Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 26
Repentance Is a Decision
Perhaps you do not understand that God is kind to you so you will change your hearts and lives.
Romans 2:4 (NCV)
No one is happier than the one who has sincerely repented of wrong. Repentance is the decision to turn from selfish desires and seek God. It is a genuine, sincere regret that creates sorrow and moves us to admit wrong and desire to do better.
It's an inward conviction that expresses itself in outward actions.
You look at the love of God and you can't believe he's loved you like he has, and this realization motivates you to change your life. That is the nature of repentance.
1 John 1
The Word of Life
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Walking in the light
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Colossians 3
Rules for Holy Living
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
September 26, 2008
Things Above
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Colossians 3:1-13
Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. —Colossians 3:1
Stepping outside and gazing heavenward on a star-studded evening always helps to soothe my soul after a trouble-filled day. When I peer into the night sky, I forget, at least for a moment, the cares of life on earth.
Ancient Israel’s prolific songwriter wrote a poem thousands of years ago that still rings true: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Ps. 8:3-4).
When we try to imagine the immensity of God’s heavens, our problems indeed seem trivial. Yet God doesn’t think so! With all the galaxies He has to attend to, God is mindful of us. And not only are we on His mind, He cares for us.
No wonder the apostle Paul advised new believers to set their minds on things above (Col. 3:2). In doing so, we raise our thoughts above the level of earthly disputes and focus instead on our loving, heavenly Father, who wants us to know Him, to know how to live peacefully with one another, and to know that we can live eternally with Him in a place even more beautiful than the heavens.
“The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1). Let’s join creation in praise to Him. — Julie Ackerman Link
Bless the Lord and sing His praises,
Bless the Lord now, O my soul;
Join the song all heaven raises,
Let the anthem loudly roll! —Peterson
© Renewal 1986, John W. Peterson Music Company.
Because God gives us everything, we owe Him all our praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 26, 2008
The "Go" of Reconciliation
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If you . . . remember that your brother has something against you . . . —Matthew 5:23
This verse says, "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you . . . ." It is not saying, "If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity," but, "If you . . . remember . . . ." In other words, if something is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God— "First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:24 ). Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when He is instructing you down to the smallest detail.
"First be reconciled to your brother . . . ." Our Lord’s directive is simple— "First be reconciled . . . ." He says, in effect, "Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing." Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
". . . and then come and offer your gift." The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And finally there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Putting it On Or Rubbing it in - #5665 - September 26, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, September 26, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
My poor children! As they were growing up, they had to listen to me speak so many times. One of those times was at a major youth convention in Laramie, Wyoming. My 12-year-old son and I were sitting together on the airplane flight back from the convention. Suddenly he said, "You know, I really liked the meetings, Dad, and I liked your speaking." Then he went on to explain, "There was something different this time, Dad. I listened this time." Great, I think. I asked him what he'd learned, and what he told me was not anything, of course, that I had said at the convention. It was original from him! He said, "Well, Dad, I learned that Christianity is a lot like suntan lotion." Right! I asked him, "How?" He said, "Well, if you put just one big blob of lotion on your arm or your face, it won't help much. It doesn't do much good unless you rub it in!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Putting it On Or Rubbing it in."
A 12-year-old boy had pretty well nailed it. If you look at many of us who name the name of Christ these days, you'll see people who pretty much believe all the right things and do a lot of the right things, but when it comes to our everyday lives we are actually pretty powerless and inconsistent. And many of us have this gnawing restlessness inside us that says, "This can't be all there is to the Jesus-thing." Well, it isn't!
To use my son's analogy from years ago, we have the right "lotion." In fact, we have a big blob of Bible knowledge on the outside. But, remember, "It doesn't do you much good unless you rub it in," which leads us to this sobering word for today from the Word of God in James 1:22. It describes Christians who are "deceiving themselves" it says. Self-deceived believers - kidding themselves. Well, here's how that happens.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." The passage then goes on to compare a person who reads the Bible and remains unchanged as being like a man who looks at himself in the mirror and walks away without working on his appearance. God says here, "It's not what you know spiritually that matters, it's what you do as a result of what you know." Unfortunately, too many of us are satisfied with just believing it. We think we're in good shape with God because we agree with all the right things, but it's passive agreement. If you tell me that staying out in the sun unprotected can give me skin cancer, agreement won't do me much good. I'll still get skin cancer if I don't do something; if I don't change as a result of the truth that I agree with.
Now, you can tell if you're just putting on the Jesus-life instead of rubbing it in. You can tell by how much you worry about your problems instead of trusting God with them, by how little you love people who don't love you or who are different from "your kind," by all that junk you allow into your heart, by how lame your prayers are, by how selfish you are, how proud you are, by how seldom you ever tell anyone about Jesus.
When you rub in what the Bible says about these issues, you start changing the way you are! When you just put a blob of Bible on your skin, you think you're OK but you keep on living the same old way - the un-Jesus way. When you open your mind to the words of God, open up your life, too! All this Bible you're learning and believing is supposed to be growing a Jesus-heart in you and a life that looks more and more like His. Every day, open yourself up to God's Holy Spirit to take the words He inspired and to rub them into your life.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
2 Peter 3, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 25
Christ Came to Serve
They all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord.
Zephaniah 3:9 (NKJV)
Jesus came to serve.
He let a woman in Samaria interrupt his rest, a woman in adultery interrupt his sermon, a woman with a disease interrupt his plans, and one with remorse interrupt his meal.
Though none of the apostles washed his feet, he washed theirs. Though none of the soldiers at the cross begged for mercy, he extended it. And though his followers skedaddled like scared rabbits on Thursday, he came searching for them on Easter Sunday. The resurrected King ascended to heaven only after he’d spent forty days with his friends—teaching them, encouraging them…serving them.
Why? It’s what he came to do. He came to serve.
2 Peter 3
The Day of the Lord
1Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 5:16-24
Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
September 25, 2008
The Power Of Patience
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 5:16-24
The fruit of the Spirit is . . . longsuffering. —Galatians 5:22
We’ve all heard the prayer: “Lord, make me more patient—and do it now!”
Why is it that patience evaporates when we are late for a critical engagement and are caught in a traffic jam? Or we rush to the “10 items or less” line at the store, only to find someone in front of us with 16 items!
Being forced to wait ratchets up the stress and shortens our fuse. When that happens, we not only fail to be patient but we undercut the Spirit’s work in our lives.
Patience is not just a virtue, it’s a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)—which means that demonstrations of impatience reveal the sour fruit of our fallen hearts rather than the sweetness of Jesus in our lives. Since God is a patient God, when we abandon patience we miss the opportunity to show our world the glory of God through our lives.
Bursts of impatience only demonstrate that we are more concerned with our own agendas than the needs and struggles of others. So let’s all take a deep breath and turn our focus away from ourselves by patiently loving others instead of ourselves in the midst of stress.
Patience gives us the privilege of sharing the refreshing fruit of God with others. — Joe Stowell
Our wrath uncurbed will not fulfill
God’s perfect plan for us;
We must be patient and refuse
To fret, to fume, to fuss. —Sper
Be patient. Show your world what God is really like.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 25, 2008
The "Go" of Relationship
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two—Matthew 5:41
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a super-natural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, "I am here for God to send me where He will." Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you. . ." ( John 15:16 ). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Storming Home - #5664 - September 25, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It was the only kind of day they have at O'Hare Airport - busy. It was August, and I was one of the thousands of passengers there who had plans and schedules, things we had to do, places we had to be. But, as far as I know, none of us made it. Chicago had a record-breaking storm that day - over nine inches of rain. There was massive flooding, in fact so much, that the airport was literally flooded closed. That created an interesting dynamic with no one able to come in or go out. It was sort of like Camp O'Hare all of a sudden. Many of us spent the day trying to find either a way out, or a phone to call out, or a place to spend the night. And it was a few years ago and you weren't talking cell phones. And virtually no one did what he or she had planned to do. Oh no! Our plans didn't go through all because of one storm! The rich, the poor, the powerful, the unknown, the young, the old - it didn't matter. Suddenly your destiny was out of your control. Storms will do that to you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Storming Home."
It's not uncommon for life's hard times to be portrayed in Scripture as storms. And that's appropriate because storms are often situations where you have no control over your outcome. Like all of us upended passengers that day at O'Hare Airport. Maybe like the situation you're in right now: medically, financially, or in your family, your business, maybe your ministry. It's "out-of-control" time. It's storm time.
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Nahum 1:3. It's this wonderful anchor verse buried in one of those often-neglected Minor Prophet books in the Old Testament. "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm." Out of control? Yours, yes. His, no.
Paul experienced that in a dramatic incident recorded in Acts 27. He was being transported from Israel to Rome, by ship and under Roman guard. But their ship was hit by a hurricane-like storm that battered them for two weeks! They had to throw their valuable cargo overboard, much of their equipment, and they didn't see the sun, the moon, or the stars for two weeks! They had no way to navigate, no way to know where they were headed. Paul describes them as just being "carried along." That sense of having no control of where you're going might sound painfully familiar.
Here's the exciting part. When they were finally driven aground, they ended up on the island of Malta. Guess where? Just south of Rome. All the time that they had apparently been out-of-control, there were right on course. So are you.
That's what the prophet meant when he said, "The Lord has His way in the storm." Your situation is out-of-control, but it is in God's control. In fact, God uses these stormy times in powerful ways to show you how much you need Him, how much you can rely on Him, to draw you closer to anchor people in your life, to help you see sin that you would otherwise would never face, to make changes you'd otherwise never consider. And then He brings you safely to your destination.
Maybe the winds in your life are intensifying right now. You can't find the things that you've always navigated by and the flood of your frustration and fear is rising. Listen, everything is under control. If you relax and you let God navigate, you are in for a wonderful surprise when the storm passes. The storm that blew you around so violently was actually blowing you home.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 25
Christ Came to Serve
They all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord.
Zephaniah 3:9 (NKJV)
Jesus came to serve.
He let a woman in Samaria interrupt his rest, a woman in adultery interrupt his sermon, a woman with a disease interrupt his plans, and one with remorse interrupt his meal.
Though none of the apostles washed his feet, he washed theirs. Though none of the soldiers at the cross begged for mercy, he extended it. And though his followers skedaddled like scared rabbits on Thursday, he came searching for them on Easter Sunday. The resurrected King ascended to heaven only after he’d spent forty days with his friends—teaching them, encouraging them…serving them.
Why? It’s what he came to do. He came to serve.
2 Peter 3
The Day of the Lord
1Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 5:16-24
Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
September 25, 2008
The Power Of Patience
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 5:16-24
The fruit of the Spirit is . . . longsuffering. —Galatians 5:22
We’ve all heard the prayer: “Lord, make me more patient—and do it now!”
Why is it that patience evaporates when we are late for a critical engagement and are caught in a traffic jam? Or we rush to the “10 items or less” line at the store, only to find someone in front of us with 16 items!
Being forced to wait ratchets up the stress and shortens our fuse. When that happens, we not only fail to be patient but we undercut the Spirit’s work in our lives.
Patience is not just a virtue, it’s a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)—which means that demonstrations of impatience reveal the sour fruit of our fallen hearts rather than the sweetness of Jesus in our lives. Since God is a patient God, when we abandon patience we miss the opportunity to show our world the glory of God through our lives.
Bursts of impatience only demonstrate that we are more concerned with our own agendas than the needs and struggles of others. So let’s all take a deep breath and turn our focus away from ourselves by patiently loving others instead of ourselves in the midst of stress.
Patience gives us the privilege of sharing the refreshing fruit of God with others. — Joe Stowell
Our wrath uncurbed will not fulfill
God’s perfect plan for us;
We must be patient and refuse
To fret, to fume, to fuss. —Sper
Be patient. Show your world what God is really like.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 25, 2008
The "Go" of Relationship
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two—Matthew 5:41
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a super-natural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, "I am here for God to send me where He will." Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you. . ." ( John 15:16 ). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Storming Home - #5664 - September 25, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It was the only kind of day they have at O'Hare Airport - busy. It was August, and I was one of the thousands of passengers there who had plans and schedules, things we had to do, places we had to be. But, as far as I know, none of us made it. Chicago had a record-breaking storm that day - over nine inches of rain. There was massive flooding, in fact so much, that the airport was literally flooded closed. That created an interesting dynamic with no one able to come in or go out. It was sort of like Camp O'Hare all of a sudden. Many of us spent the day trying to find either a way out, or a phone to call out, or a place to spend the night. And it was a few years ago and you weren't talking cell phones. And virtually no one did what he or she had planned to do. Oh no! Our plans didn't go through all because of one storm! The rich, the poor, the powerful, the unknown, the young, the old - it didn't matter. Suddenly your destiny was out of your control. Storms will do that to you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Storming Home."
It's not uncommon for life's hard times to be portrayed in Scripture as storms. And that's appropriate because storms are often situations where you have no control over your outcome. Like all of us upended passengers that day at O'Hare Airport. Maybe like the situation you're in right now: medically, financially, or in your family, your business, maybe your ministry. It's "out-of-control" time. It's storm time.
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Nahum 1:3. It's this wonderful anchor verse buried in one of those often-neglected Minor Prophet books in the Old Testament. "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm." Out of control? Yours, yes. His, no.
Paul experienced that in a dramatic incident recorded in Acts 27. He was being transported from Israel to Rome, by ship and under Roman guard. But their ship was hit by a hurricane-like storm that battered them for two weeks! They had to throw their valuable cargo overboard, much of their equipment, and they didn't see the sun, the moon, or the stars for two weeks! They had no way to navigate, no way to know where they were headed. Paul describes them as just being "carried along." That sense of having no control of where you're going might sound painfully familiar.
Here's the exciting part. When they were finally driven aground, they ended up on the island of Malta. Guess where? Just south of Rome. All the time that they had apparently been out-of-control, there were right on course. So are you.
That's what the prophet meant when he said, "The Lord has His way in the storm." Your situation is out-of-control, but it is in God's control. In fact, God uses these stormy times in powerful ways to show you how much you need Him, how much you can rely on Him, to draw you closer to anchor people in your life, to help you see sin that you would otherwise would never face, to make changes you'd otherwise never consider. And then He brings you safely to your destination.
Maybe the winds in your life are intensifying right now. You can't find the things that you've always navigated by and the flood of your frustration and fear is rising. Listen, everything is under control. If you relax and you let God navigate, you are in for a wonderful surprise when the storm passes. The storm that blew you around so violently was actually blowing you home.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2 Peter 2, daily reading and devotions
Get Over Yourself, by Max Lucado
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
“In humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Philippians 2:3 NIV
Columnist Rick Reilly gave this advice to rookie professional athletes: “Stop thumping your chest. The line blocked, the quarterback threw you a perfect spiral while getting his head knocked off, and the good receiver blew the double coverage. Get over yourself.”
The truth is, every touchdown in life is a team effort. Applaud your teammates. An elementary-age boy came home from the tryouts for the school play. “Mommy, Mommy,” he announced, “I got a part. I’ve been chosen to sit in the audience and cheer.” When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
2 Peter 2
False Teachers and Their Destruction
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them into gloomy dungeons[b] to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.[c] 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature[d] and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e] 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"[f]and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:8-16
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
September 24, 2008
Building A City
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 11:8-16
They desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. —Hebrews 11:16
For 41 years, New York’s Empire State Building enjoyed the distinction of being the world’s tallest building at 1,250 feet. Since then, others have passed it, including the 1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the 1,670-foot Taipei 101 building. The 2,657-foot Burj in Dubai to be completed in late 2008 will surpass those by far.
From ancient times, man has tried to distinguish himself through monuments of all kinds. It is still the dream of many today.
The writer to the Hebrews presents a better way to achieve significance. He noted that heroes of the faith never lost sight of the fact that they “were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). As a result, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (v.16).
It is a fact of life that every monumental work will likely be surpassed. Even man’s biggest “successes” are fleeting. Our best efforts can bring only temporary honor, which all too soon will be eclipsed by the new and greater achievements of others. But those who invest their efforts in living to please God have a lasting city and an everlasting honor to look forward to. God is even now preparing these for them.
Who is building your life? You or God? — C. P. Hia
True greatness does not lie with those
Who strive for worldly fame;
It lies instead with those who choose
To serve in Jesus’ name. —D. De Haan
A solid foundation gives strength to a building and a life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24, 2008
The "Go" of Preparation
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. ". . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . ." The "go" of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, "I will not give up my right to myself"— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Nuisance Or Need? - #5663 - September 24, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Life has a lot of disrupting sounds. And you can learn to tune a lot of them out: sirens screaming, telephones ringing, TVs blaring, trains rumbling. But there's one sound it's almost impossible to ignore - a baby's crying. If there's a baby in your house and he starts crying, what should you do? Just yell, "Nuisance!" and shut the door? Turn up the music? Yell back? Not unless you're a hopeless rookie at handling babies. No, you know the crying isn't the problem. It's what's causing the crying. Pointing at the baby and saying, "Stop that!" probably won't make a lot of difference. See, the crying isn't going to stop until her little tummy is filled, or until he gets the relief that only a good burp can give, or until you get the baby out of that mess. Yeah, the crying is a nuisance, but the need behind the crying - that's the real issue.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nuisance Or Need?"
Our Word for today comes from the Word of God from Luke 18:35. "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting at the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.' He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'"
"Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' 'Lord, I want to see,' he replied." The Bible goes on to tell us that he received his sight and he followed Jesus. And all the people who had been trying to get this nuisance to shut up, started praising God for what He had done.
When the people of Jericho saw this blind man, they saw a nuisance, and they told him, "Stop crying!" You and I are surrounded by people who are crying, not with the howls of a baby, but crying with their actions or with their attitude. Frankly, some of the people in our world, even in our family, seem like a nuisance sometimes, don't they?
But where others see a nuisance, Jesus sees a need! He goes to the need behind the blind man's crying. Now, in your life there are obnoxious people; there are mean people, folks who demand a lot of your time and attention; complainers; problem people. Honestly, there are people, who for one reason or another, well, you'd just like to close the door on like almost everyone else has.
And you will unless you see them through the eyes of Jesus. Then you'll see the need behind the deeds, like a mother who looks past a baby's crying to find out where it hurts. Usually, a person is a nuisance because he or she has needs no one has stopped to meet. Would you do what Jesus did for this annoying blind man? Would you stop for that person?
They may need someone who takes time to listen, someone who praises the good in them, someone to notice them and treat them like they matter. They're crying out for someone who will reach inside and find out what's making them bleed, who will include them. That crying person in a hurting person - a wounded person, but you can be part of God's healing in that person's life.
God has put us here to do what Jesus would do if He were in that situation. He's assigned you to a place where there are some hurting people, people who are crying because they need someone to get at the need that's been making them cry maybe for a long time. Would you be their Jesus-person? When others see a nuisance, you look for the need and you stop to help heal them.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
“In humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Philippians 2:3 NIV
Columnist Rick Reilly gave this advice to rookie professional athletes: “Stop thumping your chest. The line blocked, the quarterback threw you a perfect spiral while getting his head knocked off, and the good receiver blew the double coverage. Get over yourself.”
The truth is, every touchdown in life is a team effort. Applaud your teammates. An elementary-age boy came home from the tryouts for the school play. “Mommy, Mommy,” he announced, “I got a part. I’ve been chosen to sit in the audience and cheer.” When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
2 Peter 2
False Teachers and Their Destruction
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them into gloomy dungeons[b] to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.[c] 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature[d] and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e] 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"[f]and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:8-16
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
September 24, 2008
Building A City
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 11:8-16
They desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. —Hebrews 11:16
For 41 years, New York’s Empire State Building enjoyed the distinction of being the world’s tallest building at 1,250 feet. Since then, others have passed it, including the 1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the 1,670-foot Taipei 101 building. The 2,657-foot Burj in Dubai to be completed in late 2008 will surpass those by far.
From ancient times, man has tried to distinguish himself through monuments of all kinds. It is still the dream of many today.
The writer to the Hebrews presents a better way to achieve significance. He noted that heroes of the faith never lost sight of the fact that they “were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). As a result, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (v.16).
It is a fact of life that every monumental work will likely be surpassed. Even man’s biggest “successes” are fleeting. Our best efforts can bring only temporary honor, which all too soon will be eclipsed by the new and greater achievements of others. But those who invest their efforts in living to please God have a lasting city and an everlasting honor to look forward to. God is even now preparing these for them.
Who is building your life? You or God? — C. P. Hia
True greatness does not lie with those
Who strive for worldly fame;
It lies instead with those who choose
To serve in Jesus’ name. —D. De Haan
A solid foundation gives strength to a building and a life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24, 2008
The "Go" of Preparation
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. ". . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . ." The "go" of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, "I will not give up my right to myself"— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Nuisance Or Need? - #5663 - September 24, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Life has a lot of disrupting sounds. And you can learn to tune a lot of them out: sirens screaming, telephones ringing, TVs blaring, trains rumbling. But there's one sound it's almost impossible to ignore - a baby's crying. If there's a baby in your house and he starts crying, what should you do? Just yell, "Nuisance!" and shut the door? Turn up the music? Yell back? Not unless you're a hopeless rookie at handling babies. No, you know the crying isn't the problem. It's what's causing the crying. Pointing at the baby and saying, "Stop that!" probably won't make a lot of difference. See, the crying isn't going to stop until her little tummy is filled, or until he gets the relief that only a good burp can give, or until you get the baby out of that mess. Yeah, the crying is a nuisance, but the need behind the crying - that's the real issue.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nuisance Or Need?"
Our Word for today comes from the Word of God from Luke 18:35. "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting at the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.' He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'"
"Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' 'Lord, I want to see,' he replied." The Bible goes on to tell us that he received his sight and he followed Jesus. And all the people who had been trying to get this nuisance to shut up, started praising God for what He had done.
When the people of Jericho saw this blind man, they saw a nuisance, and they told him, "Stop crying!" You and I are surrounded by people who are crying, not with the howls of a baby, but crying with their actions or with their attitude. Frankly, some of the people in our world, even in our family, seem like a nuisance sometimes, don't they?
But where others see a nuisance, Jesus sees a need! He goes to the need behind the blind man's crying. Now, in your life there are obnoxious people; there are mean people, folks who demand a lot of your time and attention; complainers; problem people. Honestly, there are people, who for one reason or another, well, you'd just like to close the door on like almost everyone else has.
And you will unless you see them through the eyes of Jesus. Then you'll see the need behind the deeds, like a mother who looks past a baby's crying to find out where it hurts. Usually, a person is a nuisance because he or she has needs no one has stopped to meet. Would you do what Jesus did for this annoying blind man? Would you stop for that person?
They may need someone who takes time to listen, someone who praises the good in them, someone to notice them and treat them like they matter. They're crying out for someone who will reach inside and find out what's making them bleed, who will include them. That crying person in a hurting person - a wounded person, but you can be part of God's healing in that person's life.
God has put us here to do what Jesus would do if He were in that situation. He's assigned you to a place where there are some hurting people, people who are crying because they need someone to get at the need that's been making them cry maybe for a long time. Would you be their Jesus-person? When others see a nuisance, you look for the need and you stop to help heal them.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
2 Peter 1, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 23
The Proper View of Self
To him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think….be glory.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)
There are two extremes of poor I-sight.
Self-loving and self-loathing. We swing from one side to the other. Promotions and demotions bump us back and forth. One day too high on self, the next too hard on self. Neither is correct. Self-elevation and self-deprecation are equally inaccurate. Where is the truth?
Smack-dab in the middle. Dead center between “I can do anything” and “I can’t do anything” lies “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Neither omnipotent nor impotent, neither God’s MVP nor God’s mistake. Not self-secure or insecure, but God-secure—a self-worth based in our identity as children of God. The proper view of self is in the middle.
2 Peter 1
1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Making One's Calling and Election Sure
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."[a] 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 33:8-22
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
September 23, 2008
He Watches Over Us
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 33:8-22
From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. —Psalm 33:14
In the early 1960s, I read the novel 1984 by George Orwell, which made famous the phrase “Big Brother is watching you.” In this imaginary society, all aspects of life are under surveillance.
Today, there are an estimated 4.2 million closed-circuit video cameras in the UK alone! London is saturated with them. These cameras watch lobbies and sidewalks for security reasons. They even monitor traffic.
Psalm 33 tells us that God is also watching from on high (v.14). He sees not just images and activities but discerns thoughts and motives. As Creator God, when He speaks, it will be done (v.9). His eternal purposes march on unhindered (vv.10-11). Earthly obstacles are mere steppingstones to Him. Though many may depend on military strength for deliverance and safety, their hope is in vain (vv.16-17).
Yet we who fear the Lord need not flee from this awesome God. The psalmist affirms, “The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy . . . . He is our help and our shield” (vv.18,20).
The eye of the Lord may be fearsome, but we who trust in Him rejoice. He is not an intrusive “Big Brother” but our loving heavenly Father who watches over us. — Albert Lee
The Rock of Ages stands secure,
He always will be there;
He watches over all His own
To calm their anxious care. —Keith
Keep your eyes on the Lord; He never takes His eyes off you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2008
The Missionary’s Goal
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?". . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ." ( Ephesians 4:13 ), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go "up to Jerusalem."
"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" ( Matthew 10:24 ). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our "Jerusalem." There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going "up to [our] Jerusalem."
". . . there they crucified Him . . ." ( Luke 23:33 ). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, "I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ "
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Emergency Lights - #5662 - September 23, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I was at my friend Dave's house, meeting with a group of teenagers and it happened. We had been eating together out on his porch when the sky suddenly turned really nasty. We hustled inside, just before the skies started dumping rain and the thunder and lightning started - big time thunder and lightning. I wanted to continue our conversation under the dining room table, but no one wanted to join me there. So we went to the living room. Now you may have heard that theory about the origin of the universe - the Big Bang. Well, we heard it right then and there. Not the one that some people say started the universe, but the one that knocked all the lights out. That lightning bolt had knocked out all the electrical power in the area. But were we in total darkness? Oh no. My friend Dave is a bright boy. After the last hurricane in their area, he installed some emergency lights on a battery-powered auxiliary power system. So we had lights; lights that reverted to internal power when everything else failed!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Emergency Lights."
Old Testament prophet Habakkuk - a man who felt like all the lights had gone out. He was really struggling with events that he didn't like - he didn't understand. His book opens with him asking a question many of us have asked at one time or another, "How long, O Lord?" He was having a hard time waiting for God to do what He was going to do. Nothing was going the way Habakkuk had hoped it would.
But his heart has totally changed by the end of the book. In Habakkuk 3:16 he says, "Yet I will wait patiently." He's taken hands off and he's finally quit trying to tell God how to run things. Now here's where he describes a situation like that stormy night in my friend's house when everything that might produce light fails.
Verse 17, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fail and the fields produce no crops..." Now think just a minute, in a farming area, this is a description of total disaster. He says, "though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls." OK, wait a minute. We're talking the total triumph of Murphy's Law here. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Does that sound familiar at all? All the reasons for being happy seem to have failed. The lights of joy have gone out.
Though all the external sources of joy have failed, Habakkuk concludes, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength." This man of God says, "I've found a source of joy that is totally independent of how things are going, totally independent of any circumstances. I am anchoring myself to the Sovereign Lord who is totally in charge, whether it looks like it or not...on my God who is my Savior in this situation...on my Lord who literally is my strength to handle this hard time."
We're talking Murphy-proof joy; a light that stays on when all the external power sources fail. And, as a result, "The Sovereign Lord" he says, "enables me to go on to the heights." By carrying me through this disastrous time, God has put me on a high place where I have the perspective to see the big picture, to see my personal situation, my personal history through God's eyes.
So, if your joy is attached to your circumstances, when the storm knocks them out, you'll be in the dark. But if your joy is internally generated from an unshakable relationship with your awesome, Sovereign Lord, then you have light that will be there when every other light fails.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 23
The Proper View of Self
To him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think….be glory.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)
There are two extremes of poor I-sight.
Self-loving and self-loathing. We swing from one side to the other. Promotions and demotions bump us back and forth. One day too high on self, the next too hard on self. Neither is correct. Self-elevation and self-deprecation are equally inaccurate. Where is the truth?
Smack-dab in the middle. Dead center between “I can do anything” and “I can’t do anything” lies “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Neither omnipotent nor impotent, neither God’s MVP nor God’s mistake. Not self-secure or insecure, but God-secure—a self-worth based in our identity as children of God. The proper view of self is in the middle.
2 Peter 1
1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Making One's Calling and Election Sure
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."[a] 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 33:8-22
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
September 23, 2008
He Watches Over Us
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 33:8-22
From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. —Psalm 33:14
In the early 1960s, I read the novel 1984 by George Orwell, which made famous the phrase “Big Brother is watching you.” In this imaginary society, all aspects of life are under surveillance.
Today, there are an estimated 4.2 million closed-circuit video cameras in the UK alone! London is saturated with them. These cameras watch lobbies and sidewalks for security reasons. They even monitor traffic.
Psalm 33 tells us that God is also watching from on high (v.14). He sees not just images and activities but discerns thoughts and motives. As Creator God, when He speaks, it will be done (v.9). His eternal purposes march on unhindered (vv.10-11). Earthly obstacles are mere steppingstones to Him. Though many may depend on military strength for deliverance and safety, their hope is in vain (vv.16-17).
Yet we who fear the Lord need not flee from this awesome God. The psalmist affirms, “The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy . . . . He is our help and our shield” (vv.18,20).
The eye of the Lord may be fearsome, but we who trust in Him rejoice. He is not an intrusive “Big Brother” but our loving heavenly Father who watches over us. — Albert Lee
The Rock of Ages stands secure,
He always will be there;
He watches over all His own
To calm their anxious care. —Keith
Keep your eyes on the Lord; He never takes His eyes off you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2008
The Missionary’s Goal
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?". . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ." ( Ephesians 4:13 ), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go "up to Jerusalem."
"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" ( Matthew 10:24 ). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our "Jerusalem." There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going "up to [our] Jerusalem."
". . . there they crucified Him . . ." ( Luke 23:33 ). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, "I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ "
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Emergency Lights - #5662 - September 23, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I was at my friend Dave's house, meeting with a group of teenagers and it happened. We had been eating together out on his porch when the sky suddenly turned really nasty. We hustled inside, just before the skies started dumping rain and the thunder and lightning started - big time thunder and lightning. I wanted to continue our conversation under the dining room table, but no one wanted to join me there. So we went to the living room. Now you may have heard that theory about the origin of the universe - the Big Bang. Well, we heard it right then and there. Not the one that some people say started the universe, but the one that knocked all the lights out. That lightning bolt had knocked out all the electrical power in the area. But were we in total darkness? Oh no. My friend Dave is a bright boy. After the last hurricane in their area, he installed some emergency lights on a battery-powered auxiliary power system. So we had lights; lights that reverted to internal power when everything else failed!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Emergency Lights."
Old Testament prophet Habakkuk - a man who felt like all the lights had gone out. He was really struggling with events that he didn't like - he didn't understand. His book opens with him asking a question many of us have asked at one time or another, "How long, O Lord?" He was having a hard time waiting for God to do what He was going to do. Nothing was going the way Habakkuk had hoped it would.
But his heart has totally changed by the end of the book. In Habakkuk 3:16 he says, "Yet I will wait patiently." He's taken hands off and he's finally quit trying to tell God how to run things. Now here's where he describes a situation like that stormy night in my friend's house when everything that might produce light fails.
Verse 17, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fail and the fields produce no crops..." Now think just a minute, in a farming area, this is a description of total disaster. He says, "though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls." OK, wait a minute. We're talking the total triumph of Murphy's Law here. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Does that sound familiar at all? All the reasons for being happy seem to have failed. The lights of joy have gone out.
Though all the external sources of joy have failed, Habakkuk concludes, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength." This man of God says, "I've found a source of joy that is totally independent of how things are going, totally independent of any circumstances. I am anchoring myself to the Sovereign Lord who is totally in charge, whether it looks like it or not...on my God who is my Savior in this situation...on my Lord who literally is my strength to handle this hard time."
We're talking Murphy-proof joy; a light that stays on when all the external power sources fail. And, as a result, "The Sovereign Lord" he says, "enables me to go on to the heights." By carrying me through this disastrous time, God has put me on a high place where I have the perspective to see the big picture, to see my personal situation, my personal history through God's eyes.
So, if your joy is attached to your circumstances, when the storm knocks them out, you'll be in the dark. But if your joy is internally generated from an unshakable relationship with your awesome, Sovereign Lord, then you have light that will be there when every other light fails.
Monday, September 22, 2008
1 Peter 5, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 22
God Knows the Answers
If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it.
James 1:5 (NCV)
Thomas came with doubts. Did Christ turn him away?
Moses had his reservations. Did God tell him to go home?
Job had his struggles. Did God avoid him?
Paul had his hard times. Did God abandon him?
No. God never turns away the sincere heart. Tough questions don't stump God. He invites our probing.
Mark it down. God never turns away the honest seeker. Go to God with your questions. You may not find all the answers, but in finding God, you know the One who does.
1 Peter 5
To Elders and Young Men
1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."[a] 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12With the help of Silas,[b] whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 John 3:16-20
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
September 22, 2008
Arms Of Love
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 John 3:16-20
Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18
Many college students go on summer missions trips. But rarely does one come back with plans to rescue a baby. Mallery Thurlow, a student at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, went to Haiti to help distribute food. One day a mother showed up at the distribution center with a very sick infant in her arms. The woman was out of options. The baby needed surgery, but no one would perform it. Without intervention, the baby would die. Mallery took baby Rose into her arms—and into her heart.
After returning to the US, Mallery searched for someone to operate on baby Rose. Most doctors held out little hope. Finally, Rose was granted a visa to leave Haiti, and Mallery went back to get her. Detroit Children’s Hospital donated the $100,000 surgery, and it was successful. A little life was saved.
It’s unlikely that we will have such a dramatic impact on others. Yet challenged by this student’s willingness, we can find ways to provide help. She didn’t let circumstances, youth, or inconvenience stop her from saving Rose’s life.
Like Mallery, we are called to love “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Who needs you to be God’s arms of love today? — Dave Branon
When you see someone in need,
Love demands a loving deed;
Don’t just say you love him true,
Prove it by the deeds you do. —Sper
Compassion puts love into action.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22, 2008
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . . —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— ". . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . ." ( Matthew 23:8 ).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
"You call Me Teacher and Lord . . ."— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. ". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . ." (Hebrews 5:8 ). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Final Answer - #5661 - September 22, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Monday, September 22, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
A few years ago, an old TV format got resurrected and came back big time! It was the old quiz millions of dollars - "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Some Joe or Joan Ordinaryperson was show! The program that first captured the attention of millions of viewers was about winning asked a series of multiple-choice questions that got increasingly harder and were worth increasingly more. Now, if you needed help on a couple, you could call some person you've designated as your "lifeline." You could even listen to the opinions of the studio audience. But eventually, the spotlight was just on you, the contestant, and the host who was pressing the question. And when you finally gave your answer, the host asked that tension-building, unnerving question, "Is that your final answer?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Final Answer."
That may be the very question God is asking you about what you're doing with Jesus Christ, "Is that your final answer?" Someday, and no one knows when, you will have given your final answer about Jesus. And there will be no more chances. If your answer is right, God has promised you eternal life in heaven. If your answer is wrong, you will have to pay forever for your sins in a place that God calls hell; sins that Jesus already paid for on the cross so you wouldn't have to. But you must grab God's Rescuer in total trust or you won't be saved.
In Isaiah 55:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord gives a loving invitation, also a sobering warning. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Implication: you won't always be able to find Him; you won't always find Him there when you call. Someday, and you won't know that it's that day, you will give what turns out to be your final answer as to whether or not you're going to give yourself to Jesus. And when you stand before God, there will be no "lifelines" to reach for. You're not just deciding about Jesus. You're, in fact, deciding about where you will spend all eternity.
That's not my idea. It's what God Himself says in places like John 3:36 in the Bible, "Whoever believes in the Son (that's Jesus) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Now, you have to reach for Him "while He may be found...and while He is near." And that may be right now. You can feel a tug of Jesus in your heart again. You know you've never really committed yourself to Him; you know you need to. And some day you plan to.
But you don't come to Jesus when you're ready; you come when He's ready. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father...draws him" (John 6:44). If He's drawing you now, he's ready. Now is when you'd better come. There's no guarantee how many times He will come this close again. Tragically, so many people have slipped into eternity having given a deadly final answer to Jesus. An answer like "No," or "I'll take my chances," or "I hope I'm good enough," or "Later." All wrong - all deadly forever.
But today He's still near. He can still be found. And if you've never really trusted Jesus to be your Personal Rescuer from the penalty of your personal sins, don't wait another day to answer "yes" to Him. If you want Him in your heart, tell Him, "Jesus, I believe that when you died on that cross, it was my sins you were paying for. I believe you are not on that cross any more. You are alive and waiting to come into my life at my invitation. I turn from running my own life. Beginning today, Jesus, I am yours...all yours."
If you want to be sure you belong to Him, our website has been a help, I think, to a lot of people when they got to that point. If you are there today, would you go to YoursForLife.net. I think it will help you know that you've begun your relationship with Jesus Christ.
One day your answer to Jesus will be your final answer. Be sure that you've said, "Yes, Jesus, I'm yours."
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 22
God Knows the Answers
If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it.
James 1:5 (NCV)
Thomas came with doubts. Did Christ turn him away?
Moses had his reservations. Did God tell him to go home?
Job had his struggles. Did God avoid him?
Paul had his hard times. Did God abandon him?
No. God never turns away the sincere heart. Tough questions don't stump God. He invites our probing.
Mark it down. God never turns away the honest seeker. Go to God with your questions. You may not find all the answers, but in finding God, you know the One who does.
1 Peter 5
To Elders and Young Men
1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."[a] 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12With the help of Silas,[b] whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 John 3:16-20
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
September 22, 2008
Arms Of Love
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 John 3:16-20
Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18
Many college students go on summer missions trips. But rarely does one come back with plans to rescue a baby. Mallery Thurlow, a student at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, went to Haiti to help distribute food. One day a mother showed up at the distribution center with a very sick infant in her arms. The woman was out of options. The baby needed surgery, but no one would perform it. Without intervention, the baby would die. Mallery took baby Rose into her arms—and into her heart.
After returning to the US, Mallery searched for someone to operate on baby Rose. Most doctors held out little hope. Finally, Rose was granted a visa to leave Haiti, and Mallery went back to get her. Detroit Children’s Hospital donated the $100,000 surgery, and it was successful. A little life was saved.
It’s unlikely that we will have such a dramatic impact on others. Yet challenged by this student’s willingness, we can find ways to provide help. She didn’t let circumstances, youth, or inconvenience stop her from saving Rose’s life.
Like Mallery, we are called to love “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Who needs you to be God’s arms of love today? — Dave Branon
When you see someone in need,
Love demands a loving deed;
Don’t just say you love him true,
Prove it by the deeds you do. —Sper
Compassion puts love into action.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22, 2008
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . . —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— ". . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . ." ( Matthew 23:8 ).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
"You call Me Teacher and Lord . . ."— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. ". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . ." (Hebrews 5:8 ). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Final Answer - #5661 - September 22, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Monday, September 22, 2008
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A few years ago, an old TV format got resurrected and came back big time! It was the old quiz millions of dollars - "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Some Joe or Joan Ordinaryperson was show! The program that first captured the attention of millions of viewers was about winning asked a series of multiple-choice questions that got increasingly harder and were worth increasingly more. Now, if you needed help on a couple, you could call some person you've designated as your "lifeline." You could even listen to the opinions of the studio audience. But eventually, the spotlight was just on you, the contestant, and the host who was pressing the question. And when you finally gave your answer, the host asked that tension-building, unnerving question, "Is that your final answer?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Final Answer."
That may be the very question God is asking you about what you're doing with Jesus Christ, "Is that your final answer?" Someday, and no one knows when, you will have given your final answer about Jesus. And there will be no more chances. If your answer is right, God has promised you eternal life in heaven. If your answer is wrong, you will have to pay forever for your sins in a place that God calls hell; sins that Jesus already paid for on the cross so you wouldn't have to. But you must grab God's Rescuer in total trust or you won't be saved.
In Isaiah 55:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord gives a loving invitation, also a sobering warning. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Implication: you won't always be able to find Him; you won't always find Him there when you call. Someday, and you won't know that it's that day, you will give what turns out to be your final answer as to whether or not you're going to give yourself to Jesus. And when you stand before God, there will be no "lifelines" to reach for. You're not just deciding about Jesus. You're, in fact, deciding about where you will spend all eternity.
That's not my idea. It's what God Himself says in places like John 3:36 in the Bible, "Whoever believes in the Son (that's Jesus) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Now, you have to reach for Him "while He may be found...and while He is near." And that may be right now. You can feel a tug of Jesus in your heart again. You know you've never really committed yourself to Him; you know you need to. And some day you plan to.
But you don't come to Jesus when you're ready; you come when He's ready. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father...draws him" (John 6:44). If He's drawing you now, he's ready. Now is when you'd better come. There's no guarantee how many times He will come this close again. Tragically, so many people have slipped into eternity having given a deadly final answer to Jesus. An answer like "No," or "I'll take my chances," or "I hope I'm good enough," or "Later." All wrong - all deadly forever.
But today He's still near. He can still be found. And if you've never really trusted Jesus to be your Personal Rescuer from the penalty of your personal sins, don't wait another day to answer "yes" to Him. If you want Him in your heart, tell Him, "Jesus, I believe that when you died on that cross, it was my sins you were paying for. I believe you are not on that cross any more. You are alive and waiting to come into my life at my invitation. I turn from running my own life. Beginning today, Jesus, I am yours...all yours."
If you want to be sure you belong to Him, our website has been a help, I think, to a lot of people when they got to that point. If you are there today, would you go to YoursForLife.net. I think it will help you know that you've begun your relationship with Jesus Christ.
One day your answer to Jesus will be your final answer. Be sure that you've said, "Yes, Jesus, I'm yours."
Sunday, September 21, 2008
1 Peter 4, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
Guide me in your truth, and teach me, my God, my Savior.
Psalm 25:5 (NCV)
It's not fair," we say. It's not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly.
But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden.
All complaints were silenced when Adam and his descendants were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire.
Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next.
1 Peter 4
Living for God
1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering for Being a Christian
12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"[a]
19So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Timothy 2:14-19
A Workman Approved by God
14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"[a] and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
September 21, 2008
Rightly Dividing The Word
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Timothy 2:14-19
Be diligent . . . rightly dividing the Word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15
In 1879, James Murray was hired as the editor of The Oxford English Dictionary. He had little advanced education, but he was a gifted linguist. Murray enlisted a large number of volunteers around the world to read widely and send him usages of assigned words. At Oxford, he and a small staff of scholars cataloged and edited the definitions they received.
During his lifetime, Murray was knighted and awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford. Today, the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is still recognized as one of the most accurate and comprehensive dictionaries in the world.
Murray’s legacy of precision and accuracy with words reminds me of what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor of the Ephesian church: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The phrase “rightly dividing” is a metaphor derived from the stonemason’s craft of cutting stones straight to fit into their proper place in a building.
Precision with words is essential to an accurate interpretation of God’s Word. Let’s be people who care deeply about what the Bible says and what it means. — Dennis Fisher
Correctly handling the Word of truth
Takes diligence and care;
So make the time to study it
And then that truth declare. —Hess
Rightly dividing the Word multiplies our understanding.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21, 2008
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world. . . ."
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
Guide me in your truth, and teach me, my God, my Savior.
Psalm 25:5 (NCV)
It's not fair," we say. It's not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly.
But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden.
All complaints were silenced when Adam and his descendants were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire.
Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next.
1 Peter 4
Living for God
1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering for Being a Christian
12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"[a]
19So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Timothy 2:14-19
A Workman Approved by God
14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"[a] and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
September 21, 2008
Rightly Dividing The Word
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Timothy 2:14-19
Be diligent . . . rightly dividing the Word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15
In 1879, James Murray was hired as the editor of The Oxford English Dictionary. He had little advanced education, but he was a gifted linguist. Murray enlisted a large number of volunteers around the world to read widely and send him usages of assigned words. At Oxford, he and a small staff of scholars cataloged and edited the definitions they received.
During his lifetime, Murray was knighted and awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford. Today, the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is still recognized as one of the most accurate and comprehensive dictionaries in the world.
Murray’s legacy of precision and accuracy with words reminds me of what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, a young pastor of the Ephesian church: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The phrase “rightly dividing” is a metaphor derived from the stonemason’s craft of cutting stones straight to fit into their proper place in a building.
Precision with words is essential to an accurate interpretation of God’s Word. Let’s be people who care deeply about what the Bible says and what it means. — Dennis Fisher
Correctly handling the Word of truth
Takes diligence and care;
So make the time to study it
And then that truth declare. —Hess
Rightly dividing the Word multiplies our understanding.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21, 2008
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world. . . ."
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
1 Peter 3, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it--because it does.
1 Corinthians 14:1 (The Message)
Loosen up. Don't you have some people to hug, rocks to skip, or lips to kiss?...
Someday you are going to retire; why not today?
Not retire from your job, just retire from your attitude. Honestly, has complaining ever made the day better? Has grumbling ever paid the bills? Has worrying about tomorrow ever changed it?
Let someone else run the world for a while.
1 Peter 3
Wives and Husbands
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Suffering for Doing Good
8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
11He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."[a]
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c] 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom[d] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge[e] of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Timothy 1:12-17
The Lord's Grace to Paul
12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
September 20, 2008
Not Good Enough
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. —Isaiah 1:18
A friend told me recently of a young mother who was trying to explain her father’s death to her 4-year-old. The girl wondered where Grandpa was. “I’m sure he’s in heaven,” the mother answered, “because he was very good.” The girl replied sadly, “I guess I won’t be in heaven.” “Why not?” her mother asked in surprise. “’Cause I’m not very good.”
The story saddened me, as I’m saddened when I hear of others who believe they must be very good to get into heaven, especially since we all know deep down in our hearts that we’re not very good at all.
Perhaps like this little girl you’re thinking about your sins and asking, “What must I do to get to heaven?” The answer has already been given: Jesus, by His death, has paid in full the price of your sins, no matter how sordid, tawdry, or shameful they may be. Your salvation is free.
God promises, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). John Donne writes:
Or wash thee in Christ’s blood, which hath this might,
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.
No one is good enough to get into heaven. Eternal life is a gift. Receive Jesus by faith. — David H. Roper
The perfect righteousness of Christ
Is free to everyone,
But we by faith must take that gift
And trust God’s precious Son. —D. De Haan
No one is good enough to save himself; no one is so bad that God cannot save him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20, 2008
The Divine Commandment of Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" ( 1 John 1:7 ), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. ". . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35 ).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it--because it does.
1 Corinthians 14:1 (The Message)
Loosen up. Don't you have some people to hug, rocks to skip, or lips to kiss?...
Someday you are going to retire; why not today?
Not retire from your job, just retire from your attitude. Honestly, has complaining ever made the day better? Has grumbling ever paid the bills? Has worrying about tomorrow ever changed it?
Let someone else run the world for a while.
1 Peter 3
Wives and Husbands
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Suffering for Doing Good
8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
11He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."[a]
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c] 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom[d] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge[e] of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Timothy 1:12-17
The Lord's Grace to Paul
12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
September 20, 2008
Not Good Enough
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. —Isaiah 1:18
A friend told me recently of a young mother who was trying to explain her father’s death to her 4-year-old. The girl wondered where Grandpa was. “I’m sure he’s in heaven,” the mother answered, “because he was very good.” The girl replied sadly, “I guess I won’t be in heaven.” “Why not?” her mother asked in surprise. “’Cause I’m not very good.”
The story saddened me, as I’m saddened when I hear of others who believe they must be very good to get into heaven, especially since we all know deep down in our hearts that we’re not very good at all.
Perhaps like this little girl you’re thinking about your sins and asking, “What must I do to get to heaven?” The answer has already been given: Jesus, by His death, has paid in full the price of your sins, no matter how sordid, tawdry, or shameful they may be. Your salvation is free.
God promises, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). John Donne writes:
Or wash thee in Christ’s blood, which hath this might,
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.
No one is good enough to get into heaven. Eternal life is a gift. Receive Jesus by faith. — David H. Roper
The perfect righteousness of Christ
Is free to everyone,
But we by faith must take that gift
And trust God’s precious Son. —D. De Haan
No one is good enough to save himself; no one is so bad that God cannot save him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20, 2008
The Divine Commandment of Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" ( 1 John 1:7 ), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. ". . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35 ).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
1 Peter 2, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 19
Nothing to Offer
LORD, I call to you….Listen to me when I call to you.
Psalm 141:1 (NCV)
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. The centurion came in the middle of the day. The leper and the sinful woman appeared in the middle of crowds. Zacchaeus appeared in the middle of a tree. Matthew had a party for him.
The educated. The powerful. The rejected. The sick. The lonely. The wealthy. Who would have ever assembled such a crew? All they had in common were their empty hope chests, long left vacant by charlatans and profiteers. Though they had nothing to offer, they asked for everything: a new birth, a second chance, a fresh start, a clean conscience. And without exception their requests were honored.
1 Peter 2
1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."[a] 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,[b]"[c] 8and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."[d] They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submission to Rulers and Masters
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22"He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth."[e] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 50:4-6
Listen to this passage
4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears,
and I have not been rebellious;
I have not drawn back.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
Luke 2:46-52
46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
49"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" 50But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
September 19, 2008
A Learner
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 50:4-6, Luke 2:46-52
They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. —Luke 2:46
The poster in the church hallway pictured a young boy dressed in Middle Eastern clothing, with Bible in hand, walking up a hill to church. The caption read: “Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to Sunday school every Sunday.”
As a Jewish boy, Jesus didn’t go to Sunday school and church on Sunday, so the poster was inappropriate. But the picture is correct in portraying Jesus’ desire to be in His Father’s temple to listen to His teaching.
When Jesus was 12, He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-42). On their way home, His parents realized He was not with them. When they returned, they “found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions” (v.46).
Jesus had the heart of a learner-disciple. Isaiah writes of Him as Jehovah’s Servant: “The Lord God . . . awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear” (50:4-5). In His humanity, the Son was open to learn from His Father.
Jesus’ example challenges us to be listeners to God’s Word. We too can become learner-disciples if we’ll keep our hearts open to God’s teaching. — Anne Cetas
Fill me with the knowledge
Of Thy glorious will;
All Thine own good pleasure
In Thy child fulfill. —Grimes
The highest goal of learning is to know God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19, 2008
Are You Going on With Jesus?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" ( John 6:66 ).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on "outside the camp" ( Hebrews 13:13 ). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, "FollowMe" ( Matthew 4:19 )
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Just Wearing the Shirt - #5660 - September 19, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Friday, September 19, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I have two adult friends who own Princeton University sweatshirts. Al has one because he put in four challenging years there and graduated from Princeton. I ran into another friend, Dave, at the store one day and he was wearing his Princeton sweatshirt. I said, "I didn't know you went to Princeton, Dave." He informed me that he didn't attend that Ivy League school. He bought the sweatshirt at a discount store for 12 dollars! He said, "Oh, I didn't go there. I just wear the shirt!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Wearing the Shirt."
Jesus has a lot of folks like my friend who got his shirt at a discount store; they're just wearing His shirt. In fact, our word for today from the Word of God describes people like that. And frankly, it's pretty unsettling.
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many of you will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
This is a disturbing description, because the people Jesus says He never knew are not people who are only wearing a Jesus shirt. They have like a total Christian wardrobe. They have been Christian leaders, they're experts on Jesus, they've spoken for Jesus and they've done some impressive things in His name. Jesus says those who are truly His, who will end up in heaven, will not be "everyone who says" the right things but those who do His Father's will. Which is spelled out in John 6:40, "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life." See, it's your total trust in God's Son to rescue you from your sin that gets you into heaven and nothing else. It takes more than a Christian uniform.
There may be someone listening today who says all the right words - maybe even publicly - but you've never surrendered your heart and your will to Jesus Christ. The fact that you have Christianity but you don't have Christ can be concealed until you see the Lord. Could it be that you're just wearing the shirt, but your heart is still lost?
In Luke 6:46, Jesus addresses people who apparently really do belong to Him. But He asks, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Maybe your commitment to Jesus has deteriorated to being pretty much words like "Lord, Lord." My friend, Dave, had not really paid the price that goes with identification with the university. When my friend, Al, wears his shirt, it is backed up by years of sacrifice and work. Could it be that you're proud to wear a Jesus shirt, but you're not paying the price of really living consistently with Jesus first?
But by far the most important question you have to answer and answer correctly is this: "Do I really belong to Jesus? Have I really begun a relationship with Him by grabbing Him in total trust to be my Rescuer from my sin?" You see if it's only a Christian uniform, it won't make it past the throne of God on Judgment Day. You need to be sure. You need to make sure that Jesus Christ rules in your heart.
It may be hard for you to admit, but if you don't really belong to Jesus and you want to, would you tell Him that right now? "Jesus, beginning today, I really am Yours." And if you want to begin this relationship for real, I want to urge you to go visit our website at your first opportunity today. It's YoursForLife.net, and it'll walk you through how to be sure you have begun this relationship and that you truly do belong to Jesus. Or I could send you the free booklet Yours For Life if you just call for it at our toll free number. It's 877-741-1200.
I think the most chilling words Jesus will ever speak are "I never knew you," spoken to people who knew all about Him but didn't know Him. I don't ever want you to hear those words. He doesn't ever want you to hear those words. He comes to you one more time. Please, let Him in.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 19
Nothing to Offer
LORD, I call to you….Listen to me when I call to you.
Psalm 141:1 (NCV)
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. The centurion came in the middle of the day. The leper and the sinful woman appeared in the middle of crowds. Zacchaeus appeared in the middle of a tree. Matthew had a party for him.
The educated. The powerful. The rejected. The sick. The lonely. The wealthy. Who would have ever assembled such a crew? All they had in common were their empty hope chests, long left vacant by charlatans and profiteers. Though they had nothing to offer, they asked for everything: a new birth, a second chance, a fresh start, a clean conscience. And without exception their requests were honored.
1 Peter 2
1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."[a] 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,[b]"[c] 8and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."[d] They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submission to Rulers and Masters
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22"He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth."[e] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 50:4-6
Listen to this passage
4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears,
and I have not been rebellious;
I have not drawn back.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
Luke 2:46-52
46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
49"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" 50But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
September 19, 2008
A Learner
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 50:4-6, Luke 2:46-52
They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. —Luke 2:46
The poster in the church hallway pictured a young boy dressed in Middle Eastern clothing, with Bible in hand, walking up a hill to church. The caption read: “Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to Sunday school every Sunday.”
As a Jewish boy, Jesus didn’t go to Sunday school and church on Sunday, so the poster was inappropriate. But the picture is correct in portraying Jesus’ desire to be in His Father’s temple to listen to His teaching.
When Jesus was 12, He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-42). On their way home, His parents realized He was not with them. When they returned, they “found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions” (v.46).
Jesus had the heart of a learner-disciple. Isaiah writes of Him as Jehovah’s Servant: “The Lord God . . . awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear” (50:4-5). In His humanity, the Son was open to learn from His Father.
Jesus’ example challenges us to be listeners to God’s Word. We too can become learner-disciples if we’ll keep our hearts open to God’s teaching. — Anne Cetas
Fill me with the knowledge
Of Thy glorious will;
All Thine own good pleasure
In Thy child fulfill. —Grimes
The highest goal of learning is to know God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19, 2008
Are You Going on With Jesus?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" ( John 6:66 ).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on "outside the camp" ( Hebrews 13:13 ). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, "FollowMe" ( Matthew 4:19 )
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Just Wearing the Shirt - #5660 - September 19, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Friday, September 19, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I have two adult friends who own Princeton University sweatshirts. Al has one because he put in four challenging years there and graduated from Princeton. I ran into another friend, Dave, at the store one day and he was wearing his Princeton sweatshirt. I said, "I didn't know you went to Princeton, Dave." He informed me that he didn't attend that Ivy League school. He bought the sweatshirt at a discount store for 12 dollars! He said, "Oh, I didn't go there. I just wear the shirt!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Wearing the Shirt."
Jesus has a lot of folks like my friend who got his shirt at a discount store; they're just wearing His shirt. In fact, our word for today from the Word of God describes people like that. And frankly, it's pretty unsettling.
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many of you will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
This is a disturbing description, because the people Jesus says He never knew are not people who are only wearing a Jesus shirt. They have like a total Christian wardrobe. They have been Christian leaders, they're experts on Jesus, they've spoken for Jesus and they've done some impressive things in His name. Jesus says those who are truly His, who will end up in heaven, will not be "everyone who says" the right things but those who do His Father's will. Which is spelled out in John 6:40, "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life." See, it's your total trust in God's Son to rescue you from your sin that gets you into heaven and nothing else. It takes more than a Christian uniform.
There may be someone listening today who says all the right words - maybe even publicly - but you've never surrendered your heart and your will to Jesus Christ. The fact that you have Christianity but you don't have Christ can be concealed until you see the Lord. Could it be that you're just wearing the shirt, but your heart is still lost?
In Luke 6:46, Jesus addresses people who apparently really do belong to Him. But He asks, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Maybe your commitment to Jesus has deteriorated to being pretty much words like "Lord, Lord." My friend, Dave, had not really paid the price that goes with identification with the university. When my friend, Al, wears his shirt, it is backed up by years of sacrifice and work. Could it be that you're proud to wear a Jesus shirt, but you're not paying the price of really living consistently with Jesus first?
But by far the most important question you have to answer and answer correctly is this: "Do I really belong to Jesus? Have I really begun a relationship with Him by grabbing Him in total trust to be my Rescuer from my sin?" You see if it's only a Christian uniform, it won't make it past the throne of God on Judgment Day. You need to be sure. You need to make sure that Jesus Christ rules in your heart.
It may be hard for you to admit, but if you don't really belong to Jesus and you want to, would you tell Him that right now? "Jesus, beginning today, I really am Yours." And if you want to begin this relationship for real, I want to urge you to go visit our website at your first opportunity today. It's YoursForLife.net, and it'll walk you through how to be sure you have begun this relationship and that you truly do belong to Jesus. Or I could send you the free booklet Yours For Life if you just call for it at our toll free number. It's 877-741-1200.
I think the most chilling words Jesus will ever speak are "I never knew you," spoken to people who knew all about Him but didn't know Him. I don't ever want you to hear those words. He doesn't ever want you to hear those words. He comes to you one more time. Please, let Him in.
1 Peter 1, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 18
Who Can Fathom Eternity?
God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.
Ecclesiastes 3:10 (TLB)
It doesn't take a wise person to know that people long for more than earth. When we see pain, we yearn. When we see hunger, we question why. Senseless deaths. Endless tears, needless loss. . . .
We have our moments. The newborn on our breast, the bride on our arm, the sunshine on our back. But even those moments are simply slivers of light breaking through heaven's window. God flirts with us. He tantalizes us. He romances us. Those moments are appetizers for the dish that is to come.
"No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love
him" (1 Cor. 2:9).
What a breathtaking verse! Do you see what it says? Heaven is beyond our imagination.... At our most creative moment, at our deepest thought, at our highest level, we still cannot fathom eternity.
1 Peter 1
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Be Holy
13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[a]
17Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever."[c] And this is the word that was preached to you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 13
Concluding Exhortations
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."[a] 6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"[b]
September 18, 2008
Spare Beds
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 13:1-6
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. —Hebrews 13:2
In 2004, Casey Fenton co-founded a nonprofit service that helps travelers find a “friendlier alternative” to unfriendly hotels. They find homeowners who are willing to offer their spare beds and couches to others.
The group boasts almost a quarter of a million friendships that have been formed from their service. “The more we network,” said Fenton, “the better chance we have of this world being a better place.”
That service sounds a lot like biblical hospitality. In the final pages of his letter to the Hebrews, the writer instructed believers to practice their faith in Jesus Christ through hospitality (13:2). That was defined by the early Christ-followers as acts of generosity toward strangers.
In the first century, hospitality often included housing a guest. This was hardest to do during a time of persecution. These believers would not know whether the person was a spy or a fellow believer being pursued. But by entertaining strangers, the writer said, they could indeed be inviting a blessing into their homes.
As God’s people, we are called to be hospitable to others as part of our gratitude for the salvation we have received from God. — Marvin Williams
Lord, grant me a loving heart,
A will to give and share,
A whispered prayer upon my lips
To show I really care. —Brandt
People with a heart for God have a heart for people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18, 2008
His Temptation and Ours
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19 ), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One "who takes away the sin of the world" ( John 1:29 ) He "was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness" ( Matthew 4:1 ) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation "without sin," and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Brotherness - #5659 - September 18, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I never had a sister when I was growing up, but my sons did. Our daughter is the oldest, and her two brothers each came at about two year intervals after that. As I watched their relationship over the years, it was interesting to see what I had missed: a lot of kidding around, some exciting disagreements, some hugs, some advice, some conflict, but a lot of loyalty. One thing was always very clear, say between our daughter and her older brother. No one had better do his sister wrong. He was always her personal "look-out-forer." Is that a word? No. And until our son-in-law came along, no guy had ever been good enough to get her brother's "thumbs up." Two years younger, he was always her protector. You know if you're a sister, it's nice to have a brother like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Brotherness."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Timothy 5:2, God's roadmap for relationships between young men and women. He says, "Treat the younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." That's not how our culture tells young men to treat young women. It's more like "treat the young women as conquests, as lovers or something like that." God says they should be treated as your sisters.
What does that mean? To tease them mercilessly? Argue with them? No, I don't think so. The love of a brother for a sister, well after all is said and done, it's protective love. Like our son for his sister. "Look, I'm your brother and I won't let anything happen to you that could hurt you." That's why God says that men should treat women "with absolute purity." "I won't use you. I won't push for us to get physically involved. I won't even think about taking your greatest gift - your virginity. I won't let my mind wander into fantasies that would reduce you to a thing. I'll guard your reputation. I'll guard your purity. I'll guard your character."
Now that is the heart of real manhood: protecting a woman from being hurt, from being used, from being exploited, from being devalued - especially by you. There is a critical shortage of that kind of manhood. The man who steps up to this kind of brotherness is a rare treasure, and like anything rare, he is very valuable. He stands head and shoulders above all the other men who are much more takers than givers.
How does this brotherness thing work out practically? It means that a young man focuses on developing friendships with women, not romances. It means opening the door to real closeness by throwing his sexual agenda for the relationship out the window. I have no sexual agenda for this relationship.
And if you're a young woman who wants young men to be like this, you need to encourage guys you know in that way. Dress like you want brothers and friends, not users. Talk like it, act like it. Young men desperately need young women who will bring out the best in them - the brother in them.
If you're a young man, you need some sisters! Develop brother-sister relationships with the young women in your world. You'll experience a level of sharing and caring that the sexual conquerors will never even get close to. Treat her like family, like God's family...like your sister. The manliest men in the world are the men with whom a woman can know she is safe, that she is respected, and that she's treasure to be protected from anything that could spoil her.
Every sister needs that kind of brother. Let it be you.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 18
Who Can Fathom Eternity?
God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.
Ecclesiastes 3:10 (TLB)
It doesn't take a wise person to know that people long for more than earth. When we see pain, we yearn. When we see hunger, we question why. Senseless deaths. Endless tears, needless loss. . . .
We have our moments. The newborn on our breast, the bride on our arm, the sunshine on our back. But even those moments are simply slivers of light breaking through heaven's window. God flirts with us. He tantalizes us. He romances us. Those moments are appetizers for the dish that is to come.
"No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love
him" (1 Cor. 2:9).
What a breathtaking verse! Do you see what it says? Heaven is beyond our imagination.... At our most creative moment, at our deepest thought, at our highest level, we still cannot fathom eternity.
1 Peter 1
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Be Holy
13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[a]
17Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever."[c] And this is the word that was preached to you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 13
Concluding Exhortations
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."[a] 6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"[b]
September 18, 2008
Spare Beds
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 13:1-6
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. —Hebrews 13:2
In 2004, Casey Fenton co-founded a nonprofit service that helps travelers find a “friendlier alternative” to unfriendly hotels. They find homeowners who are willing to offer their spare beds and couches to others.
The group boasts almost a quarter of a million friendships that have been formed from their service. “The more we network,” said Fenton, “the better chance we have of this world being a better place.”
That service sounds a lot like biblical hospitality. In the final pages of his letter to the Hebrews, the writer instructed believers to practice their faith in Jesus Christ through hospitality (13:2). That was defined by the early Christ-followers as acts of generosity toward strangers.
In the first century, hospitality often included housing a guest. This was hardest to do during a time of persecution. These believers would not know whether the person was a spy or a fellow believer being pursued. But by entertaining strangers, the writer said, they could indeed be inviting a blessing into their homes.
As God’s people, we are called to be hospitable to others as part of our gratitude for the salvation we have received from God. — Marvin Williams
Lord, grant me a loving heart,
A will to give and share,
A whispered prayer upon my lips
To show I really care. —Brandt
People with a heart for God have a heart for people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18, 2008
His Temptation and Ours
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19 ), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One "who takes away the sin of the world" ( John 1:29 ) He "was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness" ( Matthew 4:1 ) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation "without sin," and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Brotherness - #5659 - September 18, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I never had a sister when I was growing up, but my sons did. Our daughter is the oldest, and her two brothers each came at about two year intervals after that. As I watched their relationship over the years, it was interesting to see what I had missed: a lot of kidding around, some exciting disagreements, some hugs, some advice, some conflict, but a lot of loyalty. One thing was always very clear, say between our daughter and her older brother. No one had better do his sister wrong. He was always her personal "look-out-forer." Is that a word? No. And until our son-in-law came along, no guy had ever been good enough to get her brother's "thumbs up." Two years younger, he was always her protector. You know if you're a sister, it's nice to have a brother like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Brotherness."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Timothy 5:2, God's roadmap for relationships between young men and women. He says, "Treat the younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." That's not how our culture tells young men to treat young women. It's more like "treat the young women as conquests, as lovers or something like that." God says they should be treated as your sisters.
What does that mean? To tease them mercilessly? Argue with them? No, I don't think so. The love of a brother for a sister, well after all is said and done, it's protective love. Like our son for his sister. "Look, I'm your brother and I won't let anything happen to you that could hurt you." That's why God says that men should treat women "with absolute purity." "I won't use you. I won't push for us to get physically involved. I won't even think about taking your greatest gift - your virginity. I won't let my mind wander into fantasies that would reduce you to a thing. I'll guard your reputation. I'll guard your purity. I'll guard your character."
Now that is the heart of real manhood: protecting a woman from being hurt, from being used, from being exploited, from being devalued - especially by you. There is a critical shortage of that kind of manhood. The man who steps up to this kind of brotherness is a rare treasure, and like anything rare, he is very valuable. He stands head and shoulders above all the other men who are much more takers than givers.
How does this brotherness thing work out practically? It means that a young man focuses on developing friendships with women, not romances. It means opening the door to real closeness by throwing his sexual agenda for the relationship out the window. I have no sexual agenda for this relationship.
And if you're a young woman who wants young men to be like this, you need to encourage guys you know in that way. Dress like you want brothers and friends, not users. Talk like it, act like it. Young men desperately need young women who will bring out the best in them - the brother in them.
If you're a young man, you need some sisters! Develop brother-sister relationships with the young women in your world. You'll experience a level of sharing and caring that the sexual conquerors will never even get close to. Treat her like family, like God's family...like your sister. The manliest men in the world are the men with whom a woman can know she is safe, that she is respected, and that she's treasure to be protected from anything that could spoil her.
Every sister needs that kind of brother. Let it be you.
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