control and in need of a rescue. And you're the one who's in a position to catch them if you notice them.

Maybe it's a disturbing post on Facebook, a sudden withdrawing from people, just a troubled countenance, mood swings, some angry outburst. In one form or another, what you're seeing and hearing is a cry for help. The question is, "Is my radar on for a hurting person, for a wounded person, an excluded person, maybe a lonely person, the person with the breaking heart or the broken heart?"

Or am I all wrapped up in my list, my schedule, and my troubles, too self-absorbed to notice someone who's falling within my reach? But noticing isn't enough. Next comes dropping everything to help them, because nothing's more urgent than rescuing the guy who's going down.

Centuries ago, God appeared to an outback shepherd in a burning bush - Moses. You may have heard of him. And God told Moses, in our word for today from the Word of God, Exodus 3, beginning in verse 7: "I have seen the misery of My people in Egypt (where they of course were oppressed slaves)...I have heard them crying out...I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them." Good! Now the shocker for Moses in verse 10, "So now, go. I am sending you" (Exodus 3:7-10).

That might be a conversation God's wanting to have with you - probably minus the burning bush. Because He has heard the cries, even the silent cries of the people around you. And He has a plan to rescue them - you.

It is for rescue that God came to earth; to die on a cross to rescue us from the awful eternal death penalty of our sins, to walk out of His grave to offer us a forever with Him. And He rescues us to then be a rescuer; to tell people His Good News about belonging to Him, to be His voice, to be His face, to be His hands. He wants you to deliver His message. He wants you to be the one who lifts their burden in His name. He wants you to be the one who shows them what He's like. He wants you to be the one who tells them how to be with Him forever by having their sins forgiven at Jesus' cross.

How are you doing? Because that's why you are where you are. God put you there to rescue some folks. Maybe you've never experienced the rescuing power of Jesus and you're falling fast. He has come to swoop down and grab you today. Would you grab that hand, that nail scarred hand and say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Begin to belong to Him today. Be safe forever.

You can find out more about how to be long to Him if you just go to our website. It's ANewStory.com. If you've been rescued by Jesus, then you've got to dive in for the rescue of others. It's not optional. Not when someone's falling fast. No, It's life-or-death.

Matthew 12:1-23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Just for You

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65:7-9

I’m about to tell you something that may stretch your imagination! You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to buy it. Just think about it!

If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean would still have its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings, and spray light on the desert in the mornings.

If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree. He’s waiting for you to stumble into the den, rub the sleep from your eyes, and see the bright red bike he assembled just for you!

He’s waiting for your eyes to pop and your heart to stop! In the silence he leans forward and whispers… “I did it just for you!”

Matthew 12:1-23

In Charge of the Sabbath

1–2  12 One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”

3–5  Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?

6–8  “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”

9–10  When Jesus left the field, he entered their meeting place. There was a man there with a crippled hand. They said to Jesus, “Is it legal to heal on the Sabbath?” They were baiting him.

11–14  He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus.

In Charge of Everything

15–21  Jesus, knowing they were out to get him, moved on. A lot of people followed him, and he healed them all. He also cautioned them to keep it quiet, following guidelines set down by Isaiah:

Look well at my hand-picked servant;

I love him so much, take such delight in him.

I’ve placed my Spirit on him;

he’ll decree justice to the nations.

But he won’t yell, won’t raise his voice;

there’ll be no commotion in the streets.

He won’t walk over anyone’s feelings,

won’t push you into a corner.

Before you know it, his justice will triumph;

the mere sound of his name will signal hope, even among far-off unbelievers.

No Neutral Ground

22–23  Next a poor demon-afflicted wretch, both blind and deaf, was set down before him. Jesus healed him, gave him his sight and hearing. The people who saw it were impressed—“This has to be the Son of David!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 23, 2025

by Adam R. Holz

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Psalm 46

A Song of the Sons of Korah

1–3  46 God is a safe place to hide,

ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,

courageous in sea-storm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans,

the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4–6  River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,

this sacred haunt of the Most High.

God lives here, the streets are safe,

God at your service from crack of dawn.

Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,

but Earth does anything he says.

7  Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

8–10  Attention, all! See the marvels of God!

He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,

Bans war from pole to pole,

breaks all the weapons across his knee.

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything.”

11  Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Today's Insights

Psalm 46 considers two primary sources of human fear: natural disasters (vv. 2-3) and the chaos of war (v. 6). In contrast to the seas that “roar and foam” (natural disasters) is the “river whose streams make glad the city of God” (vv. 3-4). This city is Jerusalem. Theologian Kevin R. Warstler tells us the river is likely a metaphor for “God’s presence and blessings that fill Jerusalem and flow to other nations” (CSB Study Bible). And though the nations may be “in uproar” (the second source of fear), God “lifts his voice, the earth melts” (v. 6). He also “makes wars cease” (v. 9). In each case, God’s presence means safety. “The God of Jacob is our fortress” (vv. 7, 11).

Being Still Before God

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

I love the idea of stillness. Of quiet. Of resting in the refuge of God’s care (Psalm 46:1). And an often-quoted passage from Psalm 46 teaches us that quieting our hearts, our minds, and our souls is integral to knowing God: “Be still, and know that I am God” (v. 10).

But being still isn’t easy, is it? Being quiet—and especially trying to still our hearts before God—can sometimes seem almost impossible. Why is that?

One of the most basic laws of physics tells us that “objects in motion tend to stay in motion.” So shifting from constant motion, activity, and obligation isn’t easy because it involves letting the momentum of our activity come to rest. We might think of it like a boat’s wake: even as a boat tries to stop, the momentum of its wake—the waves it caused that are now catching up to the still boat—still roll beneath, pushing it along.

If you recognize the value of stillness but struggle to get there, that’s one reason why. Our activities and overall pace are like that “object in motion.” So give yourself plenty of space and grace as you sit before God and rest in Him. It may take some time for the waves of your spiritual “wake” to wash past you, to settle into being quiet before Him.

Reflect & Pray

What keeps you from being quiet before God? How will you make time to intentionally be still?  

Father, we live in a noisy world, full of activity. Please help me to learn to be quiet before You, to wait out the waves of my soul and trust that You’re present. 

Take a moment to be encouraged. Watch now!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 23, 2025

The Struggle with Worldliness

For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? — 1 Corinthians 3:3

People who haven’t been born again in the Spirit know nothing about the struggle Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3:3. The war between the flesh and the Spirit begins with spiritual rebirth and can only be resolved in one way: we must learn, Paul says, to “walk by the Spirit”; if we do, we “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16), and our struggle with worldliness will disappear.

Are you contentious and easily troubled? We imagine that no Christian ever is, but Paul says we are, and he connects these qualities with worldliness. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly irritates you? It’s proof that you’re still worldly. If sanctification is being worked out in you, if the Spirit of God is getting his way in your life, there is no trace of the contentious spirit left.

Whenever the Spirit of God detects something wrong, he doesn’t ask you to make it right; he asks you to accept the light so he can make it right. A child of the light confesses instantly and stands naked before God. A child of darkness is defensive and says, “Oh, I can explain that away.” When the light breaks and you feel convicted of having done wrong, be a child of the light. Confess, and God will deal with it. If you try to excuse or vindicate yourself, you will prove yourself a child of darkness.

How will you know that your worldliness has gone? God will see that you have any number of opportunities to prove to yourself the marvel of his grace. He will send you practical tests, again and again, until you see that you are changed: “If this had happened before,” you’ll say, “I would have been filled with resentment!” When worldliness is gone, it is the most obvious thing imaginable. You’ll never cease to be amazed at what God has done for you on the inside.

Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray.

So Send I You, 1325 L

Job 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Get Ready for a Surprise

Have you got God figured out? Get ready, you may be in for a surprise. Hear the rocks meant for the body of the adulterous woman drop to the ground. Listen as Jesus invites a death-row convict to ride with Him to the Kingdom in the front seat of the limo. Listen as the Messiah whispers to the Samaritan woman, “I who speak to you am He.” And listen to the surprise as Mary’s name is spoken by a man she had buried.

God appearing in the strangest of places. Doing the strangest of things. Stretching smiles where there had hung only frowns. Hanging a bright star in a dark sky. Many more knees will bow. And many more seekers will celebrate.

“For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him!” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

from Six Hours One Friday

Job 24

An Illusion of Security

1–12  24 “But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,

why are we kept in the dark?

There are people out there getting by with murder—

stealing and lying and cheating.

They rip off the poor

and exploit the unfortunate,

Push the helpless into the ditch,

bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.

The poor, like stray dogs and cats,

scavenge for food in back alleys.

They sort through the garbage of the rich,

eke out survival on handouts.

Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;

they’ve no place to lay their heads.

Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,

they huddle in makeshift shelters.

Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;

the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.

They go about patched and threadbare;

even the hard workers go hungry.

No matter how back-breaking their labor,

they can never make ends meet.

People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.

The wretched cry out for help

and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!

13–17  “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,

who scorn the light-filled path.

When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—

kills the poor and robs the defenseless.

Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,

thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’

Burglars do their work at night,

but keep well out of sight through the day.

They want nothing to do with light.

Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;

they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.

18–25  “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—

useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.

As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,

sinners disappear in the grave.

The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—

nothing that is evil lasts.

Unscrupulous,

they prey on those less fortunate.

However much they strut and flex their muscles,

there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.

They may have an illusion of security,

but God has his eye on them.

They may get their brief successes,

but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.

Like yesterday’s newspaper,

they’re used to wrap up the garbage.

You’re free to try to prove me a liar,

but you won’t be able to do it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 22, 2025

by Karen Pimpo

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 6:60-69

Too Tough to Swallow

60  Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”

61–65  Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this throw you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”

66–67  After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

68–69  Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

Today's Insights

In John 6, Jesus’ teaching that His disciples would have “no life in [them]” if they didn’t “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” (v. 53) was a difficult one for them to understand (v. 60). After Christ responded to their “grumbling” (v. 61) by saying “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (v. 65), “many . . . no longer followed him” (v. 66).

But despite the difficulty of the message, Jesus’ words were also filled with the hope of resurrection, a theme that can be seen in the word life. This passage describes Christ’s death as offering up His body “for the life of the world” (v. 51). Whoever accepts by faith this sacrifice for sin receives God’s grace and “has eternal life, and [He] will raise them up at the last day” (v. 54). Peter seemed to have partly understood, confessing, “You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68).

The Bible’s Cherished Words

You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68

My dad carried his beloved Bible for more than thirty years before the worn binding finally split in two. When we took it to a book binder for professional restoration, the craftsman was curious about what made the book so special. It wasn’t an expensive antique, and its pages were full of handwritten notes. His questions about the Bible created an opportunity for my family to share the gospel and pray with him.

Yes, the Bible is more than just a family heirloom or a nice decoration. Inside its pages are the “words of eternal life” (John 6:68) as God reveals Himself to us through His Son. The opening chapter of the gospel of John says that Jesus is the “Word [who] was with God, and . . . was God” (1:1). He’s described as making “his dwelling [home] among us” (v. 14). The Bible contains not only the account of the life of Christ but also all of God’s activity throughout the ages, from creation to its eventual redemption.

During His time on earth, Jesus spoke words that were “full of the Spirit and life” (6:63). When He gave a difficult teaching and the crowds grumbled and many “turned back and no longer followed him” (v. 66), His disciples chose to stay. They realized that no other words could satisfy. My dad felt the same way about his Bible. Through many mountains and valleys in his life, God provided hope, direction, comfort, and truth through the words of Scripture.

Reflect & Pray

Whose words have you allowed to shape your life? What words from Scripture are inspiring you today?

Dear God, as I read Your Scripture today, please open my ears to hear Your voice.

To discover more, read I Got Nothing Else. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 22, 2025

The Burning Heart

Were not our hearts burning within us? — Luke 24:32

We need to learn the secret of the burning heart. Jesus appears to us, the fires are kindled, and we have wonderful visions. Then normal life resumes, and the flame dies down. The burning heart is a heart that can go through anything, but first we must learn how to keep the flame alive. The dull, bald, dreary, commonplace day, with its commonplace duties and people, kills the burning heart—unless we learn the secret of abiding in Jesus.

If we are abiding in Jesus, keeping him at the forefront of our minds and letting him guide all our decisions, nothing we meet with will be able to kill the flame inside us. But if we lose sight of the Lord, the emotion he kindled when we were close to him will fade. It isn’t just drudgery and duty that can make this happen; it’s our unwillingness to let the emotion have its way.

Much of our distress as Christians is caused not by sin but by ignorance of our own natures. For instance, to know if we should allow a certain emotion to have its way with us, all we need to do is think about the outcome of the emotion. If we push the emotion to its logical conclusion and find that it’s something God would condemn, we shouldn’t follow it. But if it’s an emotion kindled by the Spirit and we don’t allow it to have its way, it will drop us to a lower level. The higher the emotion, the deeper the degradation if the emotion is not worked out in the way God wants.

When the Spirit kindles an emotion inside you and your heart begins to burn, let it burn. Do everything you can to help the emotion along. Don’t build up barriers against it or make excuses about why you can’t follow it, however inconvenient or illogical it may seem. Abide in Jesus, and keep the flame alive.

Joshua 10-12; Luke 1:39-56

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. 

The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

Job 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE JOY OF RESURRECTION - March 21, 2025

Solomon said, “There is a time to mourn” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Give yourself some. Face your grief with tears, time, and one more—face your grief with truth. God has the last word on death. And if you listen, he will tell you the truth about your loved ones. They’ve been dismissed from the hospital called Earth. You and I still roam the halls and smell the medicines. They, meanwhile, inhale springtime. You miss them like crazy, but can you deny the truth? They have no pain, doubt, or struggle. They really are happier in heaven.

And you know what? Reunion is only a splinter of an eternal moment away. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says that there is no need for you “to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” God understands your sorrow. He knows the sorrow of a grave. He buried his Son. But he also knows the joy of resurrection. And by his power, you will too.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 23

JOB’S DEFENSE

I’m Completely in the Dark

1–7  23 Job replied:

“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.

My complaint is legitimate.

God has no right to treat me like this—

it isn’t fair!

If I knew where on earth to find him,

I’d go straight to him.

I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,

give him all my arguments firsthand.

I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,

discover what’s going on in his head.

Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?

No, he’d take me seriously.

He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;

my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.

8–9  “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;

then West, but not a trace;

I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;

then South, but not even a glimpse.

10–12  “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.

He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.

I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,

not once swerving from his way.

I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,

and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.

13–17  “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?

He does what he wants, when he wants to.

He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,

and whatever else he determines to do.

Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?

Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.

God makes my heart sink!

God Almighty gives me the shudders!

I’m completely in the dark,

I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 21, 2025

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 43:1-7

When You’re Between a Rock and a Hard Place

1–4  43 But now, God’s Message,

the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,

the One who got you started, Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.

I’ve called your name. You’re mine.

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.

When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.

When you’re between a rock and a hard place,

it won’t be a dead end—

Because I am God, your personal God,

The Holy of Israel, your Savior.

I paid a huge price for you:

all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!

That’s how much you mean to me!

That’s how much I love you!

I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,

trade the creation just for you.

5–7  “So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.

I’ll round up all your scattered children,

pull them in from east and west.

I’ll send orders north and south:

‘Send them back.

Return my sons from distant lands,

my daughters from faraway places.

I want them back, every last one who bears my name,

every man, woman, and child

Whom I created for my glory,

yes, personally formed and made each one.’ ”

Today's Insights

More than one hundred years before it occurred, Isaiah prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 bc and Judah’s seventy-year exile in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7; see 2 Chronicles 36:15-21; 2 Kings 20:16-18; Jeremiah 52:4-27). But God wouldn’t abandon His people, even though He’d punish them for their covenantal unfaithfulness. In Isaiah 40-66, the prophet speaks of the deliverance from that exile and Judah’s restoration. Chapters 40-48 focus on the return from the Babylonian captivity and the means by which God would accomplish it. God assured His people of His unfailing love because they’re His chosen people. He’s their God and Savior who has chosen, redeemed, and honored them. They need not fear the Babylonians, the exile, or their future. “You are precious and honored in my sight,” He assured them. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:4-5).

God’s Own

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

One day, while serving as my mom’s live-in caregiver, we visited an art exhibit. We were emotionally and physically drained. I gazed at two wooden row boats filled with colorful blown-glass shapes inspired by Japanese fishing lures and flower arrangements. The display Ikebana and Float Boats sat in front of a black wall on a reflective surface. Speckled, spotted, and striped glass orbs, like oversized gumballs, were piled into the smaller boat. From the hull of the second boat, long, twisted, and curved glass sculptures rose like vibrant flames. The artist had shaped each piece of molten glass through the refining fires of the glassblowing process.

Tears streaked my cheeks as I imagined God’s caring hand holding me and my mom—His beloved children—through our hardest days. As God shapes the character of His people through refining fires in life, He affirms that our hope comes from being known and knowing we belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1). Though we can’t escape hardship, God promises to protect us and be present (v. 2). His identity and His love for us make His promises secure (vv. 3-4).

When life’s circumstances heat up, we may feel fragile. We may even be fragile. But God holds us firmly in love, no matter how blazing hot the furnace gets. We are known. We are loved. We are His!

Reflect & Pray

Why does knowing you belong to God bring you hope during times of affliction? How has God used refining fires to shape your character? 

Loving God, thank You for holding me, molding me, and reminding me that I’m Yours.

How are we to respond when we face hardship? Watch this video to learn how God is with us in our toughest moments.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 21, 2025

Interest or Identification?

I have been crucified with Christ. — Galatians 2:20

Paul doesn’t say, “I’ve decided to imitate Christ” or “I’m interested in following Christ.” He says, “I have been crucified with Christ”: he has become identified with Christ in Christ’s death.

In my spiritual life, the essential need is to sign the death warrant of my sinful disposition. I must issue a moral verdict against the idea that I have a right to myself, drawing on every emotional and intellectual tool at my disposal to make the decision Paul made. When I do, when I come to the decision to identify myself with Christ’s death, everything that Christ won on the cross is realized in me. By freely committing myself to God, I allow the Holy Spirit to impart to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). My individual life continues, but the wellspring of my character, my ruling disposition, is radically altered. My body remains as it was, but the satanic belief I used to have—the belief in my right to myself—is destroyed. Paul emphasizes that he is living this life “now.” It isn’t a life he plans to live one day; it’s the life he’s living “in the body”—the body that other people can see. This body bears witness to the life of Christ within it: “And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (v. 20).

Joshua 7-9; Luke 1:21-38

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance.

Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 21, 2025

THE "BUSY" CLUB - #9965

When someone in our house felt overworked or unfairly overloaded, sometimes you'd hear them say, kiddingly I think, "Hey, I thought Lincoln freed the slaves!" Well, actually, I think the members of our family might have been right about all of us. We do need an update on that Emancipation Proclamation. In fact, you might be surprised who the slaves are today, and the slave master. Spiritually, that is. The slaves are nice people, successful people - maybe someone like you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Busy' Club."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is found in Deuteronomy 5. I'm going to read from verse 12. Now, this is the second time around to a new generation of Jews that the Ten Commandments are given. In the original Ten Commandments it said that you are to keep the Sabbath Day holy - a day of rest. But notice there is a new addition this time - I'll read it to you.

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you." Now, that's pretty much the same as the first time around in Exodus 20. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant..."

Now, this sort of closes up the loophole, saying, "Okay, I won't work, I'll just get the other guys to do it." It goes on to say, "no, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals." Now, just in case you had a visitor in the house and you were going to have him mow the lawn for you, it says, "not the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."

Now, get this command here. He talks about our working life, he acknowledges that we are going to be working much or most of the time, but then He says, "It is my commandment that you get regular rest and regular worship during that time. Then He goes back to the subject of slavery. He says, "There was a time, my people, when you had no choice about working all the time. You were slaves then. There was a time when you had to work without rest, but now you can choose, and I want you to choose regularly, on a weekly basis, to stop and rest and stop all the busyness around you and bring it to a halt.

Now He's saying, "Don't lose your priorities now that you can choose to rest." You know, in our world today we are like all accelerator and no brakes. We're living lives without Sabbaths. They're supposed to be part of the created order of God. Think about your own life - the rat race, the gerbil wheel you run on. Your times off maybe are getting farther apart, they're shorter. Your family is beginning to feel your absence because you've been running to work so much. You've piled one commitment on top of another, so you can't ever stop. And you've got so many competing commitments, there's just no time to rest. There's little time left just to crash, to play, to laugh, to think, to meet your Lord. You're not doing your work - you are your work.

Stand back, would you? There's a better way to live with regular rest as ordained by Almighty God. Otherwise, the implication is, you're a slave. You're a slave to your work. Don't live in violation of God's command to rest. The alternative is slavery. And remember, Jesus freed the slaves.

Job 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE GIANT OF GRIEF - March 20, 2025

After the wife of C.S. Lewis died he wrote, “Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.” Just when you think the beast of grief is gone, you pass a restaurant where the two of you used to eat, or you hear a song she loved. And the giant of grief keeps stirring up. You see couples and long for your mate. You see parents with kids and yearn for your child. The giant stirs up insomnia, loss of appetite, even thoughts of suicide. Grief is not a mental illness, but it sure feels like one sometimes.

Jesus understands. Next to the tomb of his dear friend, “Jesus wept.” And in his tears we find permission to shed our own. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:3 (NLT), “Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.” Face your grief. Permit yourself tears. God understands, and he will get you through this.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 22

ELIPHAZ ATTACKS JOB—THE THIRD ROUND

Come to Terms with God

1–11  22 Once again Eliphaz the Temanite took up his theme:

“Are any of us strong enough to give God a hand,

or smart enough to give him advice?

So what if you were righteous—would God Almighty even notice?

Even if you gave a perfect performance, do you think he’d applaud?

Do you think it’s because he cares about your purity

that he’s disciplining you, putting you on the spot?

Hardly! It’s because you’re a first-class moral failure,

because there’s no end to your sins.

When people came to you for help,

you took the shirts off their backs, exploited their helplessness.

You wouldn’t so much as give a drink to the thirsty,

or food, not even a scrap, to the hungry.

And there you sat, strong and honored by everyone,

surrounded by immense wealth!

You turned poor widows away from your door;

heartless, you crushed orphans.

Now you’re the one trapped in terror, paralyzed by fear.

Suddenly the tables have turned!

How do you like living in the dark, sightless,

up to your neck in flood waters?

12–14  “You agree, don’t you, that God is in charge?

He runs the universe—just look at the stars!

Yet you dare raise questions: ‘What does God know?

From that distance and darkness, how can he judge?

He roams the heavens wrapped in clouds,

so how can he see us?’

15–18  “Are you going to persist in that tired old line

that wicked men and women have always used?

Where did it get them? They died young,

flash floods sweeping them off to their doom.

They told God, ‘Get lost!

What good is God Almighty to us?’

And yet it was God who gave them everything they had.

It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!

19–20  “Good people see bad people crash, and call for a celebration.

Relieved, they crow,

‘At last! Our enemies—wiped out.

Everything they had and stood for is up in smoke!’

21–25  “Give in to God, come to terms with him

and everything will turn out just fine.

Let him tell you what to do;

take his words to heart.

Come back to God Almighty

and he’ll rebuild your life.

Clean house of everything evil.

Relax your grip on your money

and abandon your gold-plated luxury.

God Almighty will be your treasure,

more wealth than you can imagine.

26–30  “You’ll take delight in God, the Mighty One,

and look to him joyfully, boldly.

You’ll pray to him and he’ll listen;

he’ll help you do what you’ve promised.

You’ll decide what you want and it will happen;

your life will be bathed in light.

To those who feel low you’ll say, ‘Chin up! Be brave!’

and God will save them.

Yes, even the guilty will escape,

escape through God’s grace in your life.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 20, 2025

by Tim Gustafson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 16:16-24

  “In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”

Joy Like a River Overflowing

17–18  That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

19–20  Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.

21–23  “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.

23–24  “This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

Today's Insights

The Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16) is the main teaching focus of John’s gospel. The night before Jesus went to the cross, He was preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and return. He told them that their “grief [would] turn to joy” (John 16:20). One of the main features of Jesus’ teaching in these chapters is the promise of the coming Holy Spirit—Christ’s provision for His people after His departure. This promise was eventually fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2), some ten days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven when the Spirit came to indwell believers in Christ.

Joy in Jesus

Your grief will turn to joy . . . and no one will take away your joy. John 16:20, 22

“I have the right to be happy,” said a teenager as she spoke before a legislature. Yet she could have been anyone, anywhere, speaking for everybody. It’s our human cry. One self-help guru even said, “God wants you to be happy.”

Is that true? It’s not wrong to pursue happiness. That desirable state of mind, however, ebbs and flows with our moment-by-moment circumstances, and the fulfillment of one person’s desires can crush the happiness of another.

Jesus points us to something better. He knew He was about to be nailed to a Roman cross, where He would bear the weight of the world’s sin. Yet His concern was for His disciples. He told them, “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.” But He also said, “Your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20). Then He promised, “No one will take away your joy” (v. 22).

This kind of joy is more than a good feeling based on desirable things happening to us. It grows out of doing the will of our Father in heaven. Jesus also said, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

Happiness can slip away with the next unpleasant circumstance. The joy that comes from following Jesus can thrive despite those circumstances.

Reflect & Pray

How does chasing what you want ultimately leave you unhappy? What’s the difference between happiness and joy?

Dear Father, please teach me to learn the difference between temporary happiness and lasting joy.

For further study, read Jesus Is in the Room.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Friendship with God

Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? — Genesis 18:17

Chapter 18 of Genesis brings out the delights and difficulties of real friendship with God.

Its delights. Real friendship with God is different from occasionally sensing his presence in prayer. To have a real friendship with God is to be in such close contact with him that you never need to ask him to show you his will. It is to be nearing the final stage of the life of faith. When you are rightly related to God, life is full of liberty and delight: you are God’s will. Unless he tells you otherwise, your commonsense decisions are his will for you, decided in perfect friendship with him.

Its difficulties. In Genesis 18, Abraham begins to plead with God to spare Sodom, but he stops before receiving God’s final assurance (vv. 25–33). Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He was not yet intimate enough with God to go boldly on until his desire was granted. There was something still lacking in their relationship. Whenever we stop short in prayer, there is another stage to go in friendship with God. We aren’t as intimate with God as Jesus was and as God wishes us to be.

What was the last thing you prayed about? Were you devoted to your desire or to God? Did you hope to get some gift of the Spirit, or to get at God himself? “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). The point of asking is to get to know God better. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Keep praying in order to get a perfect understanding of God himself.

Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word.

Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The Lasting Mark of Life's Mistakes - #9964

My daughter and I had not been back to that camp in the Tetons since she was a little girl, like five years old. We stayed there as a family way back then, because our good friends from college ran the camp. There she struck up a friendship with their five-year-old who's named Holly. Well, the camp has grown a lot over the years, and so have our daughters who are speeding through their lives.

It was kind of fun for them to see each other again and Holly took my daughter for a little private tour of a bunk house that was there some years ago when we were there. They had to bend down for what Holly wanted to show her. But there it was, still decorating the wood, in living Crayola color, Holly's name in red crayon and my daughter's in blue Crayon; both written in distinctive penmanship that five-year-olds have, and both still there after all these years.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Lasting Mark of Life's Mistakes."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 32, beginning at verse 24. Jacob has been having a wrestling match with someone who turns out to be divine. And verse 24 says, "Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." Finally the fight ends when that man touches the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with that man.

Later, Jacob knows who he met there. He called the place Peniel, saying, "'It is because I saw God face-to-face, and yet my life was spared.' The sun rose above him as he had passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip." Jacob struggled with God. He'd actually wrestled with Him his whole life. But at this brook he goes for God's full blessing. God changes him from Jacob, the cheat, and He changes his name to Israel, Prince with God. The whole nation will be named after him. God forgives. God transforms Jacob, and He's still doing that with Jacobs today.

But even though the struggle with God was over, Jacob carried a life-long reminder of his struggle - the limp. The sin was forgiven, the man was changed, but as happens so often, he'd struggled with God and that left a mark on him the rest of his life.

Now, my daughter couldn't get over how long the marks had lasted for what she did many years ago. In a way, that's a picture of how sin is. Even though the sin is long behind us, long forgiven, often the consequences, the marks of our sin are there for years to come. Sin is cruel. You were once its slave, and you're free now but you still carry some of the scars of how your slave master treated you. You always will.

We need to remember what sin does, because those scars, those lasting consequences will deter us from leaving God's ways again. Now, forgiveness comes quickly when we bring our sin to the cross of Jesus, but it doesn't come cheaply; it cost Him his life. But the ready availability of forgiveness should not make us forget the sometimes continuing consequences of sin - the limp that is there long after our struggle with God is behind us.

I think of four Rs that explain some of the lasting marks of sin. Reputation - the damage to your reputation can last a long time. Regrets - there for years. Relationships that were damaged that are hard to repair. Recollection - the memories that just keep coming back. It's a sobering reminder to seriously count the cost before we take any spiritual detour.

The scars of our past aren't all bad. Not if they remind us to stay away from sin because of its price tag. And it's wonderful to know that God has forever erased those sins from His book. You say, "Well, Ron, I'm not sure I've ever had that happen." Well, have you ever, in your heart, gone to His cross and said, "Jesus, You're dying for my sins there."

If you've never put your life in His hands, do it now. You say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

And the next time sin looks enticing and interesting, let's not forget what our daughter was so graphically reminded of, staring at the marks she made so many years ago. The marks still remain long after what we did to make the marks is over.