Mark 14:54-72, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Defiant Joy

My friend Rob cried freely telling his story about his young son's challenging life.

Daniel was born with a double cleft palate, dramatically disfiguring his face.  He had surgery, but the evidence remains, so people constantly notice and occasionally make remarks.

Daniel, however, is unfazed! He just tells people God made him this way so, what's the big deal?  He was named student of the week, so was asked to bring something to show his classmates for show and tell. Daniel told his mom he wanted to take the pictures that showed his face prior to the surgery. His mom was concerned. "Won't that make you feel a bit funny?" she asked. But Daniel insisted, "Oh, no, I want everyone to see what God did for me!"

Try Daniel's defiant joy and see what happens. God has handed you a cup of blessings. Sweeten it with a heaping spoonful of gratitude!

From You'll Get Through This

Mark 14:54-72

Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest’s courtyard, where he mingled with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

55–59  The high priests conspiring with the Jewish Council looked high and low for evidence against Jesus by which they could sentence him to death. They found nothing. Plenty of people were willing to bring in false charges, but nothing added up, and they ended up canceling each other out. Then a few of them stood up and lied: “We heard him say, ‘I am going to tear down this Temple, built by hard labor, and in three days build another without lifting a hand.’ ” But even they couldn’t agree exactly.

60–61  In the middle of this, the Chief Priest stood up and asked Jesus, “What do you have to say to the accusation?” Jesus was silent. He said nothing.

The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?”

62  Jesus said, “Yes, I am, and you’ll see it yourself:

The Son of Man seated

At the right hand of the Mighty One,

Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”

63–64  The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, “Did you hear that? After that do we need witnesses? You heard the blasphemy. Are you going to stand for it?”

They condemned him, one and all. The sentence: death.

65  Some of them started spitting at him. They blindfolded his eyes, then hit him, saying, “Who hit you? Prophesy!” The guards, punching and slapping, took him away.

The Rooster Crowed

66–67  While all this was going on, Peter was down in the courtyard. One of the Chief Priest’s servant girls came in and, seeing Peter warming himself there, looked hard at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

68  He denied it: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He went out on the porch. A rooster crowed.

69–70  The girl spotted him and began telling the people standing around, “He’s one of them.” He denied it again.

After a little while, the bystanders brought it up again. “You’ve got to be one of them. You’ve got ‘Galilean’ written all over you.”

71–72  Now Peter got really nervous and swore, “I never laid eyes on this man you’re talking about.” Just then the rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered how Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.” He collapsed in tears.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, October 11, 2025

by Nancy Gavilanes

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6

The High Priest Who Cried Out in Pain

14–16  Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

1–3  5 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it’s like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples’.

4–6  No one elects himself to this honored position. He’s called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you!” In another place God declares, “You’re a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.”

Today's Insights

Jesus, our “great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14), is able to sympathize with us because He’s lived as a man, although without sin (vv. 14-15; 5:1-2). Christ took on “flesh and blood . . . for only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil” and offer “a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people” (2:14, 17 nlt). “Because of what Christ has done for us” (Ephesians 2:18 nlt), “we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence” (3:12 nlt). What a great privilege to offer prayers before “God’s throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16), for He’s our King and our Father.

Access Through Christ

Let us then approach God’s throne . . . with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us. Hebrews 4:16

As a young journalist, I quickly learned about the power of a “press pass.” That one credential—displaying my name, picture, and media outlet—granted me access to meet and interview athletes and celebrities before or after major events.

However, after I received Jesus as my Savior, I realized sports and my career had become my idols. Following God’s call elsewhere, I lost my press pass but gained access to God’s heavenly throne room through prayer because of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection.   

The writer of Hebrews points out that a high priest was selected from among the Israelites, specifically one of Aaron’s descendants, and appointed as the go-between representing the people before God. He alone could enter the Most Holy Place in the temple once a year “to offer gifts and sacrifice” to atone for his and the people’s sins (5:1), for he too was a mortal man.

Then Christ came, our great and perfect high priest. When He died, the veil in the temple was torn and the barrier that existed between God and humanity was removed (Matthew 27:51).

Because our loving Redeemer has reconciled us to His Father, we can freely pray to God: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

What a privilege to have access to God’s throne room as we talk to Him in prayer.

Reflect & Pray

How can you make time to pray more often? What stops you from praying?

Dear Jesus, thank You for giving me access to the Father.

Discover why we pray and why it is important.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, October 11, 2025

After God’s Silence, What?

When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. — John 11:6

Has God trusted you with a silence, one that is full of meaning? God’s silences are his answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany, as Lazarus lay sick and dying, tended by Mary and Martha (John 11). Is there anything similar to those days in your life? Can God trust you as he trusted Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, or are you still asking for a visible answer? If you refuse to go on without certain blessings, God will give them to you. But his silence is the sign that he is bringing you into a marvelous understanding of himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? You will find that God has trusted you in the most intimate way possible—with a silence that is not of despair but of pleasure, because he saw that you could handle a bigger revelation.

If God has given you a silence, praise him. He is bringing you into the great flow of his purpose. Precisely when the answer will manifest itself is a matter of God’s sovereign choice. Time is nothing to God. Perhaps you’ve grown impatient and you think, “I asked God to give me bread, and he gave me a stone.” He did not. Soon you will find he gave you the bread of life.

A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that the contagion of his stillness gets into you and you become perfectly confident: “I know God has heard me.” His silence is the proof that he has. As long as you have the idea that God will bless you in answer to a prayer, he will do it. But he will never give you the grace of silence. When Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer isn’t for blessings but for the glorifying of the Father, he will give you the first sign of his intimacy—silence.

Isaiah 37-38; Colossians 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

Numbers 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: COURAGEOUS JOY - October 10, 2025

Jesus said: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11 NIV).

The joy Jesus offers is unlike the one promised at the car dealership or shopping mall. It is not a joy that depends upon circumstance. Peter spoke of this joy. “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8 NKJV). Peter was writing to persecuted Christians. Adversaries took their rights, property, and possessions. But no one could take their Jesus. No one could take their joy.

Courageously joyful people have tethered their hearts to the foundation of God. Is that to say your life will be storm-free? Is that to say no sorrow will come your way? No. But that is to say your sorrow will not last forever.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Numbers 16

The Rebels

1–3  16 Getting on his high horse one day, Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with a few Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—rebelled against Moses. He had with him 250 leaders of the congregation of Israel, prominent men with positions in the Council. They came as a group and confronted Moses and Aaron, saying, “You’ve overstepped yourself. This entire community is holy and God is in their midst. So why do you act like you’re running the whole show?”

4  On hearing this, Moses threw himself facedown on the ground.

5  Then he addressed Korah and his gang: “In the morning God will make clear who is on his side, who is holy. God will take his stand with the one he chooses.

6–7  “Now, Korah, here’s what I want you, you and your gang, to do: Tomorrow, take censers. In the presence of God, put fire in them and then incense. Then we’ll see who is holy, see whom God chooses. Sons of Levi, you’ve overstepped yourselves!”

8–11  Moses continued with Korah, “Listen well now, sons of Levi. Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has selected you out of the congregation of Israel to bring you near him to serve in the ministries of The Dwelling of God, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? He has brought you and all your brother Levites into his inner circle, and now you’re grasping for the priesthood, too. It’s God you’ve ganged up against, not us. What do you have against Aaron that you’re bad-mouthing him?”

12–14  Moses then ordered Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, to appear, but they said, “We’re not coming. Isn’t it enough that you yanked us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you keep trying to boss us around! Face it, you haven’t produced: You haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, you haven’t given us the promised inheritance of fields and vineyards. You’d have to poke our eyes out to keep us from seeing what’s going on. Forget it, we’re not coming.”

15  Moses’ temper blazed white-hot. He said to God, “Don’t accept their Grain-Offering. I haven’t taken so much as a single donkey from them; I haven’t hurt a single hair of their heads.”

16–17  Moses said to Korah, “Bring your people before God tomorrow. Appear there with them and Aaron. Have each man bring his censer filled with incense and present it to God—all 250 censers. And you and Aaron do the same, bring your censers.”

18  So they all did it. They brought their censers filled with fire and incense and stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron did the same.

19  It was Korah and his gang against Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The entire community could see the Glory of God.

20–21  God said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I can finish them off and be done with them.”

22  They threw themselves on their faces and said, “O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?”

23–24  God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the community. Tell them, Back off from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

25–26  Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of Israel followed him. He then spoke to the community: “Back off from the tents of these bad men; don’t touch a thing that belongs to them lest you be carried off on the flood of their sins.”

27  So they all backed away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram by now had come out and were standing at the entrance to their tents with their wives, children, and babies.

28–30  Moses continued to address the community: “This is how you’ll know that it was God who sent me to do all these things and that it wasn’t anything I cooked up on my own. If these men die a natural death like all the rest of us, you’ll know that it wasn’t God who sent me. But if God does something unprecedented—if the ground opens up and swallows the lot of them and they are pitched alive into Sheol—then you’ll know that these men have been insolent with God.”

31–33  The words were hardly out of his mouth when the Earth split open. Earth opened its mouth and in one gulp swallowed them down, the men and their families, all the human beings connected with Korah, along with everything they owned. And that was the end of them, pitched alive into Sheol. The Earth closed up over them and that was the last the community heard of them.

34  At the sound of their cries everyone around ran for dear life, shouting, “We’re about to be swallowed up alive!”

35  Then God sent lightning. The fire cremated the 250 men who were offering the incense.

36–38  God spoke to Moses: “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, Gather up the censers from the smoldering cinders and scatter the coals a distance away for these censers have become holy. Take the censers of the men who have sinned and are now dead and hammer them into thin sheets for covering the Altar. They have been offered to God and are holy to God. Let them serve as a sign to Israel, evidence of what happened this day.”

39–40  So Eleazar gathered all the bronze censers that belonged to those who had been burned up and had them hammered flat and used to overlay the Altar, just as God had instructed him by Moses. This was to serve as a sign to Israel that only descendants of Aaron were allowed to burn incense before God; anyone else trying it would end up like Korah and his gang.

41  Grumbling broke out the next day in the community of Israel, grumbling against Moses and Aaron: “You have killed God’s people!”

42  But it so happened that when the community got together against Moses and Aaron, they looked over at the Tent of Meeting and there was the Cloud—the Glory of God for all to see.

43–45  Moses and Aaron stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting. God spoke to Moses: “Back away from this congregation so that I can do away with them this very minute.”

They threw themselves facedown on the ground.

46  Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and fill it with incense, along with fire from the Altar. Get to the congregation as fast as you can: make atonement for them. Anger is pouring out from God—the plague has started!”

47–48  Aaron grabbed the censer, as directed by Moses, and ran into the midst of the congregation. The plague had already begun. He put burning incense into the censer and atoned for the people. He stood there between the living and the dead and stopped the plague.

49–50  Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from the plague, not counting those who died in the affair of Korah. Aaron then went back to join Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The plague was stopped.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, October 10, 2025

by Tim Gustafson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Psalm 88:1, 6-18

God, you’re my last chance of the day.

I spend the night on my knees before you.

You’ve dropped me into a bottomless pit,

sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.

I’m battered senseless by your rage,

relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.

You turned my friends against me,

made me horrible to them.

I’m caught in a maze and can’t find my way out,

blinded by tears of pain and frustration.

9–12  I call to you, God; all day I call.

I wring my hands, I plead for help.

Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?

Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?

Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?

Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?

Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,

your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?

13–18  I’m standing my ground, God, shouting for help,

at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.

Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?

Why do you make yourself scarce?

For as long as I remember I’ve been hurting;

I’ve taken the worst you can hand out, and I’ve had it.

Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;

I’m bleeding, black-and-blue.

You’ve attacked me fiercely from every side,

raining down blows till I’m nearly dead.

You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;

the only friend I have left is Darkness.

Today's Insights

Psalm 88 is an unusual song of lament. Lament psalms typically include a call for God’s help, a specific complaint or reason for lamenting, and an expression of trust in God. Some also offer thanksgiving after He responds. (Psalm 44 is a lament psalm that contains all these elements.) Psalm 88 includes the call for God’s aid (vv. 1-2) and reasons for lament (vv. 3-9, 15-18) but omits any expressions of trust in God. Instead, the psalmist asks accusatory questions (vv. 10-12, 14) and describes being completely alone and in excruciating pain (v. 18). That this psalm is part of inspired Scripture demonstrates that God welcomes complete honesty before Him when we’re struggling. In our pain, we can be assured that He’s there and He’s listening.

Prayer of the Desperate

You have taken from me friend and neighbor—darkness is my closest friend. Psalm 88:18

Charles had sunk into depression. Despite having a loving family, he felt all alone. “The overwhelming pressure of supporting them was continuing to build,” he said, “and I felt like taking my own life.” Surprisingly—or perhaps not—Charles Morris also led a Christian ministry.

A wise friend told him that when faced with depression, “We should soak in the Psalms.” Charles got through his deep despondency by reading relatable Bible passages, accepting prudent medical care, and pouring his heart out to God.

The Psalms are often brutally honest. Heman the Ezrahite wrote one of the most bitter. Hope is found only in the opening lines: “Lord, you are the God who saves me” (88:1). Heman seems to accuse God: “You have put me in the lowest pit” (v. 6). “You have overwhelmed me” (v. 7). And he had questions: “Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” (v. 14). Most psalms end with a message of hope. Not this one. Heman concludes, “Darkness is my closest friend” (v. 18). This is the prayer of a truly desperate man. Yet Heman directed all his pain to God.

When we read psalms such as this one, we realize we’re not alone. Others have experienced desperate feelings and have dared to put voice to them. God could take such honesty from Heman. He can take it from you too. He’s there, and He’s listening.

Reflect & Pray

What part of Psalm 88 do you most relate to? What will you ask God today?

Heavenly Father, sometimes I hurt too much even to pray. Thank You that You’re big enough to take all my pain and honesty.

Learn how to take wisdom from the book of Psalms.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, October 10, 2025

How Will I Know?

I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. — Matthew 11:25

In our spiritual relationship with God, we do not grow step-by-step; we’re either there or we’re not. The same is true when it comes to sin. God doesn’t cleanse us more and more from sin; either we are free of sin or we’re not. It’s a question of obedience, of keeping ourselves in the light. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus . . . purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The instant we obey, our relationship with God is perfected. But if we disobey, even for a second, darkness and death are immediately at work.

All of God’s revelations are closed to us until we obey; only through obedience are they opened. Beware of becoming wise and learned; you will never get his revelations open by thinking about them. But when you obey, a flash of light comes. You have to let God’s truth work its way in by soaking yourself in it, not by worrying about it. The only way you can get to know the great truths of God is to stop trying to know and to be born again.

Obey God in the thing he places before you, whatever it may be, and the next thing will open up to you instantly. We read book upon book about the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total obedience would make things clear as a sunbeam.

“I guess I’ll understand one day,” you say. You can understand now. It isn’t studying that will get you there; it’s obedience. God will never reveal more truth about himself until you have obeyed what you already know. The tiniest fragment of obedience on your part will cause heaven to open and the profoundest truths of God to become yours.

Isaiah 34-36; Colossians 2

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold. 

Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, October 10, 2025

YOUR TITANIC MISTAKE - #10110

It happened over 100 years ago, but we still seem to be fascinated with it - the Titanic. I mean, the Titanic has sailed into the Internet! You can find all kinds of information about the sinking of that "unsinkable" ship back in 1912. And then, there was the Academy Award-winning movie, endless TV shows, articles, and there was even a Broadway musical about it. It seems like fascination with the Titanic just never goes away.

A lot of this information has been known for decades, but now there's a tremendous appetite for that information. Like the tragic mistake that fatal night by the radioman on the Titanic. The ship had received a number of warnings about ice ahead and had adjusted her course southward as a result. But two hours before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the radioman received a warning from another ship about a major iceberg, along with longitude and latitude coordinates. They put that iceberg right in Titanic's path. It's the one that sank the ship. But the radioman didn't know it was in their path. He was busy that night, so he stuck that message on a spindle to be dealt with later. That one choice doomed him and 1500 other passengers who died that night.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Titanic Mistake."

That just makes the tragedy even more tragic, doesn't it? The warning of what was coming was sent, it was received, but a man decided he'd deal with it later. And later was too late. When the warning is life-or-death, you don't wait to deal with it, especially if the warning is from God, especially if the warning is about what's ahead for you. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 2:3. "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" Ignoring God's warning - fatal results.

What's the warning about our future? Here are God's words, "Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's only Son" (John 3:18). Like the Titanic on her last night, steaming headlong for a deadly rendezvous. Again, God in His own words, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36).

God says there are people who are forever safe and people who are headed for eternal destruction. The difference is what they do with His Son, Jesus. You can do a lot of things with Jesus: you can reject Him, or ignore Him, or postpone Him, or you can even agree with Him. But all of those responses lead to the same place - eternity without God. You might say, "You mean agreeing with Jesus, isn't that enough?" Well, you see, I wasn't married to my wife based on my agreeing with her views. I was married to my wife for one reason - there was a time I committed my life to her.

That's what you have to do with Jesus. Has there been a time when you did that? If not, you're still ignoring God's warning about eternity. He says we can't possibly escape if we neglect this great salvation. He calls it salvation because it's a rescue from a death sentence. Jesus dying on that awful cross - that was God's Son paying the death penalty for the sinning you and I have done. And our only hope is to put our total trust in Him - the only One who can rescue you from sin and its penalty.

So you have the warning. Maybe you've been saying, like a radioman on the Titanic that night, I'll deal with it later. Don't do that. When a warning is life-or-death, the only time to deal with it is now while there's time.

If there has never been a time when you have committed yourself to Jesus to be your Savior, tell Him right now you're putting your trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you. "Jesus, I'm yours."

I hope you'll go to our website as soon as you can today, because you will find the information you need to secure and be sure you belong to Jesus. It's ANewStory.com.

Without Jesus, you are steaming full speed into an eternity without hope. Deal with God's warning now. And you'll be on the course for a guaranteed arrival in heaven when your journey's done.

Numbers 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TASTE AND SEE - October 9, 2025

Can we have the certainty of forgiven sin? God answers any hesitation with an invitation. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). This is God’s surprising encouragement to us. He throws open the pantry of his heart and says, “Taste and see how good I am.”

If you do not believe that God is good, you will not confess your sins to him. But if he is who he claims to be, you will. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Stand in the Bethlehem stable. How good of God to become flesh. At the foot of the cross, taste his forgiveness. At the vacant tomb, taste his power.

Was he not good then? Is he not good still? Will he not be good enough to receive your confession and forgive your sins? Wave the white flag. No more doubt.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Numbers 15

Matters of Worship

1–5  15 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter your homeland that I am giving to you and sacrifice a Fire-Gift to God, a Whole-Burnt-Offering or any sacrifice from the herd or flock for a Vow-Offering or Freewill-Offering at one of the appointed feasts, as a pleasing fragrance for God, the one bringing the offering shall present to God a Grain-Offering of two quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of oil. With each lamb for the Whole-Burnt-Offering or other sacrifice, prepare a quart of oil and a quart of wine as a Drink-Offering.

6–7  “For a ram prepare a Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with one and a quarter quarts of oil and one and a quarter quarts of wine as a Drink-Offering. Present it as a pleasing fragrance to God.

8–10  “When you prepare a young bull as a Whole-Burnt-Offering or sacrifice for a special vow or a Peace-Offering to God, bring with the bull a Grain-Offering of six quarts of fine flour and two quarts of oil. Also bring two quarts of wine as a Drink-Offering. It will be a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to God.

11–12  “Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this same way. Carry out this procedure for each one, no matter how many you have to prepare.

13–16  “Every native-born Israelite is to follow this procedure when he brings a Fire-Gift as a pleasing fragrance to God. In future generations, when a foreigner or visitor living at length among you presents a Fire-Gift as a pleasing fragrance to God, the same procedures must be followed. The community has the same rules for you and the foreigner living among you. This is the regular rule for future generations. You and the foreigner are the same before God. The same laws and regulations apply to both you and the foreigner who lives with you.”

17–21  God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter the land into which I’m bringing you, and you eat the food of that country, set some aside as an offering for God. From the first batch of bread dough make a round loaf for an offering—an offering from the threshing floor. Down through the future generations make this offering to God from each first batch of dough.

22–26  “But if you should get off the beaten track and not keep the commands which God spoke to Moses, any of the things that God commanded you under the authority of Moses from the time that God first commanded you right up to this present time, and if it happened more or less by mistake, with the congregation unaware of it, then the whole congregation is to sacrifice one young bull as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, a pleasing fragrance to God, accompanied by its Grain-Offering and Drink-Offering as stipulated in the rules, and a he-goat as an Absolution-Offering. The priest is to atone for the entire community of the People of Israel and they will stand forgiven. The sin was not deliberate, and they offered to God the Fire-Gift and Absolution-Offering for their inadvertence. The whole community of Israel including the foreigners living there will be absolved, because everyone was involved in the error.

27–28  “But if it’s just one person who sins by mistake, not realizing what he’s doing, he is to bring a yearling she-goat as an Absolution-Offering. The priest then is to atone for the person who accidentally sinned, to make atonement before God so that it won’t be held against him.

29  “The same standard holds for everyone who sins by mistake; the native-born Israelites and the foreigners go by the same rules.

30–31  “But the person, native or foreigner, who sins defiantly, deliberately blaspheming God, must be cut off from his people: He has despised God’s word, he has violated God’s command; that person must be kicked out of the community, ostracized, left alone in his wrongdoing.”

32–35  Once, during those wilderness years of the People of Israel, a man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. The ones who caught him hauled him before Moses and Aaron and the entire congregation. They put him in custody until it became clear what to do with him. Then God spoke to Moses: “Give the man the death penalty. Yes, kill him, the whole community hurling stones at him outside the camp.”

36  So the whole community took him outside the camp and threw stones at him, an execution commanded by God and given through Moses.

37–41  God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them that from now on they are to make tassels on the corners of their garments and to mark each corner tassel with a blue thread. When you look at these tassels you’ll remember and keep all the commandments of God, and not get distracted by everything you feel or see that seduces you into infidelities. The tassels will signal remembrance and observance of all my commandments, to live a holy life to God. I am your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt to be your personal God. Yes, I am God, your God.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, October 09, 2025

by Sheridan Voysey

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ecclesiastes 5:13-20

Here’s a piece of bad luck I’ve seen happen:

A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him

And then loses it all in a bad business deal.

He fathered a child but hasn’t a cent left to give him.

He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;

He’ll leave in the same condition—with nothing.

This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.

So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?

All for a miserable life spent in the dark?

Make the Most of What God Gives

18–20  After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.

Today's Insights

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon seeks to answer the perplexing question of the meaning of life. He shows that life without God is futile, unfulfilling, miserable, and meaningless “under the sun” (see 1:3, 13-14; 12:8). Then he explains how and why God must fit into our lives (2:24-26; 3:11-14; 5:7, 18-20). He examines human accomplishments, pleasures, and intellectual pursuits (chs. 1-2); the repetitive mundane existential/experiential life (ch. 3); and social interactions and community (ch. 4). Though accumulating wealth through hard work in itself isn’t wrong, pursuing materialism for its own sake brings disillusionment and despair (chs. 5-6). But the person who reverently worships and fears God (5:1-7) will see and enjoy the fruit of his labor as a gift from God (vv. 18-20). Solomon offers us this recipe for a fulfilled life: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (12:13).

See how the wisdom of Ecclesiastes matches the teaching of Jesus.

A Cautionary Tale

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners. Ecclesiastes 5:13

In the classic film Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane amasses wealth and power by building a newspaper empire. In a story reminiscent of Ecclesiastes 2:4-11, Kane spares himself no pleasure, building a castle with grand gardens full of artistic treasures.

Like other tycoons, what Kane really wants is adulation. He bankrolls his own political career and, when it fails, he blames the defeat on voter “fraud” to save face. He builds his wife an opera house and forces her into an ill-suited singing career to make him look good. Here too Kane’s story echoes Ecclesiastes, where wealth is found to harm those who chase and hoard it (5:10-15), leaving them eating “in darkness, with great frustration” (5:17). By the end of his life, Charlie Kane lives in that castle alone, isolated and angry.

Citizen Kane ends with the revelation that Charlie’s pursuits have been driven to fill a void in his heart—the parental love he lost as a child. I can imagine the author of Ecclesiastes agreeing. Our Father God has “set eternity in the human heart” (3:11), and life can only be enjoyed with Him (2:25). Charlie Kane’s cautionary tale speaks to us all: Don’t seek spiritual fulfilment through wealth and power, but through the one who pours His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5).

Reflect & Pray

How do you see yourself imitating Charlie Kane? What spiritual need does God need to meet in you today?

Loving God, please forgive my attempts to feel important through buying things or seeking praise. My spiritual need can only be met by You!

For further study read, Translucent Fruit: The Cost of Wealth.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, October 09, 2025

Pull Yourself Together

Offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. — Romans 6:19

There are many things I cannot do: I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. All this is the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what God, through Jesus Christ, has done? He has made for us a perfect atonement, placing us back in a right relationship with him. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it?

The great need in each of our lives isn’t to do things or to experience things but to believe them. The atonement isn’t something I experience. It is the great act of God, upon which I build my faith. If instead I build my faith upon my experiences, I will produce the kind of life that isn’t found in Scripture—an isolated life, in which I fix my eye upon my own spotlessness. Isolation has no basis in the atonement. The piety isolation produces is useless for God and a nuisance to other people, because it denies the reality of how things actually are. It’s easy to shine in the sun when we’re up on the mountaintop, alone with God, but Jesus wants us to shine where there is no sun, down in the valley, where it is dark with the press of practical things.

Do I understand that Jesus Christ wants his atonement to be recognized in every practical thing I do? In my home life? In my business? The grace of God is absolute, but I must prove, through obedience, that I do not receive his grace in vain. I must continually bring myself to judgment and ask, “Am I looking at this matter in the light of the atonement, or am I lacking Christ’s discernment?” Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side. Obedience means that I’ve placed all my hope in the atonement, and everything I do is met by the supernatural grace of God.

Isaiah 32-33; Colossians 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. 

The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, October 09, 2025

PARALYZED PARENTS - #10109

I was once held hostage by a dragonfly. This is very embarrassing, but it is true. I was just a little guy and my cousin and I were sitting on these swings in her backyard. I believed everything she said. And a dragonfly started to circle us on the swings. He was a big old guy - at least he looked big compared to the size I was then. And then he landed on the swing, and my cousin said to me, "You know, if they get mad at you they'll drill a hole through you."

I took one look at him and he kind of dived back and forth and started to dive bomb us. I started imagining him boring a hole in me, and it seemed reasonable. So I was frozen to the swing. I must have been there for a half hour... maybe an hour, I don't know. I didn't move until the crazy dragonfly left. Did I mention this is embarrassing? Well, today I know a dragonfly is nothing to fear, but my cousin that day made me afraid of something that I didn't need to be afraid of. That might be happening at your house.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God is from 2 Timothy 1:7. "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." This is a great verse for parents isn't it? Parents especially who are raising children in a very pagan, out-of-control world like ours. In fact, earlier in this chapter Paul talks about Timothy's Mother, Eunice, and how her faith was passed on to her son. She had an unbelieving husband, the Bible tells us, she was raising Timothy in a lost culture, and yet she turned out a son who was a great spiritual leader.

Now, one of the keys is in this seventh verse, "don't parent out of fear." You know, I'm a Dad of three kids that grew up in this kind of a world, and I know that we tend to look at a world where lies are taught as truth and where wrong is promoted as the right thing to do, and where sex outside of marriage is expected. That's the kind of world we're living in no doubt about it. Sin is boasted about. Our tendency is to grab our child and run to a cave with him or her and try to keep that child from ever rubbing shoulders with that nasty world.

Do you know what we're communicating? We're saying, "You know, that darkness out there is really big and strong, and I'm not sure Jesus is strong enough to compete with it." We're giving the Devil and we're giving the darkness a lot of credit when we teach our children to be afraid of it. Yes, we need to teach them to live in a dark world, but not to be afraid of it. We serve a Christ who blew the doors off of death. We serve a Jesus to whom demons surrender. Let's not hide from the darkness. He empowers His children to change the darkness.

Many days our kids came home from school with words they heard or ideas or questions. And, well, we found that those are the moments to seize, not to freeze. We can say to our kids, "You know, I'm glad that came up. Let me show you how much better Jesus' idea is." See, Jesus called us to be salt and light, and they have to be in contact with something if they're going to change it. Right? But we forfeit a whole generation if our kids withdraw from the people who've never touched Jesus. They're not sacrificial lambs. They're people who can make a difference and raise their kids on the two words I raised ours on: GO MAD! Go make a difference! You need to change things. Don't let them change you. You are their hope of another way to be.

I sat on a swing one day as a boy, paralyzed by something I didn't need to fear. As Christian parents let's not do that or cause our children to do it. Teach them the dangers of a lost world for sure; expose the darkness. And then outfit them with a strong version of Jesus who doesn't run from the darkness. He challenges the darkness.

Mark 14:27-53, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A GUILT-FREE HEART - October 8, 2025

Do you desire a guilt-free heart? Then equip yourself with this promise: “If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done” (1 John 1:9 NCV).

Oh, the sweet certainty of these words. “He will cleanse us.” Tell God what you did. The place and posture are your choice. Go on a walk and talk with him. Stand in a corner. Kneel in a closet. Hold up your hands. Revisit that moment and let him display his grace. Confess your sins to him. And confess your sins to others. James 5:16 (NKJV) reads, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Healing happens when we are honest with God and others about our struggles.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Mark 14:27-53

 Jesus told them, “You’re all going to feel that your world is falling apart and that it’s my fault. There’s a Scripture that says,

I will strike the shepherd;

The sheep will go helter-skelter.

“But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”

29  Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”

30  Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

31  He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.

Gethsemane

32–34  They came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him. He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony. He told them, “I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”

35–36  Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: “Papa, Father, you can—can’t you?—get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want?”

37–38  He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

39–40  He then went back and prayed the same prayer. Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t have a plausible excuse.

41–42  He came back a third time and said, “Are you going to sleep all night? No—you’ve slept long enough. Time’s up. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let’s get going. My betrayer has arrived.”

A Gang of Ruffians

43–47  No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a gang of ruffians, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a signal with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him. Make sure he doesn’t get away.” He went straight to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The others then grabbed him and roughed him up. One of the men standing there unsheathed his sword, swung, and came down on the Chief Priest’s servant, lopping off the man’s ear.

48–50  Jesus said to them, “What is this, coming after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I’ve been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. What you in fact have done is confirm the prophetic writings.” All the disciples cut and ran.

51–52  A young man was following along. All he had on was a bedsheet. Some of the men grabbed him but he got away, running off naked, leaving them holding the sheet.

Condemned to Death

53–54  They led Jesus to the Chief Priest, where the high priests, religious leaders, and scholars had gathered together.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, October 08, 2025

by Adam R. Holz

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 4:1-6, 11-16

To Be Mature

1–3  4 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

4–6  You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

14–16  No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

Today's Insights

God’s love poured out through the creation of a new community made up of believing Jews and gentiles—something Paul calls “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4)—is the foundation for the apostle’s encouragement to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (4:1). Jews and gentiles—two groups long estranged from each other—were called to devote themselves to cultivating the unity created through Christ’s Spirit (v. 3). They needed to serve one another “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2 esv). Today, we’re also called to love and serve others with the gifts we’ve been given.

Jesus’ Work

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1

In 1997, Iowa State University named its football stadium after the school’s first black athlete: Jack Trice. Tragically, Trice had never even played in Ames, Iowa—he died from internal injuries sustained during a play in his second college game, played in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 6, 1923.

Trice wrote a note to himself the night before the game, bearing witness to his determination:

“The honor of my race, family, and self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will! My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about on the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part.” Trice profoundly understood that what he did flowed from the honor and dignity of who he was, infusing his character with courage. 

The apostle Paul says something similar in his letter to the Ephesians, challenging believers to let who they were in Christ influence every decision: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Paul challenges us to embrace a way of living shaped by Jesus’ work for us, in us, and through us, which yields humility, gentleness, patience, unity, love, and peace (vv. 2-3) as we use our God-given gifts to serve one another (vv. 15-16). 

Reflect & Pray

What’s the connection between our beliefs and actions? What gifts has God given you to serve others?

Dear Father, thank You for inviting me into a life filled with meaning and significance. Please help me to love and serve others with the gifts You’ve given.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, October 08, 2025

Come to Me

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

Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus? As long as we have even the tiniest bit of spiritual rebellion inside of us, we long for God to ask us to do something grand and important. Instead, he tells us to do something infinitely simple: “Come.”

Think of all the things you won’t come to the Lord about. If you want to know how spiritually real you are, test yourself with these words: “Come to me.” In every degree to which you are not real, you will argue rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; you will do anything rather than present yourself, just as you are, to your Lord.

“Come to me.” When you hear these words, you know that a change must happen inside you before you will come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do. He will show you that you must take an axe to the thing that is preventing you from getting through to the Lord. You will never get any further until you do. The Holy Spirit will locate the one unmovable thing in you, but he won’t budge it unless you let him.

How often have you come to God with your requests and had the feeling that you’d achieved your goal, only to come away with nothing? And yet all the time, God has stood with outstretched hands, not only to take you but so that you will take him. Think of the invincible, unconquerable, untiring patience of Jesus as he says, “Come to me.”

Isaiah 30-31; Phil 4

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. 

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, October 08, 2025

NAILING YOUR COLORS TO THE MAST - #10108

Ah yes, World History class. I'm sure you remember everything you heard there very vividly, right? No. If you remember anything, you probably remember that for centuries the nations of Europe were fighting it out to be number one on their block - often using their ships to build their empires. Now, if you were out on the high seas back then, sailing, let's say for England, the only way you knew if an approaching ship was friend or foe was by their colors flying from the mast. That was also how they would know whether or not to shoot at you as well. As the story goes, many captains decided to strategically lower their colors in a risky situation so folks wouldn't know what their allegiance was. But apparently there were a few bold and courageous skippers who gave a different kind of order to their crew. It went like this: "Nail the colors to the mast." "Uh, sir, that means we can't lower our colors if we need to?" "That's right, matey. Nail them to the mast!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nailing Your Colors to the Mast."

In the account of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection that first Easter week, we have the story of a follower of Jesus who knew all about lowering his colors when it might cost you to fly them. His name was Joseph, known by the town he was from, Arimathea. Apparently, he saw the crucifixion of Jesus, and then something happened.

In John 19:38 - it's our word for today from the Word of God - we read: "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. You bet he feared the Jews. He was part of the ruling Council of the Jews that had engineered Jesus' execution. If they found out that he had given his heart to Jesus, he had everything to lose! So he just kept following Jesus "under cover." He never told anyone about his relationship with Him.

Joseph would, according to some modern surveys, be one of the 90% of Christians today who never tell anyone about Jesus. Think about that. I mean, how many spiritually dying people are, in essence, remaining under their spiritual death sentence because of the silence of the Christian they know? What a tragedy! And why do we stay silent about our Jesus? For the same reason Joseph did. Fear of what they'll think of me, fear of what I might lose, fear that I might damage a relationship or mess it up. Valid fears? Possibly. But the fears of what might happen if I do tell them about Jesus are nothing compared to the fears of what might happen to them if I don't tell them! They may die without ever knowing how they could have lived forever!

But silent believers don't have to remain with their true colors lowered out of sight. Look at Joseph. He's hope for all of us. He totally blew his cover by going to the Roman governor and saying, "I want to bury Jesus in my tomb." I mean, that will identify Joseph with Jesus for all the world to know. But he doesn't care anymore. You know why? He saw what Jesus went through on that cross for him, and he nailed his colors to the mast!

Isn't it time for you to do that? When you think about your Savior dying publicly on a cross for you, would you tell Him, "Jesus, you're not going to be a secret anymore. You're who I'm about. You are my true identity. You are what I'm about forever. I will not deny you any longer."

Too many times you've lowered your colors, but not anymore. Not after what Jesus has done for you. Not when somebody's eternity may depend on you telling what you know. For once, for all, you are nailing your Jesus-colors to the mast and they will never come down again.

Numbers 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AGREE WITH GOD - October 7, 2025

Confession is agreeing with God. We agree about the reality of our sin. We don’t pretend we never sinned, nor do we discount its severity. We admit to it. God has an acceptable standard of behavior. “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NCV). God’s standard is perfection, and we are anything but.

We are prone to tamper with the standard. We compare ourselves with others, we justify misbehavior, we downplay the severity of our sin. In confession we quit tinkering with the system. Our thought process should go something like this: I took the wrong path. I ignored the direction of God. But though my sin is great, God’s grace is greater. I trust him to forgive me. We agree with God about the reality of our sin.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Numbers 14

The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: “Why didn’t we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don’t we just head back to Egypt? And right now!”

4  Soon they were all saying it to one another: “Let’s pick a new leader; let’s head back to Egypt.”

5  Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire community, gathered in emergency session.

6–9  Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, members of the scouting party, ripped their clothes and addressed the assembled People of Israel: “The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land—very good indeed. If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he’ll give it to us. Just don’t rebel against God! And don’t be afraid of those people. Why, we’ll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don’t be afraid of them!”

10–12  But, up in arms now, the entire community was talking of hurling stones at them.

Just then the bright Glory of God appeared at the Tent of Meeting. Every Israelite saw it. God said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me like dirt? How long refuse to trust me? And with all these signs I’ve done among them! I’ve had enough—I’m going to hit them with a plague and kill them. But I’ll make you into a nation bigger and stronger than they ever were.”

13–16  But Moses said to God, “The Egyptians are going to hear about this! You delivered this people from Egypt with a great show of strength, and now this? The Egyptians will tell everyone. They’ve already heard that you are God, that you are on the side of this people, that you are present among them, that they see you with their own eyes in your Cloud that hovers over them, in the Pillar of Cloud that leads them by day and the Pillar of Fire at night. If you kill this entire people in one stroke, all the nations that have heard what has been going on will say, ‘Since God couldn’t get these people into the land which he had promised to give them, he slaughtered them out in the wilderness.’

17  “Now, please, let the power of the Master expand, enlarge itself greatly, along the lines you have laid out earlier when you said,

18  God, slow to get angry and huge in loyal love,

forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin;

Still, never just whitewashing sin.

But extending the fallout of parents’ sins

to children into the third,

even the fourth generation.

19  “Please forgive the wrongdoing of this people out of the extravagance of your loyal love just as all along, from the time they left Egypt, you have been forgiving this people.”

20–23  God said, “I forgive them, honoring your words. But as I live and as the Glory of God fills the whole Earth—not a single person of those who saw my Glory, saw the miracle signs I did in Egypt and the wilderness, and who have tested me over and over and over again, turning a deaf ear to me—not one of them will set eyes on the land I so solemnly promised to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with such repeated contempt will see it.

24  “But my servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it.

25  “Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are so well established in the valleys, for right now change course and head back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea.”

26–30  God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “How long is this going to go on, all this grumbling against me by this evil-infested community? I’ve had my fill of complaints from these grumbling Israelites. Tell them, As I live—God’s decree—here’s what I’m going to do: Your corpses are going to litter the wilderness—every one of you twenty years and older who was counted in the census, this whole generation of grumblers and grousers. Not one of you will enter the land and make your home there, the firmly and solemnly promised land, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

31–34  “Your children, the very ones that you said would be taken for plunder, I’ll bring in to enjoy the land you rejected while your corpses will be rotting in the wilderness. These children of yours will live as shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, living with the fallout of your whoring unfaithfulness until the last of your generation lies a corpse in the wilderness. You scouted out the land for forty days; your punishment will be a year for each day, a forty-year sentence to serve for your sins—a long schooling in my displeasure.

35  “I, God, have spoken. I will most certainly carry out these things against this entire evil-infested community which has banded together against me. In this wilderness they will come to their end. There they will die.”

36–38  So it happened that the men Moses sent to scout out the land returned to circulate false rumors about the land causing the entire community to grumble against Moses—all these men died. Having spread false rumors of the land, they died in a plague, confronted by God. Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were left alive of the men who went to scout out the land.

39–40  When Moses told all of this to the People of Israel, they mourned long and hard. But early the next morning they started out for the high hill country, saying, “We’re here; we’re ready—let’s go up and attack the land that God promised us. We sinned, but now we’re ready.”

41–43  But Moses said, “Why are you crossing God’s command yet again? This won’t work. Don’t attack. God isn’t with you in this—you’ll be beaten badly by your enemies. The Amalekites and Canaanites are ready for you and they’ll kill you. Because you have left off obediently following God, God is not going to be with you in this.”

44–45  But they went anyway; recklessly and arrogantly they climbed to the high hill country. But the Chest of the Covenant and Moses didn’t budge from the camp. The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the hill country came out of the hills and attacked and beat them, a rout all the way down to Hormah.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Read: Ephesians 5:1-13

 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Footnotes:

Ephesians 5:5 Or kingdom of the Messiah and God

Insight

The church at Ephesus faced strong challenges to their faith, unity, and lifestyle. In his letter to them, Paul clearly stated what their response should be in verse 2 of today’s text. They were to imitate the heart of self-sacrificial love that Christ Jesus displayed on the cross.

Fly The Flag

By Joe Stowell

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. —Ephesians 5:1

Queen Elizabeth II has reigned over the British Empire for more than 60 years. Her monarchy has been characterized by grace and class. She has diligently given her life to serve her people well, and as a result she is deeply loved and highly revered. So, you can understand the importance of the flag flying above Buckingham Palace. When the flag is flying, it means that she is in residence in the heart of London. The flag is a public statement that the queen is present with her people.

As I was thinking about that, it occurred to me that our King Jesus is in residence in our hearts as our “never leave you nor forsake you” Monarch (Heb. 13:5). As wonderful as that is to us personally, I wonder if those around us would recognize that He is in residence based on the way we live? If He is within us, that will show on the outside. As Paul says, we are to be “imitators of God” and to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” (Eph. 5:1-2). As we do so, we will display joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

So let’s fly the flag of His presence—the flag of His grace, righteousness, and love—so that others may see Him through us.

Lord, remind me that Your presence in my heart

is intended to be a public reality. May I so value

all the blessings of Your presence that I am

willing to share them generously with others.

Fly the flag of Christ’s presence to show that the King is in residence in your life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, October 07, 2025

Reconciliation

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:21

Sin is a fundamental relationship. It isn’t wrongdoing; it’s wrong being. Sin is deliberate and emphatic independence from God. The Christian religion bases everything on the radical, singular nature of sin. Other religions deal with sins; the Bible alone deals with sin. The heredity of sin in humankind was the first thing Jesus Christ addressed. Because we have ignored this in our preaching, the message of the gospel has lost its sting and its explosive power.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” The revelation of the Bible isn’t that Jesus Christ took upon himself our sins, but that he took upon himself the heredity of sin, which no human being can touch. God made his Son to “be sin” so that any sinner could “become the righteousness of God.”

The Bible reveals that our Lord bore the sin of the world by identifying himself with sin, not by sympathizing with it. He deliberately took the whole massed sin of humankind and placed it on his own shoulders; he bore that sin in his own being. By doing this, he redeemed all of humanity, rehabilitating it and putting it back where God designed it to be. Now, thanks to what Jesus Christ did on the cross, anyone can enter into union with God.

Human beings cannot redeem themselves. Redemption is God’s work, and it is work that has already been done; it’s finished and complete. How individuals experience redemption is a question of their individual choices. A distinction must always be made between the revelation of redemption, which applies equally to all, and the conscious experience of salvation in an individual’s life.

Isaiah 28-29; Philippians 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. 

Facing Reality, 34 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, October 07, 2025

FIGHTING IT WHEN IT'S SMALL - #10107

I think I've lost the same five pounds 200 times - uh-huh. That's enough to make about six of me! Actually, I used to weigh 55 pounds more a number of years ago, and I lost it. But that's no great accomplishment. As anybody will tell you who has that same battle, the challenge is to keep it off. So I set a certain ceiling, and then I would kind of have this anchor weight. And as my weight creeps up there, which it often does, I yell down to the engine room, "Reverse all engines! It's time to go to work!" Frankly, it's just too hard to fight 20 or 25 pounds. It's much smarter, I've learned, to fight the problem when it's a baby than when it's full grown.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fighting It When It's Small."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is in 2 Corinthians 10, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 3. It's a battle briefing for spiritual warfare. It talks about how to fight spiritual enemies - but that which will weigh us down, hold us back, make us spiritually unhealthy. Here's what it says: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

That's an exciting passage. It talks about God's power to destroy fortresses of sin in our life. Then it goes on to talk, not about immoral behavior or pornography or attacks on people, it talks about our thoughts. It talks about arguments, pretensions, and then every thought. It presents the fantastic prospect of capturing every thought for Christ.

Now, when you're fighting being overweight, you have to fight that early in those first few pounds that you start to put on. When you're fighting sin, you have to fight it early, when it's just a thought. See, your mind is a jungle. Savage animals roam across it all day long, right? Thoughts of revenge, thoughts of lust, sexual impurities, proud thoughts, self-centered "me first" thinking, bitterness is there, anger. Usually we don't start fighting back until this idea animal becomes an action. Well, then it's too late. The Bible spells it out in James 1:15. It says that, "Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." Seems like it would be easiest to fight it as a thought, as a desire, doesn't it?

Successful spiritual warfare doesn't wait for sin to become a plan or an action. Successful spiritual warfare has to be fought in the jungle of the mind. It's there we find sin in thought form - a thought that needs to be captured and not allowed to roam free any more. Daily we capture thoughts as soon as they appear, and then immediately, consciously you turn that sin idea over to Jesus Christ.

General Douglas MacArthur said, "The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words - too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy." Now, think about this in terms of sinful thoughts: too late in realizing the mortal danger, too late in preparedness, too late in uniting all possible forces to resist it. See, this passage says that sin, even the strongholds of sin, are beatable unless you wait until it's too late.

Capture sin when it's a thought...just a thought. Take it from a former guy battling the weight battles. You can stay spiritually fit if you learn to fight it early.

Numbers 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LET GUILT GUIDE YOU TO GOD - October 6, 2025

Guilt tells you when you’ve done something wrong; shame tells you something is wrong with you. God wants to use your guilt to guide you, so let your guilt turn you toward God. How? Paul can help us. “Godly sadness produces a changed heart and life that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but sorrow under the influence of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10 CEB).

The apostle contrasts two types of remorse. One is from God that leads to deliverance. One is from the system of the world that leads to death (shame). One is healthy, the other is deadly. How can we uproot our guilt and replace it with seeds of grace? The answer: confession. “If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust him to do what is right” (1 John 1:9 NCV).

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Numbers 13

Scouting Out Canaan

1–2  13 God spoke to Moses: “Send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the People of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried-and-true leader in the tribe.”

3–15  So Moses sent them off from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of God. All of them were leaders in Israel, one from each tribe. These were their names:

from Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur

from Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori

from Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh

from Issachar: Igal son of Joseph

from Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun

from Ben-jamin: Palti son of Raphu

from Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi

from Manasseh (a Joseph tribe): Gaddi son of Susi

from Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli

from Asher: Sethur son of Michael

from Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi

from Gad: Geuel son of Maki.

16  These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land. Moses gave Hoshea (Salvation) son of Nun a new name—Joshua (God-Saves).

17–20  When Moses sent them off to scout out Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and then into the hill country. Look the land over, see what it is like. Assess the people: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? Observe the land: Is it pleasant or harsh? Describe the towns where they live: Are they open camps or fortified with walls? And the soil: Is it fertile or barren? Are there forests? And try to bring back a sample of the produce that grows there—this is the season for the first ripe grapes.”

21–25  With that they were on their way. They scouted out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob toward Lebo Hamath. Their route went through the Negev Desert to the town of Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of the giant Anak, lived there. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. When they arrived at the Eshcol Valley they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it took two men to carry it—slung on a pole. They also picked some pomegranates and figs. They named the place Eshcol Valley (Grape-Cluster-Valley) because of the huge cluster of grapes they had cut down there. After forty days of scouting out the land, they returned home.

26–27  They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip:

27–29  “We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan.”

30  Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.”

31–33  But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, October 06, 2025

by Marvin Williams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Philippians 2:1-11

He Took on the Status of a Slave

1–4  2 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

5–8  Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

9–11  Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Today's Insights

Paul’s teaching in Philippians 2:1-11 describes the core values that believers in Jesus are to exhibit. Christ exemplified these principles by becoming a man, living as a servant, and surrendering to death by crucifixion (vv. 7-8). Jesus’ example and teaching in John 13 amplify the need for believers to serve others. Hours before His crucifixion, John describes Christ having “a towel around his waist” (v. 4). Jesus ignored His status as their leader and washed the dusty feet of all present: “After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (v. 5). His actions were complemented with these words: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (v. 14). Christ calls us to imitate His example of love and humility and serve others.

Making Room for Others

In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

At electric vehicle charging stations across the United States, some drivers overstay their time at “fast-chargers,” which are designed to help drivers quickly charge their cars and get back on the road. To resolve this unkind behavior, one of the largest charging networks has implemented strict time limits at some of its busiest stations. When a vehicle’s battery charge reaches eighty-five percent, the driver must make room for the next car in need of a charge.

The apostle Paul encouraged believers in Jesus to humbly “value others above [themselves]” (Philippians 2:3). He addressed an issue that was grating the Philippian church—self-centeredness. The people desired recognition and distinction, not from pure motives but from “selfish ambition” (v. 3). Paul urged the believers to have the mind of Christ and to look “to the interests of the others” (v. 4). This didn’t mean that they should forget their own needs in an unhealthy way, but that they would care for others’ needs as those who “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (v. 5). The apostle encouraged the Philippians to empty themselves of pride and to humbly make room for others. The ultimate motivation for making room? Love.

As we seek to imitate Christ’s example each day (vv. 6-11), He can help us make room for others by viewing them with His loving eyes.

Reflect & Pray

How can you place others’ needs above your own? What does it mean to see others through God’s eyes?

Dear God, please help me empty myself and make room for others.

For further study, read Loving Your Neighbor through Prayer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, October 06, 2025

A New Heredity

God . . . was pleased to reveal his Son in me. — Galatians 1:15–16

If Jesus Christ is going to regenerate me, what is the problem he is up against? I’ve inherited a sinful nature, a heredity I had no say in. I am not holy, nor am I likely to become holy. If all Jesus Christ can do is tell me to be holy, I’ll end in despair. But since Jesus Christ does more than tell, since he is a regenerator who can impart to me his own heredity—the heredity of holiness—I begin to see what he’s getting at when he tells me to be holy.

Redemption means that Jesus Christ can remake anyone by putting his own holy nature into them. The standards he sets for us are based on this new heredity; his teaching is directed at what he puts into me, not at what I was before I received him. The moral obligation on my part is to agree with God’s verdict on sin in the cross of Jesus Christ.

What the New Testament teaches about spiritual rebirth is that when people are struck by a sense of their need, God will begin to put the Holy Spirit into their spirit, not stopping until they have been fully remade—that is, “until Christ is formed” inside them (Galatians 4:19). The moral miracle of redemption is that God can instill in me a holiness that enables me to live a totally new life. But it isn’t until I reach the frontier of need and understand my limitations that Jesus says, “Blessed are you” (Matthew 5:11). God cannot put the holiness that was in Jesus Christ into someone who is still convinced of their own morality. I have to be consciously in need of him to receive his heredity.

Just as the disposition of sin entered humanity through one man,

so the Holy Spirit entered humanity by one man. Redemption means

that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin and receive the spotless

heredity of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 26-27; Philippians 2

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, October 06, 2025

SAYING "YES" TO LOVE - #10106

It's hard to describe to you how our first grandchild lit up our lives. He had a smile that was really a people-stopper. Yeah, I know I sound like a grandfather. Now, it's a good thing this is radio or you'd have to look at my pictures as well! One day when he was about eight months old, I came home from the office to a pleasant surprise. My wife and I were babysitting our grandson. There he was, sitting on his Grandma's lap, leaning against her. I knelt down in front of the chair and told him what I tell him often. "I love you." He just looked at me, without changing his expression. I repeated it again - no response. Then two more times. "I love you." Suddenly he smiled, his arms started reaching, and his whole body leaned forward for me to hold him. And I did.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Saying 'Yes' to Love."

I kept telling my grandson I loved him. No response. And then finally, he reached for me. That scene has been repeated over and over again - millions of times - when God comes close to someone and says, "I love you." And we just don't respond. For you, this might be the day when you finally reach for the One who has loved you so long.

Our word for today from the Word of God, from 1 John 4:19, describes in just eight words how people like you and me finally come to experience the awesome love of God. It says, "We love Him because He first loved us." Well, there's the picture: The God who made you trying to tell you how much He loves you over and over. Actually, showing you how much He loves you. Earlier in this same chapter in the Bible, God says, "This is how God showed His love among us...He sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

God gave us our lives. And the One who rules billions of galaxies is the One who was supposed to call the shots in our lives. But according to what God says, "Each of us (and these are the Bible's words) has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). We've made ourselves God, and we've built a wall between us and the divine love that we were made for. That's why our deep loneliness has never gone away. It's cosmic loneliness. You're lonely for God.

And God's love for you is so great that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay for your rebellion and mine. You did the sinning. Jesus did the dying, and it's that kind of love that God has been trying to give you for years. But like my little grandson, maybe you've stayed where you are while your Heavenly Father has been saying, "I love you. I love you."

It's been a long, lonely, turbulent road without that love. And now you are risking an eternity without that love by putting off or ignoring God's forgiveness for your sins. Maybe you've thought God was mad at you, that He's an angry God you could never know or be close to. But if you want to know how God feels about you, look at the cross of Jesus. That was for you!

Haven't you lived long enough without this unloseable, unconditional love that you were made for? This isn't about being religious or some spiritual experience. It's about finally responding to the love of the man who gave His life for you!

One more time, God is leaning in close, calling you by name, and He's whispering, "I love you." But this time is your time to take that love!

You want to do that? You tell Him that right now, "Jesus, you loved me enough to die for me. I will take this life of mine that I've run too long already and I put it into Your hands. I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what you did on the cross for me." Our website is there for you at a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com. Go there as soon as you can today.

It's been a one-way love long enough. Reach out your arms for Jesus. His arms have been open for a long, long time, and He will take you in His arms and He will never let you go.