Ecclesiastes 10, bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado: Courage Through Community

Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding.  But Christ distributes courage through community; He dissipates doubts through fellowship.  He distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many.  When we mix, mingle, confess and pray–Christ speaks!

When we brush up against the church, we do just that.  Paul said, “The church is his body; it’s made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”  

The adhesiveness of the disciples instructs us.  They stuck together.  Even with ransacked hopes, they clustered in conversant community.  Isn’t this a picture of the church–sharing stories, exchanging ideas, mulling over possibilities, lifting spirits?  And as they did, it says in Matthew 18:20 that Jesus showed up to teach them, proving, “when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

Taken from Fearless


Ecclesiastes 10

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
3 Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone how stupid they are.
4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
6 Fools are put in many high positions,
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
7 I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.
8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
    whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
    whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.
10 If the ax is dull
    and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
    but skill will bring success.
11 If a snake bites before it is charmed,
    the charmer receives no fee.
12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.
13 At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
14     and fools multiply words.
No one knows what is coming—
    who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
15 The toil of fools wearies them;
    they do not know the way to town.
16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant[a]
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.
18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.
19 A feast is made for laughter,
    wine makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
    or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
    and a bird on the wing may report what you say.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 17:22–31

22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, "Men of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with ~to an unknown god= written on it. Now I am going to tell you about this 'unknown god' that you worship.

 24 "He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in temples built by hands. 25 He is not served by human hands. He doesn't need anything. He himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. 26 From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. 27 God did this so that people would seek him. Then perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. 28 'In him we live and move and exist.' As some of your own poets have also said, 'We are his children.'

 29 "Yes, we are God's children. So we shouldn't think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't a statue planned and made by clever people. 30 In the past, God didn't judge people for what they didn't know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. 31 He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to all people by raising that man from the dead."

Pride And Prejudice

May 29, 2012 — by David H. Roper

He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. —Acts 17:26

Back in the 1930s, my childhood home was loving and happy, but my parents were often away. On those occasions, the center of warmth in our home was the kitchen and our tiny, joyous housekeeper named Annie.

I spent many hours with Annie, sitting at our kitchen table reading books or playing with toys and listening to her sing and hum spirituals and hymns. From her heart sprang a continual flow of wisdom, cheerfulness, and song.

One morning, with childish exuberance, I used a racial slur I had heard. “Oh my, no,” she said, and then proceeded to pour out her heart in a gentle lecture on the harm and hurt in that, accompanied by a terrible sadness in her eyes. I never used that word again.

I learned that we cause unfathomable sorrow when we dishonor and debase others through bigotry. Every human being is created in the image of God—more like God than any other creature and worthy of honor. To demean that image is to wound another human being at the deepest level.

There is but one race: the human race. God “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). We are of the same family, made to be treasured and cherished by one another.

Of all creation’s treasures rare,
Not one compares in worth with man,
In God’s own image he was made
To fill a place in His great plan. —D. De Haan
God desires that we show respect to all people, because everyone bears His image.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 29, 2012

Untroubled Relationship

In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27

In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.

“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).

“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Light in Your Night - #6622

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

We had rented a cabin in the mountains, and we really didn't want to leave it much. The view across the valley was like a painting. It would change as the sun changed and the weather changed; all kinds of moods that you see in the mountains.

I had looked at the mountain across the valley from us many times, but I finally took a good look that direction at night. That's when I saw it - the cross. There was a lighted cross on top of the mountain, glowing in the night from a vantage point where it could be seen all around. Actually, that cross is there all the time but you don't really see it until it's dark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Light in Your Night."

You know, for many of us, the greatest discovery of our lives came when it was night; one of those dark times that we all go through in our life. A lot of people have learned that when it's night, you can see the cross, often for the first time in your life.

The cross - that awful place where Jesus was brutally crucified - turns out to be the ultimate proof of how much God loves you and me. If it's sacrifice that proves love, then we don't ever have to wonder how God feels about us. God the Father gave up God the Son to absorb the guilt and the hell for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. There has never been a greater sacrifice. There's never been a greater love.

But we can know about what happened at that cross. We can be around it for years and still miss that forgiveness, that love, and the heaven that Jesus died to give us. Maybe you've been kind of skirting the issue of dealing with Jesus personally. Maybe you feel someone's been pressuring you about Jesus, and that's just made you resist Him even more. Maybe it's pride that's kept you from having a life-changing encounter at the cross, or it could be even your Christianity, because you've had so much Christianity you thought you had Christ.

It's easy to go very busily about the routines of your life and never really see that cross until...it's suddenly night time. Something happens to your health, to your family, to your job, or whatever you've counted on for security. And none of your answers, none of your fixes are enough. That's when a lot of people look up and finally see the cross, shining there in the night, showing them where hope is.

In John 12:32-33, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "'When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.' He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.'" See, that was it - lifted up to die on a cross. But there would be a magnet in that old hunk of wood; a magnet that would draw the people He died for right to His side.

Which is exactly why you might be feeling that tug in your heart right now. Jesus is drawing you to come to the cross, to give yourself to Him; to find what you've spent your whole life looking for. All those religious hang-ups, all those lame arguments, all the proud resistance, all the spiritual pride just drops to the ground at the foot of His cross and you finally belong to the One you were made for.

If you've been doing it without Jesus all these years, for whatever reason, and you want this to be the day that you finally experience Him for yourself, would you tell Him that right where you are, "Lord, I turn from the running of my own life. I am pinning all my hopes on You because You died for me, and You walked out of your grave so you could walk into my life and I want you to today."

If that's what you want, then I think our website YoursForLife.net is a good place for you to go right now. Because that's where I've laid out in very simple and non-religious words exactly what the Bible says about how to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ; how you can know every sin of your life has been forgiven; how you can know for sure you're going to heaven. I hope you'll check it out.

Look, maybe it's night right now, not because God doesn't love you, but because He does. He doesn't want to lose you. His cross shines very brightly in your night.

Once you meet Him there, well it will never be night in your soul again.

Acts 10, bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear God's teachings.

Max Lucado: Goodness and Mercy

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy.  She didn’t like the idea of his walking to school alone.  But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother.  She did her best to stay calm, quoting the 23rd Psalm to him every morning:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

One day she asked a neighbor who walked with her daughter to follow Timmy to school, but to stay at a distance.  After several days Timmy’s little friend said, “Do you know that woman who follows us to school?  “Sure,” Timmy answered.  “That’s Shirley Goodnest and her daughter, Marcy.”  My mom reads about them every day in the 23rd Psalm  She says they will follow me all the days of my life.  So, I guess I better get used to them!

You will too.  God never sends you out alone!

Taken from Fearless

Acts 10:1-23
New International Version (NIV)

Cornelius Calls for Peter
10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
Peter’s Vision 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 7:9-17
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes —who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”

The Gathering

May 28, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd [us] and lead [us] to living fountains of waters. —Revelation 7:17

During Oswald Chambers’ service as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt (1915–1917), he touched the lives of many soldiers who died in World War I. On November 6, 1916, Chambers wrote in his diary: “We have a letter from a New Zealand friend telling us that Ted Strack has been killed. And so Ted Strack has ‘gone to be with Jesus.’ That is just how he would have put it . . . . [He] was a rough beauty of nature and of grace, a fearless, loveable little saint. Thank God for every remembrance of him . . . . So they are gathering one by one.”

As we grieve the death of those we love, we cling to Jesus’ promise of life beyond the grave. The book of Revelation records John’s vision of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language gathered around God’s throne in heaven (7:9). The overarching truth of this passage is a glad, eternal reunion when “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd [us] and lead [us] to living fountains of waters” (v.17).

The passing of every believer in Christ foreshadows the day when we will join them with the Lord. In our sadness today, we are hopeful as we see that “they are gathering one by one.”

Beyond the sunset, O glad reunionWith our dear loved ones who’ve gone before;In that fair homeland we’ll know no parting—Beyond the sunset forevermore. —BrockGoodbyes are the law of earth; reunions are the law of heaven.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 28, 2012

Unquestion Revelation

In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23

When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?

“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”

A Word With You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Do I Love Him This Much? - #6621
Monday, May 28, 2012

It was one of the great showdowns of my life - over a jar of peanut butter. Yeah. See, I was in love with my now "bride" for two and a half years before we got married, and because I loved her I began to change some things before we got married. I lost some weight; I changed my schedule to make sure there was a little time for her in there. I changed my after shave because there was one she liked. I became interested in her friends. My love was steadily changing one area after another in my life, until the day we went grocery shopping together.

Yeah. See, there was tension over whether to buy the expensive name brand of various items which I wanted to do, or the less expensive store brand which she had been raised to do. Since it was going to be "our" money when we got married, it got to be pretty tense. It came to a head over uh... yeah, a jar of peanut butter. My name brand versus her store brand. Suddenly I had hit a wall in how far this love thing was going to go, and the line was what I wanted in my favorite foods. Fortunately, I ended up deciding that she was more important than peanut butter or soft drinks. But every important love reaches a test point, and it's surprising what the issue often is.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Do I Love Him This Much?"

Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 40 , and I'll begin reading at verse 1. It's David's personal testimony, "I waited patiently for the Lord" he says. "He turned to me; He heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."

Now, David indicates here a very personal, very practical thing that the Lord changed when He came into his life. David says He changed my music. "He put a new song in my mouth; a hymn of praise to our God." Interestingly enough, that area of music is for many a major test of how much they love their Lord. Will I let Jesus affect my music...what I listen to?

Honestly, for many followers of Christ, that's the equivalent of the peanut butter test in my love for my wife. Do I love Jesus enough to let Him affect this - to let Him change my music? You say, "Come on, that's a teenage issue, right, that music stuff?" Not exclusively.

Music is one of the most powerful influences in our lives. It can make us feel romantic, or patriotic, or religious, sad. Music just drives in ideas. As one great composer said, "I loved music from being a young boy, because it bypasses the brain. It goes straight to the heart." That's true! Commercials use music all the time to drive messages into our head. See, if I'm going to live right, I've got to think right. And if I'm going to have to think right, I've got to get right input, which means I need to submit my music - this most powerful input - to the lordship of Christ. It doesn't matter if its country music, easy listening music, rock music, or rap music, whatever. The devil has planted his values in many styles of music. And honestly, it's often a separate compartment in many of our lives where we've put up a "No Trespassing" sign for Jesus. We say, "Well, that's just my entertainment." No! No, it's an important part of who you are. So important you won't let Jesus touch it.

He's looking at that locked closet and He's asking, "May I go in there? Didn't I die for that too?" Will you open up to the Lord this huge area of the music you listen to, who your music heroes are? Don't let it be an idol that He can't touch. Jesus is saying, "Let Me into your music."

Only you can answer the question that this raises, "Do I love Him this much?"

Ecclesiastes 9 bible reading and devotionals.

Max Lucado Daily: Devotion

“I give my life for the sheep.” John 10:15

The ropes used to tie our Lord’s hands and the soldiers used to lead him to cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, nor the screams of the mob. It was his devotion to us.

Ecclesiastes 9

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[f] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[g]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

5 For the living know that they will die,
    but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
    and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
    and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
    in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
    or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Wisdom Better Than Folly

13 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
    than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
    but one sinner destroys much good.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Timothy 2:19-26

19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

A Sense Of Dread


May 27, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. —2 Timothy 2:23

In Tennyson’s classic poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” valiant cavalry troops riding into battle are described by the imposing phrase, “Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.” Those words portray a sense of foreboding that anticipated the tragedy that lay before them.

When I was a pastor, I sometimes felt a sense of dread when heading to church meetings. Being aware of current or potential areas of conflict can easily cause serious concern. But this does not need to be the case in the church.

To a young pastor struggling with the pressures of ministry, Paul wrote, “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife” (2 Tim. 2:23). This applies to pastors as well as church attenders. Our personal conduct can help to reduce the amount of friction instead of elevating it through unwise actions or words. We can model for others the biblical way to avoid, manage, and even resolve conflict. Verses 24-25 encourage us to be gentle, patient, and humble in relating to others.

As James says, “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18). Pursuing the goal of being a peacemaker can reduce the sense of dread that conflicts generate.

O Lord, help us to turn aside
From words that spring from selfish pride,
For You would have Your children one
In praise and love for Your dear Son. —D. De Haan
Christians at war with each other cannot be at peace with their heavenly Father.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2012

The Life To Know Him

. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49

The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.

The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.

It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.

Ecclesiastes 8, bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear God's word.

Max Lucado Daily: He Leads Us

He Leads Us

“We will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16, NLT

God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene . . . so you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

Ecclesiastes 8

Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the King

2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing? ”

5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so[c] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[d] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried —those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[e] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life , because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth —people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Exodus 14:5-22

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops —pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Stand Or Go?

May 26, 2012 — by Dave Branon

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”—Exodus 14:13

The Israelites were trapped. Soon after leaving slavery and Egypt behind, they looked up and saw a distressing sight. A cloud of dust was moving their way, and in that dust was a massive army. Pharaoh’s “disease” had returned—hardening of the heart (Ex. 14:8). As a result, he sent his chariots after Moses and his people.

Once the Egyptian army caught up with the Israelites, all seemed lost. They were trapped between a wall of soldiers and a sea of water. In panic, they cried out to both Moses and God.

Both of them responded with instructions. Moses said, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. ” (14:13). And God told them, “Go forward” (v.15). While that may seem to be contradictory advice, both commands were from God and right. First, the people had to “stand still” or “firm” long enough to get instructions from God. What if they had rushed headlong into the Red Sea without consulting the Lord? But in standing still, they heard God’s instructions, which included both what they were to do—move on, and what Moses was to do—stretch out his hand over the sea in obedience and God would part the waters.

Do circumstances have you trapped? Stand still. Take time to consult God and His Word. Then, using His instructions, move ahead and let God guide you.

It matters not how dark the way,
How thick the clouds from day to day,
God will direct in all we do
If we take time to pray it through. —Mead
If you’re looking for guidance, follow Christ as your guide.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2012

Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

Ecclesiastes 7 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to hear God's message to you.
Max Lucado Daily: Mix and Match

If only we could order life the way we order gourmet coffee.  Wouldn’t you love to mix and match the ingredients of your future?  How about a grande happy-latte, with a dollop of love, sprinkled with Caribbean retirement?  Take me to that coffee shop!  Too bad it doesn’t exist.

The truth is, life often hands us a concoction entirely different from the one we requested.  Life comes caffeinated with surprises.  Transitions and alterations.   Some changes are welcome, others are not.

Remember the summary of King Solomon?  For everything there is a season.

A time to be born and a time to die
A time to plant and a time to harvest
A time to cry and a time to laugh
Make friends with whatever’s next!  Embrace it.  Don’t resist it.  As Paul wrote, “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.”

Taken from Fearless

Ecclesiastes 7

Wisdom

7 A good name is better than fine perfume,
    and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
    than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
    the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,
    because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
    than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
    so is the laughter of fools.
    This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
    and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
    for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
    For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
    and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
    as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
    Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13 Consider what God has done:

Who can straighten
    what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
    but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
    as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
    anything about their future.
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
    neither be overwise—
    why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
    and do not be a fool—
    why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
    and not let go of the other.
    Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.[a]
19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
    than ten rulers in a city.
20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
    no one who does what is right and never sins.
21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,
    or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
    that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

“I am determined to be wise” —
    but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
    who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
    to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
    and the madness of folly.
26 I find more bitter than death
    the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
    and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
    but the sinner she will ensnare.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher,[b] “this is what I have discovered:

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28     while I was still searching
    but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
    but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
    God created mankind upright,
    but they have gone in search of many schemes.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Corinthians 12:14-21

14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time. I won't cause you any expense. I don't want what you have. What I really want is you. After all, children shouldn't have to save up for their parents. Parents should save up for their children. 15 So I will be very happy to spend everything I have for you. I will even spend myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?

 16 In any case, I haven't caused you any expense. But I'm such a tricky fellow! I have caught you by tricking you!

 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of the men I sent to you? 18 I asked Titus to go to you. And I sent our brother with him. Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? Didn't I act in the same spirit? Didn't I follow the same path?

 19 All this time, have you been thinking that I've been speaking up for myself? No, I've been speaking with God as my witness. I've been speaking like a believer in Christ. Dear friends, everything I do is to help you become stronger.

 20 I'm afraid that when I come I won't find you as I want you to be. I'm afraid that you won't find me as you want me to be. I'm afraid there will be arguing, jealousy and fits of anger. I'm afraid you will separate into your own little groups. Then you will tell lies about each other. You will talk about each other. I'm afraid you will be proud and cause trouble.

 21 I'm afraid that when I come again my God will put me to shame in front of you. Then I will be sad about many who sinned earlier and have not turned away from it. They have not turned away from uncleanness, sexual sins and wild living. They have done all those things.

Conversion

May 25, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls. —2 Corinthians 12:15

Before my husband and I travel, we go to the bank and trade in our US dollars for the currency of the country we’ll be visiting. We do this so we can pay for expenses while we’re away from home.

When we become Christians, another kind of exchange takes place. Our lives are like currency that we convert from one medium to another. We trade our old life for a new one so that we can begin “spending” ourselves in a different kingdom. Instead of spending ourselves for the causes of this world, we are able to start spending ourselves for the cause of Christ.

The apostle Paul is a good example of this difference. After his dramatic conversion on the way to Damascus (Acts 9), he began spending his life in a dramatically different way. Instead of pursuing Christians to imprison and kill them, he began pursuing non-Christians to convert them. Then he spent the rest of his life for their welfare. He wrote to the church at Corinth, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Cor. 12:15). Everything he did was for the edification of his spiritual children (vv.14,19).

Conversion is far more than just changing our final destination. It’s changing the way we spend each day of our lives.

Lord, help me to spend myself on what will last,
not on what will fade away one day.
I give my life to You that I might spend and be spent
for others and Your will. Amen.
Conversion takes only a moment—transformation takes a lifetime.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 25, 2012

The Good or The Best?

If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left —Genesis 13:9

As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.

Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.

Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “. . . walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Survivor Tree - #6620

Friday, May 25, 2012

It was right after Christmas in 2004, and Damian Barrett was on a beach in Thailand. Suddenly he saw the tide go out so quickly that the bay was drained dry. And moments later, the ocean came roaring back with the monster tsunami that claimed so many lives that day across South Asia. A massive wave swept Damian into the shopping area and then into a store which then started filling with water. Unfortunately, he was carried to the ceiling by that rising water. He was sure he was going to die there, until the water actually pushed him through a gap in the roof.

But any relief that he felt didn't last long. Now he was being sucked out to sea where he would stand no chance. And then the tide slammed him into the trunk of a large tree - a massive tree that could withstand even the force of the tsunami. As vehicles, appliances and all kinds of debris swept past him, he hung onto that tree with everything he had.

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

That man lived to tell his story because of a tree that stood between him and certain death. For 2,000 years, a tree has been saving the lives of people who would otherwise have no chance. I'm one of them. That tree has stood between them and the deadly tide of eternal judgment that awaits on the other side of this life. Because as Hebrews 9:26-27, our word for today from the Word of God says: "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."

The verses immediately before and after that unsettling verdict tell us about the tree that offers hope of life. One of those verses says of Jesus, "He has appeared...to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself." See, our sin is the tide that is sweeping us inexorably toward the judgment of a holy God. He made us to live for Him; we've lived for ourselves instead. Everything else He made obeys Him except us. We are the rebels of the universe, and our rebellion carries an awful death penalty that the Bible calls hell. So imagine the power of those words, "He appeared to do away with sin." How? "By the sacrifice of Himself." See, that's the tree! It's that horrific cross where Jesus poured out His blood and His life to take the judgment you and I deserve.

The judgment for your sin fell on Jesus at the cross. That tree is what stands between you and the penalty of your sin no matter how good you are, no matter how religious you are, because no amount of good can satisfy a holy God or pay a death penalty. All our spiritual efforts are no match for the size of the wave of God's judgment.

So our only hope is clinging to the tree where God's judgment fell on His Son. Or, more importantly, to cling to the One who died on that tree, which means abandoning all other hopes: our pride, our religion, our self-reliance. And realizing we are as desperate and as helpless as a man being swept out to sea, and then clinging to the One whose death on that tree for us is literally our only hope - your only hope.

Have you ever told Him that? Have you ever said, "Jesus, I'm lost without You. I have no hope without You. But I'm ready to turn from my sin and I'm ready to hold onto You with all the faith I've got." If you've never done that, you're still facing the judgment for your sin. But if you'll do that today, your sin will be forgiven, erased from God's Book, your hell cancelled, your heaven guaranteed. It's time to tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

You know, our website is there set up really to be there for you at a moment like this to help you know how to belong to Him, how to begin your relationship with Him and know you've got it settled. If you want to get this done, would you go to our website? It's YoursForLife.net.

There's an old hymn that says it pretty well, "Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Your cross I cling." Wow! I pray that that will be you today.

Acts 9 bible reading and devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: In Good Hands

As heart surgeries go, mine was far from the riskiest.  But anything that takes four hours of probes inside your heart warrants an added prayer.  So on the eve of my surgery, Denalyn, I, and some kind friends offered our share.  As they left, I wanted to offer one more prayer–alone.

God and I had the most honest of talks.  The details would bore you, but they entertained us.  I thanked him for grace beyond measure and for a wife who descended from the angels.  I offered this prayer: “I’m in good hands, Lord.   But this could be my final night in this version of life, and I’d like you to know, if that’s the case, I’m okay.”

Here I am, strong as ever.  One thing is different now, though.  This matter of dying bravely?  I think I will.   And I pray you will do the same.

Taken from Fearless

Acts 9:23-43
New International Version (NIV)
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Aeneas and Dorcas

32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 32:1-5
A maskil of David.


 1 Blessed is the one whose lawless acts are forgiven.
      His sins have been taken away.
 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord never counts against him.
      He doesn't want to cheat anyone.
 3 When I kept silent about my sin,
      my body became weak
      because I groaned all day long.
 4 Day and night
      your heavy hand punished me.
   I became weaker and weaker
      as I do in the heat of summer.
                         Selah

 5 Then I admitted my sin to you.
      I didn't cover up the wrong I had done.
   I said, "I will admit my lawless acts to the Lord."
      And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
                         Selah


Coverups Stink

May 24, 2012 — by Marvin Williams

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. —Psalm 32:1

The smell at an overflowing garbage landfill site became a growing public concern. So workers installed high-pressured deodorant guns to counteract the smell. The cannons could spray several gallons of fragrance a minute over a distance of up to 50 yards across the mounds of putrefying garbage. However, no matter how many gallons of deodorant are sprayed to mask the odorous rubbish, the fragrance will serve only as a coverup until the source of the stench is removed.

King David tried a coverup as well. After his adultery with Bathsheba, he attempted to use silence, deceit, and piety to mask his moral failures (2 Sam. 11–12). In Psalm 32 he talks about experiencing the intense convicting hand of God when he remained silent (vv.3-4). Unable to withstand the conviction any longer, David uncovered his sin by acknowledging, confessing, and repenting of it (v.5). He no longer needed to cover it because God forgave him.

It’s futile to try to hide our sin. The stench of our disobedience will seep through whatever we use to try to cover it. Let’s acknowledge to God the rubbish in our hearts and experience the fresh cleansing of His grace and forgiveness.

Father, I know that I cannot hide my sins from You
for You know what’s in my heart. I confess them
now to You. Cleanse me, forgive me, and help
me to make a brand-new start. Amen.
Own up to your sin and experience the joy of confession.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 24, 2012

The Delight of Despair

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead —Revelation 1:17

It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.

“He laid His right hand on me . . .” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?

Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . .” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Race To Nome - #6619

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Maybe it's because of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Yeah, as a boy watching that show on TV, I was fascinated watching my Mountie hero racing across the snow with his dog team. I even wore pants that were marked "husky."

And then there was my ministry trip to Alaska one February where I got to see dog team races in the snowy streets of Anchorage. They call it the "Fur Rondy." Now, those memories reignited recently because our son retraced that trip to lay the groundwork for what could be an historic conference for Native Alaskan young people.

For whatever reason, I'm intrigued with this continent's legendary dog team "Super Bowl." It's called the Iditarod. Not just because of the event itself, but oh, because of its dramatic history. This rigorous race to Nome retraces the route of the original race in 1925. Except then it wasn't a sporting event. It was literally a race for life.

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

In January of 1925, Nome was this remote outpost, faced suddenly with a deadly outbreak of diphtheria, and virtually no vaccine to stop it. The National Health Department in Washington concluded "an epidemic of diphtheria is almost inevitable." That meant up to 75% of the children in and around Nome could die.

Well, a train brought the needed antitoxin as far as the train could go - to Nenana. That's 640 miles from Nome. From there, it had to be dog teams, taking the mail route that they called the Iditarod Trail. But that was usually a 25-day trip, and that was way too long to save the lives in Nome.

Knowing that their mission was life-or-death, the mushers and their dogs defied the weather; they defied the odds to do what had never been done before. Like the Pony Express, one team went as far as they could and then handed it off to another musher and his dogs. And history records that the winter of '25 was one of the worst ever, with temperatures that plunged to 60 below. Then the blizzard closed in around them. The only doctor in Nome said, "All hope is in the hands of the dogs and their heroic mushers."

Balto the lead dog of The Great Race of Mercy.

At 5:30 in the morning on January 30, the final musher drove his dogs - and the serum - into the streets of a sleeping Nome. It took twenty men; it took 150 dogs to get it there. Amazingly, they made the trip in just five and a half days, breaking the world record, and more importantly, saving hundreds of lives.

The drama of that desperate race to Nome touches something deep inside me, because it's a picture of a race for life where the stakes are even higher; a race that began on an old rugged cross 2,000 years ago. Our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 3:16 and chapter 4, verse 9, says this: "Jesus Christ laid down His life for us that we might live through Him." The news of His death for our sins and His game-changing resurrection - that's the only "serum" that can save a person from a hellish eternity and give them heaven instead.

And from generation to generation that life-saving message has been entrusted into the hands of every person who's been saved by hearing it. And today, it's in my hands and the hands of every person who belongs to this Jesus.

Getting Jesus' message to the people within my reach is not some casual, "get around to it sometime" thing. It is urgent beyond words. In the Bible's words, it's snatching "others from the fire" (Jude 23), it's rescuing "those who are being led away to death," it's holding "back those who are being led away to slaughter" (Proverbs 24:11). People I know. People I see all the time. People whose forever depends on what I know about Jesus. They are one heartbeat away from meeting God. Waiting any longer to tell them is gambling with their eternity.

Somewhere along the way, the cause for which Jesus died has become, well, like the Iditarod, a spectator sport, lots of activity but no thought about the lives at stake. But those of us who've been saved by the serum of the Gospel are responsible before God to get that serum to those who are going to die without it. Jesus expects that the driving passion of His people and His Church, will be the passion that kept Him on the cross, "to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). In a very real sense, we hold their eternities in our hands.

It really is a race for life.

Ecclesiastes 6 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to listen to God's teachings.
Max Lucado Daily: More Sharing

The truth about your stocks, cash, and 4081-K?   They’re not really yours.

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of a poor widow who came to the temple and dropped in two small coins as an offering.  She was down to her last pennies, yet rather than spend them on bread, she returned them to God.

Financial gurus would have urged her to cut back on her giving.  They would have discouraged the generosity of the woman.  But Jesus did just the opposite.  He said,

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.”

God owns everything and gives us all things to enjoy. Let’s move from the fear of scarcity to the comfort of provision.  Experience less hoarding and more sharing.

Replace fear of the coming winter with faith in the living God!  Jesus said, “Do good, be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.”

Taken from Fearless

Ecclesiastes 6

I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
    yet their appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage have the wise over fools?
What do the poor gain
    by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
    than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
    a chasing after the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named,
    and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
    with someone who is stronger.
11 The more the words,
    the less the meaning,
    and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 15:7-26

New International Version (NIV)
7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

16 “‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b] —
18     things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taking Risks

May 23, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

Barnabas and Paul . . . have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. —Acts 15:25-26

In his book Stuntman! My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life, Hal Needham reflects on taking risks. Needham has slugged it out in fist fights, raced cars at high speed, walked on wings of airborne planes, fallen off horses, and has even been set on fire! He risked his life to entertain film audiences and to distinguish himself as a top Hollywood stuntman.

Paul and Barnabas were also “men who have risked their lives” (Acts 15:26). But their motivation was far different. Their goal was to exalt Christ through the preaching of the gospel. As a missionary in the Roman Empire, Paul faced hazards that resulted in shipwrecks, beatings, persecution, and imprisonment—just to name a few (2 Cor. 11:22-30). But Paul was more than willing to take these risks to make Christ known.

Many believers take risks to spread Jesus’ good news. But fear of rejection causes others to remain silent. Have you been passively sitting on the sidelines ignoring opportunities to share the gospel? God has provided His Spirit to empower you (Acts 1:8) and His Word to make the message clear (Rom. 1:16). Ask God for the courage to speak up and witness for the Savior. Taking the risk will be well worth it.

Will you be bold in your witness
By giving lost sinners God’s Word?
Jesus will honor your service,
And sinners will surely be stirred. —Bosch
The rewards of witnessing are well worth the risks.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 23, 2012

Our Careful Unbelief

. . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on —Matthew 6:25

Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.

“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (MatthewMatthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.

The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

When No One's Pushing - #6618

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

I was at a Christian conference center where the children's program included gymnastics instruction. No, no, I did not get involved personally; my leotard doesn't fit any more. But there were some kids who were getting the hang of the forward rolls and the backward rolls. And there were some kids there who weren't getting the hang of it as well. They paraded them all out one night for a little show. And one girl raised her hands as she was supposed to, very gracefully, got into position to do a forward roll, and stayed there. She couldn't quite get the roll rolling, until the instructor got behind her and pushed her forward again, and then again.

Now, it wasn't the little girl's muscles that were moving her, it was someone else's. But at the end she took a bow just as if she had mastered these gymnastics routines. See, she has the illusion she can do it, but she's really paralyzed on her own, like a lot of God's students I know; like this one right here.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When No One's Pushing."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 2. It's Paul's commendation of some people who had learned their routines so to speak, pretty well. I'm reading from verse 12, which says this: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

Now, first of all, this is not a verse that teaches you that you are saved by your good works. It's about working out the salvation you already have; working it out into your everyday life. It's the "out working." It's making sure that what is in you works its way out so people can see it. But He says significantly you don't just do it when I'm there; you do it when I'm not there. See, these people were following Christ, but not just when their leader was there pushing them.

A lot of Christians who do the Christian routines do them as long as there is someone there pushing. The scary part about that is that it's a second-hand faith. What kind of Christian are you when your youth leader or your pastor is nowhere close; when your parents aren't watching? What happens when you're the only Christian in your dorm, or your office, or your class, or your circle of friends? When your environment changes, does your faith change too? See, that's a second-hand faith. It's not going to make it.

It's time you started to develop spiritual muscles of your own. Whatever your age, maybe you're too dependent on someone else to open the Bible for you, on someone else to keep you motivated, on someone else to keep you on track. You've got to develop your own discipline of time in The Word, of making Christ-honoring choices when there's nobody around to see but Him. You've got to take a stand on your own. See, it's risky to be God's person on your own, but it's such a good feeling when you stand for Christ and know you did it on your own, with only Him watching.

Look, let's take the crutches away and start doing some forward rolls on our own. Ask yourself, "What kind of Christian am I when no one is there pushing?" And start building up those spiritual muscles of your own.

Ecclesiastes 5 bible reading and devotionals.

Click to listen to God's words and teachings.
Max Lucado:God is the Great Giver

Accumulation of wealth is a popular defense against fear.  Since we fear losing our jobs, health care, or retirement benefits, we amass possessions, thinking the more we have, the safer we are!

If there were no God, ‘stuff-trusting’ would be the only appropriate response to an uncertain future.  But there is a God.  And this God does not want his children to trust money.  He responded to the folly of the rich man with the words,  “Do not worry about your life…Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.”

God is the great giver who “gives us richly all things to enjoy.”  He is the great provider.  The fount of every blessing.  Absolutely generous and utterly dependable.

The resounding message of Scripture is clear.  God owns it all.  God shares it all.

Trust him–not stuff!

Taken from Fearless


Ecclesiastes 5

Fulfill Your Vow to God

5 [a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.
3 A dream comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

Riches Are Meaningless

8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase,
    so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
    except to feast their eyes on them?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
    whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
    permits them no sleep.
13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14     or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
    there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
    and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
    that they can carry in their hands.
16 This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart,
    and what do they gain,
    since they toil for the wind?
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
    with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Isaiah 43:1-4

Israel’s Only Savior

43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.

Fear Not

May 22, 2012 — by Randy Kilgore

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. —Isaiah 43:1

My wife became seriously ill during her pregnancy with our second child. As the doctors struggled to find the problem, she continued to grow weaker—dangerously so.

Watching her suffer was a helpless and horrible feeling for me, and there were days when it felt as if God were not hearing our prayers. One Sunday, while I was looking for comfort from Scripture, my eyes landed on the first verse in Isaiah 43.

“Fear not,” it begins, and ends with “you are Mine.” Instantly, the Holy Spirit made the words personal. The intimate way God addresses Israel reminded me of His always-present attention to us too: “When you pass through the waters . . . through the rivers . . . through the fire” (v.2). Each phrase rose up in crescendo, from the pages to my heart.

Our comfort in that hour came not from promises of healing or miracles, but from knowing we were never alone. We had many other frightening times, including just after Ethan’s birth, when it looked as if both he and Cheryl would be lost. But God had used His words to comfort us and prepare us for those harder moments!

Let these words be a reminder to you that you are never alone.

At times our fears may loom so large,
We long for proof that God is near;
It’s then our Father says to us,
“Have faith, My child, and do not fear.” —D. De Haan
Never forget in the darkness, what you know to be true in the light.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 22, 2012

The Explanation For Our Difficulties

. . . that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us . . . —John 17:21

If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17 . It will explain exactly why you are where you are— because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be.

God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22). Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that?

God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical. Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him— because Jesus prayed, “. . . that they all may be one . . . .”


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Picking a Major - #6617

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

You know, it was a major turning point in the life of the Hutchcraft family when our firstborn went to college, and it was a major turning point for my checkbook, too! There was a lot of talk before our daughter left for college and even during orientation week about choosing a major. Of course, that's pretty heavy stuff for freshmen; they're lucky just to find their classes, let alone find their major. But they tell you during that orientation week to pick a major that will be useful later on.

Now, students might tend to follow their interests or their glands and major in football, or major in social life. Some do. Or major in practical jokes. Of course, I would never do that. Now, I heard a lot during orientation week saying, "Now, what are you going to do with that major?" "What are you going to do in your future?" That's mom and dad speaking. "Think about your future. Hey, this is costing a lot. Major in something that will be valuable in your future, not just something that looks good today." You know what? That's actually pretty good advice for all of us at Kingdom University.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Picking a Major."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 24, and here is Jesus describing a time when a lot of folks' majors won't be marketable anymore. It's called "the last days" in Scripture, and He says in verse 7, "It's a time when nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there'll be famines and earthquakes in various places." Then he goes on to say, "Then there will be a great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken."

Man, that is a lot of upheaval, and it's happening at a time when the world will look much as it seems to look today. Many Bible scholars believe that increasingly the stage is set for this to be maybe the generation that precedes the coming of Christ. And at that time, those who have majored their lives on business, or houses, personal empires, or money, or anything earthly, are going to find it totally useless, totally unmarketable, easily destroyed. Like a naive college student, many folks today are majoring on values that look good from here but will not support them in their spiritual future.

Then comes Jesus' counsel as to a major that is worth investing in. Matthew 24:35 - "Heaven and earth will pass away..." Okay, so those things are not majors, they're minors. "...but My words will never pass away." He's saying His words are the only major that will ever withstand every recession, every depression, every crisis, every illness, every emergency, any bomb a man can build. Could it be that the minors of life have left you little time for the major? You've got to set aside some time to dig into God's Word. Maybe that's slipped into becoming a low priority in your schedule. Make it high priority for your family if you want them to be ready for the future. We learn volumes of data from what we learn on Internet websites to remembering batting averages, but we don't learn the Bible.

Whether you're a Ph.D., or you never made it through high school, major in the Bible. It shows up the lies; it shows you what God wants today; it shows you the big picture.

Minor in what you will, but major in what will be there when nothing else is: the never-lying, never-dying Word of Almighty God.