Hosea 12 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: The Fort Knox of Faith

The Fort Knox of faith-is Christ!  Fellowship with Christ.  Walking with Him.  Pondering Him.  Exploring Him.  The heart-stopping realization that in Him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable and unfathomable.  And the fact that He who can dig the Grand Canyon with His pinkie, thinks you're worth His death on Roman timber.
Christ is the reward of Christianity. Why else would Paul make Jesus his supreme desire?  He said, "I want to know Christ." (Philippians 3:10).
Scripture says, "We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another."  (2 Corinthians 3:18)  As we behold Him, we become like Him.
Do you desire the same? The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a healthy body or a better self-image.
The Fort Knox of faith-is Christ!
from Next Door Savior

Hosea 12

New International Version (NIV)
12 [a]1 Ephraim feeds on the wind;
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.
2 The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah;
    he will punish Jacob[b] according to his ways
    and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
    as a man he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
    he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
    and talked with him there—
5 the Lord God Almighty,
    the Lord is his name!
6 But you must return to your God;
    maintain love and justice,
    and wait for your God always.
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales
    and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”
9 “I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
    gave them many visions
    and told parables through them.”
11 Is Gilead wicked?
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[c];
    Israel served to get a wife,
    and to pay for her he tended sheep.
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
    by a prophet he cared for him.
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
    his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed
    and will repay him for his contempt.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ezekiel 34:11-16

New International Version (NIV)
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Star Shepherd

May 23, 2013 — by David H. Roper

Why do you say, . . . “My way is hidden from the Lord”? —Isaiah 40:27

In the spring, shepherds in Idaho move their flocks from the lowlands into the mountains. Thousands of sheep move up the passes into the high country to summer pasture.

My wife and I came across a flock on Shaw Mountain last week. It was bedded down in a meadow by a quiet stream—a picturesque scene that evoked memories of Psalm 23.

But where was the shepherd? The sheep appeared to be alone—until a few broke away from the flock and began to wander toward a distant gully. Then we heard a shrill whistle from above. Looking up, we saw the shepherd sitting high on a hill above the sheep, keeping watch over his flock. A mountain dog and two Border collies stood at his side. The dogs, responding to the shepherd’s signal, bounded down the hill and herded the drifting sheep back to the flock where they belonged.

In the same way, the Good Shepherd is watching over you. Even though you cannot see Him, He can see you! He knows you by name and knows all about you. You are the sheep of His pasture (Ezek. 34:31). God promises that He will “seek out” His sheep, “feed them in good pasture,” and “bind up the broken” (vv.12,14,16).

You can trust in God’s watchful care.

I trust in God, I know He cares for me
On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;
Though billows roll, He keeps my soul,
My heavenly Father watches over me. —Martin
The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to care for us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 23, 2013

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

'Me Too' Won't Make It - #6879

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Albert Einstein's great-grandson doing a commercial? Yeah, well he did a few years ago. This particular auto manufacturer was showing that a new generation of drivers was choosing their make of car; not just their fathers and grandfathers. And he would go, "This is not my father's ___." No, I'm not going to name the car. They've got to pay for that. No, we don't do any commercials here.

But they also had the sons and daughters of famous people peeling out in their - shall we call it their new car X - sometimes with their father as a passenger. This is not my father's car X. Obviously some advertiser thought that they needed to develop a new market among the sons and daughters of the older generations who had bought that car. The next generation has to make their choice of how they're going to travel.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "'Me Too' Won't Make It."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 1:5. Paul was writing to his spiritual son in the faith, Timothy. He says, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also." Okay, here's a guy with a great heritage. He has a godly grandmother who has chosen Christ. He has a godly mother who knows Christ. And now, he says, "It's reached to you, Timothy. I remember your sincere faith." Even though Timothy had a great spiritual family, a great heritage, a great environment, that wasn't enough. It took his own, personal, sincere faith in Christ to bring it into his life. He couldn't hitchhike on a godly grandmother. He couldn't hitchhike on a godly mother.

That word sincere means in Latin, "without wax." It was used on plates that you'd buy at the market, or pottery that had not been patched up with wax by the merchant to cover up the cracks. When you held it up to the sunlight, really it was what it appeared to be. It was cynacera; it was sincere. It was without wax. Well, God is saying here, "Timothy, I know about your sincere, un-fake, first-hand stand-the-test faith.

See, you need to have a personal visit to the cross. You can't get by on somebody else's. You might be able to re-write the commercial and say, "This is not my mother's Christian faith. This is not my father's Christian faith." Possibly you've been trying to get by on a "me too" faith. Maybe you wonder why your efforts to live the Christian life keep collapsing. Maybe there's no foundation. Could it be that you've never begun with Christ yourself, or made a commitment? You've been coasting on your Christian environment instead of really digging into Jesus for yourself.

See, a "me too" faith won't make it in a world that's running away from God. You've got to have a faith that's skin like part of you, not like clothes you change for every different occasion. Maybe it's time for you to step out of the false security of a nice Christian environment. You need a Christian in-vironment. You need Christ in you, not around you. You don't need to rebel against your parent's commitment just to prove your individuality, you've got to find your own commitment to Christ...personal, powerful, and stronger than your parent's.

2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourselves. See whether or not you are in the faith." You will not be able to get into heaven on your family's faith. Can you look at your commitment and say, "This is not my parent's Christian life, or my church's. Because you're going to crash if you try to drive someone else's faith. It's time for you to say, "Jesus, you loved me. You died for me. I'm making you my Savior, my Rescuer from my sin."

If you've never done that, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website to make sure you know how you belong to Him. Go to YoursForLife.net. See, you've got to choose how you're going to travel and go from "me too" to "my personal Savior."

Romans 15:14-33 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: The Names of God

In the three years as I came to know my wife, Denalyn, our relationship evolved. And with each change came a new name.  She went from acquaintance to friend to eye-popping beauty to date to fiancée and wife. Now she is confidante, mother of my children, life-long partner.  The more I know her the more names I give her.

And the more God’s people came to know him, the more names they gave him.  Elohim, strong one or creator.  Jehovah-raah, a caring shepherd. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. These are just a few of the names of God which describe his character.  Study them, for in a given day, you may need each one of them.

God, the shepherd who leads, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm, the physician who heals the sick, the banner that guides. And most of all…He Is!

from The Great House of God

Romans 15:14-33
New International Version (NIV)
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”[a]
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 4:27-38

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

A Missed Lunch

May 22, 2013 — by Joe Stowell

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” —John 4:34

For me, food is more than a necessity—it’s a wonderfully enjoyable part of life! I enjoy sitting down to a well-prepared meal, especially when I’m feeling hungry. I imagine that the disciples were hungry for lunch when they returned to the well where Jesus was interacting with the Samaritan woman. They urged Him, “Rabbi, eat” (John 4:31). His response? “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (v.32), which made them wonder if someone had already brought Him something to eat (v.33).

I wonder if the disciples were so consumed with thinking about food that they couldn’t see past their picnic. They didn’t understand the significance of what was going on at the well. The most important thing to Jesus was “to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (v.34). He was focused on the spiritual needs of this woman who desperately needed what only He could give.

It’s easy to become preoccupied with needs of the moment. But Jesus invites us to get beyond our own interests—our own little “lunch”—to open our eyes to the souls who are searching for answers to their deepest needs.

So, join Jesus at the well, and let Him use you to tell others about the spiritual food only He can give.

Dear Lord, may my eyes be fixed not just on the things
I am interested in, but lift my eyes to see the
needy souls around me. Give me passion for the lost
and the joy of seeing others satisfied in You.
Be hungry to satisfy the needs of others around you.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 22, 2013

. . . 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

The Sandbag Syndrome - #6878

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

If you've ever given a child a helium balloon, you know you had better tie it to something or you're going to have a heartbroken kid pretty soon. That crazy balloon will just float away and slowly disappear into the sky, and all the while here's this crying child pointing at the sky and expecting you somehow to get up there and retrieve it. Now, when you go from a helium balloon to a hot air balloon-the kind that carries people-you don't want that balloon to just go drifting off somewhere. That's why they put those sandbags on hot air balloons. I think they call it ballast. It's to hold them down; to help control them and to keep them from drifting off. Balloons need ballasts; so do people.

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

As we look at our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 12:7, realize that Paul has been telling us just before this about some very inflating times he has had with God. And then he says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me." Actually that word thorn means a sharpened stake, and it's probably a better translation to say "for his flesh" than in it. So, he's saying, "God gave me, but then it was also a messenger from Satan, a stake for the flesh."

Now, that thorn-that stake-it applies not only to Paul's situation, but whatever that frustrating factor is in your life right now, that thing that is limiting you, that's holding you down, maybe even tormenting you. You say, "Well, why?" Paul wondered, "Why is this in my life when God is using me so much?" Well, in the original, the phrase that opens and closes this verse is repeated...the exact same phrase. He says, "So that I may not be exalted over much, I have this thorn in the flesh." Then again he says, "So that I may not be exalted over much."

In other words, if it weren't for this stake, I'd go drifting off on my own ambitions, in my own strength, in my own pride. It's like divine sandbags holding him from drifting off.

See, when God is working in your life and through your life, you need ballast to keep your feet on the ground. I guess we could call them the Lord's levelers. They aren't much fun; Paul's wasn't. But we really need them.

It's a pattern in Scripture: Elijah, at probably the greatest moment of his life in being used by God-Mount Carmel where he defeated 400 false prophets. Right after that, he's on the queen's most wanted list, he's being pursued by the queen's forces, and he's very depressed. See, when a thorn comes at a time like that, you say, "Oh, man, something's wrong!" No, it may very well be that everything's okay. The Lord has just allowed some sandbags to come into your life.

Maybe you're a little inflated by what God has been doing, and God doesn't want you to be flying off on your own. First Peter says that "God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time." So, that thorn, that stake, that sandbag is a constant reminder of how much you need your Lord.

Like Paul, you can learn to thank the Lord for the ballast that He gives you with those sandbags. Sure, they're heavy, but they're helpful.

Hosea 11 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: God Adopts Us

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us! It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more.  He gives you his name.  It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came.  In fact sometimes the child came with no decision.  I’ve heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I’ve never heard of an unplanned adoption.

If anybody understands God’s ardor for his children, it’s someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home!

from The Great House of God

Hosea 11

God’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.[e]
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.
5 “Will they not return to Egypt
    and will not Assyria rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?
6 A sword will flash in their cities;
    it will devour their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn from me.
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.
8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
    nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
    the Holy One among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
    declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin

12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
    Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
    even against the faithful Holy One.[f]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Isaiah 49:13-16

Shout for joy, you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;
    burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me.

Not Abandoned

May 21, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. —Isaiah 49:15-16

Years ago, while my husband and I were visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, we noticed a baby stroller by itself with no one nearby. We assumed that the parents had left it there because it was too bulky and were now carrying their child. But as we approached, we saw a sleeping baby inside. Where was a parent . . . a sibling . . . a babysitter? We hung around for quite some time before hailing a museum official. No one had shown up to claim that precious child! The last we saw of him, he was being wheeled away to a safe place.

That experience made me think about what it’s like to be abandoned. It’s an overwhelming feeling that no one cares anything about you. It’s a real and excruciatingly painful feeling. But even though people may abandon us, God’s love and presence is assured. The Lord promises that He will never leave us (Deut. 31:8). He will be with us wherever we go, “always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

The Lord will never falter in His commitment to His children. Even if we have been abandoned by others, we can find confidence in His promise that nothing will ever “separate us from [His] love” (Rom. 8:35-39).

Father, thank You for Your never-failing presence
in every aspect of our lives. We count on Your
promise never to abandon us. Please teach us
to rest in that truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Confidence in God’s presence is our comfort.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 21, 2013

Having God’s “Unreasonable” Faith

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you —Matthew 6:33

When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “. . . seek first the kingdom of God . . . .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.

“. . . do not worry about your life. . .” (Matthew 6:25). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed— no, that person is a fool. But Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Don’t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.” Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.

It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Legacy of a Lifetime - #6877

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

In the past, the classic retirement scene went something like this, there was a dinner in the retiree's honor, there were some heart-warming but predictable speeches, and if you'd put in enough years, like a gold watch, or at least a plaque or a certificate. And then very quickly the hole that you left in the company closed up, and you wondered what was really accomplished for all those years of service. Well, now it's worse. You may not get to retire. You might be "downsized." You end up asking yourself the question, "What do I have to show for my years of service?" Frankly, I think you can do better than a gold watch or a severance check.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Legacy of a Lifetime."

Let's think about, "What will l have to show for my life?" What do you want to have as your monument to show for your years? Certainly more than a gold watch, huh? A book you wrote, a fortune that you made, a house that's finally like you want it, a title, a work of art, a business you built? You may be aiming too low.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 127, I'll begin at verse 1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its' builders labor in vain." Now, we're going to find out what kind of priorities there are in a house the Lord builds. "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise up early and stay up late toiling for food to eat, for He grants sleep to those He loves."

Here's a value that God really prizes, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord. Children are a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of the warrior, are sons born in one's youth." You know what God meant for your inheritance to be; your monument-what you're remembered for? Your inheritance is your children, your son, your daughter, or the children or young people you influenced and shaped, even if you're not their parent. They are to be the focus of your best time, your best energies in a house the Lord builds.

You may never communicate the values and experiences of your life in a book that a lot of people will read, but your children will be a book, and many people will read them.

They are your work of art, they are your fortune, the stocks that will appreciate and provide dividends long after you're gone and making many others rich for years to come.

The problem is it's really easy to be blinded, and detoured, and distracted by investments that are not nearly as valuable. Life's gold watches - sometimes they scream for our attention more loudly. They ask for us, they demand us. Often our children don't, and yet they are the top priority.

Maybe it's possible that your children are getting the leftovers of you because you're trying to make a name, or you're trying to make a business, or you're trying to make a fortune, or you're trying to make a point. Maybe you should be home more, and when you're home really be home. Maybe you've been driven away from those children who are what you have to show for your life because you thought you had something to prove outside the context of your family. Prove it there. Prove it at home! Make them your lifetime masterpiece.

If you want to make a mark that's immortal, mark your children with Christ, with character. See, they are meant to be the legacy of your lifetime.

Hosea 10 and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)

Max Lucado Daily: His Perpetual Presence

When God led the children of Israel through the wilderness, he didn’t just appear once a day and then abandon them. The pillar of fire was present all night; the cloud was present all day. Our God never leaves us!

Matthew 28:20 holds the promise of Jesus, “I will be with you always.” Our faith takes a quantum leap when we understand the perpetual presence of the Father. Our Jehovah is the fire of our night and the cloud of our day. He never leaves us!

Heaven knows no difference between Sunday morning and Wednesday afternoon. God longs to speak as clearly in the workplace as he does in the sanctuary. He longs to be worshiped when we sit at the dinner table, not just when we come to his communion table.

You may go days without thinking of him, but there’s never a moment he’s not thinking of you!

From The Great House of God

Hosea 10

Israel was a spreading vine;
    he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
    he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
    he adorned his sacred stones.
2 Their heart is deceitful,
    and now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord will demolish their altars
    and destroy their sacred stones.
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
    because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
    what could he do for us?”
4 They make many promises,
    take false oaths
    and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
    like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear
    for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.[b]
Its people will mourn over it,
    and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
    because it is taken from them into exile.
6 It will be carried to Assyria
    as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
    Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,
    swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places of wickedness[c] will be destroyed—
    it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
    and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,
    and there you have remained.[d]
Will not war again overtake
    the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish them;
    nations will be gathered against them
    to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
    that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
    on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
    Judah must plow,
    and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,
    reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
    for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes
    and showers his righteousness on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
    you have reaped evil,
    you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
    and on your many warriors,
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
    so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
    when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
    because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
    the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 10:8-15

 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[a] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[b] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[c]

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[d]

A Sure Salvation

May 20, 2013 — by Brent Hackett

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. —Romans 10:9

A story is told that Queen Victoria of the UK was deeply moved during a church service. Afterward, she asked her chaplain, “Can one be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?” He did not have an answer. But an evangelist named John Townsend heard about the Queen’s question, and after much prayer he sent her a note: “With trembling hands, but heartfelt love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure now of our eternal life in the Home that Jesus went to prepare, may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10?”

Two weeks later, the evangelist received this letter: “. . . I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of Christ for me, and trust by God’s grace to meet you in that Home of which He said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.’ —Victoria Guelph”

Townsend was confident that in this life we can have assurance of eternal safety (v.9), and he had a concern for others as well. Consider what John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10 mean for your eternal destiny. God desires to give you the confidence that your sin is forgiven and that after death you’ll be with Him forever.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. —Crosby
Lives rooted in God’s unchanging grace can never be uprooted.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 20, 2013

Taking Possession of Our Own Soul

By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19

When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!

There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Intimidated Into Silence - #6876

Monday, May 20, 2013

I think I attended what they would have called a racially-troubled elementary school when I was in kindergarten and first grade. The only thing is the kids didn't know it; somebody forgot to tell us it was racially troubled. It was a changing neighborhood and I guess the adults were real tense about what was going on between the black and white kids. We just didn't know there was any difference between us.

I was out on the playground one day and we were playing dive bomber. It was winter and we all had hats and coats on. The idea was you're supposed to come in with your arm real low and knock off the other guy's hat. Well, in the process, I connected with the head of one of the black kids in our class. I'm a klutz; I missed. Up comes this big, sixth grade patrol boy on a power trip. We called them patrol boys, crossing guards, whatever...they looked huge to a little first grader. This patrol boy said, "Did you try to knock his hat off?" I said, "Yeah, I was just trying to knock his hat off!" I was so confused I just didn't know what to answer him.

He said, "Wait a minute! Did you say you were trying to knock his head off!?" Oh that isn't what I said. I said I was trying to knock his hat off. Did you know I was so intimidated by that crazy patrol boy I couldn't tell him what really happened. Then he said, "Then I'm taking you to the principal's office." That did it! You can't imagine how big that sixth grader looked to me, and then he's got the power of the principal behind him. I had something important to say, but he seemed just too big to say it to.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Intimidated Into Silence."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 29:25. It says, "The fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." I have a friend who has a very powerful, wealthy father who has shown a lot of Christian leaders generosity over the years. And, therefore, he's been approached by many of those people for contributions. They've spent hours on end developing his friendship. His re-born daughter said something that really made me sad. She said, "Ron, as far as I know, not one of them has ever shared the Gospel with my Dad." Oh, they went to him for financial support for the Lord's work, and I can understand they probably didn't want to offend him, but because this man is rich and powerful, people won't tell him about Jesus.

Is that what Proverbs is saying, "The fear of man trips you up," "It's a trap," "It's a snare." Let's bring it down to where we live. There's probably someone in your world who's powerful, maybe a supervisor, a strong relative, maybe someone whose favor you need for some reason. Have you ever tried to tell that person about Jesus or have you been intimidated into silence? No one should miss a chance at heaven because they're in a powerful position and they scare people away. I mean, I'm a child of the King of the universe. I don't need to fear or be intimidated by anyone. I know who I am. I'll be that forever; no one can take that away from me. That's my identity that you can't take.

Why don't you begin to pray that the Lord will help you see that intimidating person through God's eyes? What does God see? He sees someone lost, and lonely, hurting, a sinner needing the cross. Then pray for a natural opportunity - an easy way to get into a conversation. Our three-open prayer, "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth." Pray for the courage to take that opportunity. Pray for an approach that can begin with their need.

I once looked at a powerful patrol boy, and I had nothing to say to him. And I should have said something to him; I had something important to say. It looks dumb to me today. Now, today someone looks almost too big to you to tell the most important news of all. Don't look back one day and say, "Why didn't I tell them?" Because when it comes to the message of salvation, silence is not golden, it's fatal.

Hosea 9, and Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click here to hear God's love letter to you)

Max Lucado Daily: It May Not Be Easy

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again.” John 13:12

Please note, he finished washing their feet.

That means he left no one out . . . He washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. He gave this traitor equal attention. In just a few hours Judas’ feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus. But at this moment they are caressed by Christ . . .

That’s not to say it was easy . . . That is to say that God will never call you to do what he hasn’t already done.

Hosea 9

Punishment for Israel

9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute
    at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
    the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land;
    Ephraim will return to Egypt
    and eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,
    nor will their sacrifices please him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
    all who eat them will be unclean.
This food will be for themselves;
    it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals,
    on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
    Egypt will gather them,
    and Memphis will bury them.
Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,
    and thorns will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment are coming,
    the days of reckoning are at hand.
    Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
    and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
    the inspired person a maniac.
8 The prophet, along with my God,
    is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares await him on all his paths,
    and hostility in the house of his God.
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,
    as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.
10 “When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—
    no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave them of every one.
Woe to them
    when I turn away from them!
13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”
14 Give them, Lord—
    what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
    and breasts that are dry.
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
    all their leaders are rebellious.
16 Ephraim is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay their cherished offspring.”
17 My God will reject them
    because they have not obeyed him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Acts 1:1-11

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

To Be Continued

May 19, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. —Acts 1:8

The fifth book of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, records the beginnings of the Christian church under the leadership of the people Jesus had appointed. Some scholars have suggested that this book could also be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit’s power supplied courage for the apostles in the face of every hardship.

Just before Jesus was taken up into heaven, He told the ones He had chosen: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). With those words, one chapter in the story of God’s work on earth ended, and a new one began. We are a part of that ongoing story.

The book of Acts describes the faithful witness of Peter, John, Barnabas, Paul, Dorcas, Lydia, and many others during the early days of the church. These ordinary people depended on God to give them strength as they spread His Word and demonstrated His love.

That story continues through us. As we trust God and obey His direction to make Jesus known, He writes through us new pages in His story of redemption.

Gracious Spirit, use my words to help and heal.
Use my actions, bold and meek, to speak for You.
May You be pleased to reveal
Your life to others through mine.
People know true faith stories when they see them.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 19, 2013

Out of the Wreck I Rise

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? —Romans 8:35

God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble . . .” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors . . .” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.

“Shall tribulation . . . ?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).

“Shall . . . distress . . . ?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.

Romans 15:1-13, and Bible reading and devotionals.

Click here to hear God's teachings

Max Lucado Daily: Making the Impossible Possible

“If you have faith, it will happen.” Matthew 21:21

God always rejoices when we dare to dream. In fact, we are much like God when we dream . . . He wrote the book on making the impossible possible . . .

Eighty-year-old shepherds don’t usually play chicken with Pharaohs . . . but don’t tell that to Moses.

Teenage shepherds don’t normally have showdowns with giants . . . but don’t tell that to David . . . And for sure don’t tell that to God

Romans 15:1-13
New International Version (NIV)
15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”[a] 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”[c]
10 Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”[d]
11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”[e]
12 And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”[f]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Revelation 22:16-21

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Footnotes:

Revelation 22:16 The Greek is plural.

True Hospitality

May 18, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. —Revelation 22:17

In 1987, our family moved to California to take up the pastorate of a church in the Long Beach area. The day we flew into town, my secretary picked us up at the airport to take us to our house. As we pulled into traffic, the very first thing I saw was a bumper sticker that read: “Welcome To California . . . Now Go Home!” It was not exactly a warm and cheery welcome to sunny southern California!

I wonder if there might be occasions in our lives when we send similar signals to people around us. Whether we are at church, in the neighborhood, or at social gatherings, are there times when we fail to make others feel welcome in our world?

In Romans 12:13, Paul instructed his readers to be “given to hospitality.” The book of Hebrews goes even further, saying, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (13:2). By showing gracious kindness to those who come our way, we echo the Savior’s invitation for salvation, which declares, “Let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

To show someone loving hospitality just might be the first step in showing that person the way to heaven.

Give as ’twas given to you in your need;
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed;
Unto your mission be true. —Wilson
Live so that when people get to know you, they will want to get to know Christ.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 18, 2013

Living Simply— Yet Focused

Look at the birds of the air . . . . Consider the lilies of the field . . . —Matthew 6:26, 28

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as “the lilies of the field.”

The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.

If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.

Hosea 8 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)

Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Settle for Anything Less

God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself!

And what is the reward?  What awaits those who seek Jesus?  Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 3:18, “And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.”

Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges.

God wants you to have the same!

From Just Like Jesus

Hosea 8

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

8 “Put the trumpet to your lips!
    An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
    and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
    ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
    an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
    they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
    they make idols for themselves
    to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6     They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf of Samaria.
7 “They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
    like a wild donkey wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
    under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
    and punish their sins:
    They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten their Maker
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Exodus 6:1-8

New International Version (NIV)
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a] but by my name the Lord[b] I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

God’s Strong Arm

May 17, 2013 — by Anne Cetas

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. —Exodus 6:6

My friend Joann had a strong desire to become a concert pianist and to travel and perform as either a soloist or as a piano accompanist. While majoring in piano performance in college, she developed tendinitis in her right arm, and it became too weak to perform the solo recital that was required. She graduated with a degree in music history and literature instead.

She knew Jesus as her Savior, but she had been rebelling against Him for several years. Then through further difficult circumstances, she sensed the Lord reaching out to her, and she turned back to Him. Eventually her arm grew stronger, and her dream of traveling and performing came about. She says, “Now I could play to God’s glory instead of my own. His outstretched arm restored my spiritual life and the strength in my arm to enable me to serve Him with the gift He gave me.”

The Lord promised Moses that His outstretched arm would rescue the Israelites from bondage in Egypt (Ex. 6:6). He kept that promise even though His often-rebellious people doubted (14:30-31). God’s mighty arm is outstretched for us as well. No matter the outcome of our situation, He can be trusted to bring about His will for each of His children. We can depend on God’s strong arm.

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms. —Hoffman
With God’s strength behind you and His arms beneath you, you can face whatever lies ahead of you.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 17, 2013

His Ascension and Our Access

It came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven —Luke 24:51

We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward— Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection— everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.

The transfiguration was completed on the Mount of Ascension. If Jesus had gone to heaven directly from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity.

The ascension is the complete fulfillment of the transfiguration. Our Lord returned to His original glory, but not simply as the Son of God— He returned to His father as the Son of Man as well. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God because of the ascension of the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ deliberately limited His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. But now they are His in absolute, full power. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ now has all the power at the throne of God. From His ascension forward He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Treating the Real Problem - #6875

Friday, May 17, 2013

I think something is wrong with my nose! Every couple of months it develops this tender spot on the inside, and that's fine - only I know that. But when the outside starts to swell and turns to some not so beautiful shades of red, well, then everybody else knows. Those are the days I'm glad I'm on the radio instead of television. So it seems like a few days a year I get to look like Rudolph, whether it's Christmas or not. I went to the doctor with this, and I said, "Doctor, this is ugly. What will I do?" He said, "Well, you know, there might be an infection in there." This is probably more information than you want, but I'm going somewhere so stick with me. Well, he prescribed the appropriate antibiotic. Sure enough, if I take that antibiotic when that first tenderness starts to come along, it stops the flare-up. What you can see on the outside, though, isn't the real problem.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Treating the Real Problem."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 4, and I'm going to be reading verses 13 and 14. You might remember that John 4 deals with Jesus meeting at a well with a very immoral woman from a Samaritan village. She has come to draw water that day, she's had several husbands; she is now living with a guy. And the fact that she has to come for her water at noon...well, see, all the other women come early in the morning when it's cool. She comes with this heavy water pot at noontime, probably indicating she was not really the best company everybody wanted to be with. She had to kind of hang out alone. She was not respected in her community. I can only imagine the names they called her in that village.

Well, here's how Jesus handles the situation. "Everyone," He says, "who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." He promises here an eternal spiritual fulfillment. "The woman said to Him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty again."

This woman's merry-go-round of short-lived relationships with men was a symptom of a deep soul thirst. Until that thirst was quenched by spiritual peace, she'd keep going to one relationship well after another. Now, our Lord models here an important principle in dealing with people's problems. Look beyond the deeds - her immorality, to the needs - the emptiness inside.

You may have someone in your life whose actions are a deep concern to you right now, maybe even an aggravation. There's a tendency to look at that family member, or that friend, or that coworker, or a person at church and say, "Problem!" But if you look through Jesus' eyes you know what you'll say? "Need!" You realize the deeds won't change until the needs are met. Is that person acting out some deep wounds from years ago or a need for approval, maybe just a very frightened insecurity? Maybe they're trying to fill a hole left by someone whose love they needed but they never got, or that they lost, or they were betrayed. Behind the actions is the wound.

If you'll look for the need, you can become part of God's answer instead of somebody who just wounds them some more. That doesn't mean you don't address the problem; you don't address the deeds. Jesus did. He dealt with the problem of the men in her life. But first you move in with the love of Christ and apply some healing to the wounds inside.

What you see on the outside? That's probably not the real problem. Don't attack the deeds; go after the needs. Don't attack the flare-up on the surface; treat the infection that's on the inside.

Hosea 7 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click here to listen to God's love letter to you)

Max Lucado Daily: Running the Race

You know as well as I do, it’s one thing to start something. It’s something else entirely to complete it.  Relax!  “Don’t start what you can’t finish” is not my point!

To be honest, I don’t believe you should finish everything you start.  Every student with homework just perked up. There are certain quests better left undone, some projects wisely abandoned. Though I wouldn’t list homework as one of them!  We can become so obsessed with completion that we become blind to effectiveness.  No, my desire is not to convince you to finish everything.  My desire is to encourage you to finish the right thing.

Certain races are optional.  Other races are essential—like the race of faith.  Consider this admonition from the author of Hebrews in chapter 12:1, “Let us run the race that is before us and never give up!”

Finish strong, my friend.

From Just Like Jesus

Hosea  7

Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
7 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
    thieves break into houses,
    bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize
    that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
    they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
    the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
    burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
    from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
    the princes become inflamed with wine,
    and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven;
    they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
    they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
    and none of them calls on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations;
    Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,
    but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
    but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
    but despite all this
he does not return to the Lord his God
    or search for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
    now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
    I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
    I will catch them.
13 Woe to them,
    because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
    because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
    but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
    but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[f] appealing to their gods
    for grain and new wine,
    but they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened their arms,
    but they plot evil against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;
    they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
    because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
    in the land of Egypt.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 5:21-26

Murder

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

I’m Sorry, Man

May 16, 2013 — by Dave Branon

Be reconciled to your brother. —Matthew 5:24

When my son-in-law Ewing and I attended a sporting event, we enjoyed watching both the game and the people around us.

One of those people showed both the bad and good side of humanity. This man had apparently lost track of his seat. As he was looking for it, he stood squarely between us and the field. A man sitting in front of us also had his view blocked, so he told the guy, “Could you move? We can’t see.”

The lost man responded sarcastically, “Too bad.” A second request got a similar but more heated response. Finally the man moved on. Later came a surprise. He returned and told the man he had blocked, “Hey, I’m sorry, man. I was upset that I couldn’t find my seat.” They shook hands and the incident ended well.

That interaction made me think. As we go through life striving to find our way, situations may frustrate us and cause us to respond to others in an un-Christlike way. If so, we must ask God to give us the courage to apologize to those we have offended. Our worship, according to Jesus, depends on it (Matt. 5:23-24).

We honor God when we make reconciliation with others a priority. After we have been reconciled, we can then fully enjoy communion with our heavenly Father.

It’s not easy, Lord, to swallow our pride and ask
others to forgive us. But You want us to seek
reconciliation before worship can take place.
Help us to seek forgiveness when necessary.
Confession of sin is the soil in which forgiveness flourishes.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 16, 2013

The Habit of Recognizing God’s Provision

. . . you may be partakers of the divine nature . . . —2 Peter 1:4

We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.” And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges— always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.

Before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; as the psalmist said, “All my springs are in You” (Psalm 87:7). If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you . . . may have an abundance . . .” (2 Corinthians 9:8)— then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The 'I Love You' At the Finish Line - #6874

Thursday, May 16, 2013

My regular routine doesn't allow me as much time for exercise as I'd like. In the past, when I had a few days away and my schedule permitted, I would enjoy doing some biking or hiking, or running. Of course, my body always told me that I hadn't been doing it enough. I ended up hurting in places I didn't even know I had places! But it's good to get some extra exercise when you can.

One of those times, my wife and I were away, and I had a chance to do some jogging on the beach at sunrise. I was chugging along trying to cover those last few hundred yards, which seemed like the longest and pounding back down the beach all tired and sweaty and disgusting. My muscles were saying, "Stop this, will you!" And then I saw my wife in the distance. Well, that was a great motivation to finish, and to finish strong. So I kind of picked up the pace a little bit, and had almost reached her when I saw what she had written in huge letters in the sand, "I love you, Ron." Oh boy, there it was! What a happy ending to my run...or for any man on any day.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'I Love You' At the Finish Line."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about "wife-ing" actually, and it's in Titus 2:4-5. It's actually instructions to the older women in the church as to what they should, from their well of experience, train the younger women to be like. He says, "Then they can train the younger women..." First and foremost notice now, "...to love their husbands and children. To be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the Word of God."

Actually, this passage is referring to two generations of loving wives, because obviously the older women had to do it in order to be able to teach it to the younger women. So, in both generations, the very first word to the women is, "Love your husband." Proverbs 31, that great description of the woman every godly woman wants to be, the Proverbs 31 Woman, well here's what it says about her in verse 12. "She brings her husband good, not harm, all the days of her life." Notice, each 24-hour period. In other words, she brings daily goodies into his life. Now, there's that picture of me running on the beach, coming toward the finish line, tired, feeling like quitting. And suddenly I see these words, "I love you, Ron." It gave me incentive to cross the finish line.

I'll tell you, that's a picture of many days in the life of a man close to you - a husband, a son, a brother. He comes home tired from today's run. Few things mean more to a man than to know that he will find an "I love you" at the finish line. I think a man can handle almost anything if he's sure that he will be safe and appreciated and loved when he gets home. You know, "All's well that ends well." Lots of pressure, lots of stress, but I can handle it if I know there's going to be security at the finish line.

There are a lot of ways to say it to him. First, just verbally express it. Don't just say, "I love you until further notice." No, tell him often. Touch him affectionately. Provide peace in the house as much as possible when he arrives home; maybe that special meal or special card or special note. Now, it's hard, because you've had a long run too. But God will give you strength to put your husband first when you feel like being first yourself.

By the way, what a tremendous surprise it is if that wife is greeted by a man who's more concerned about her needs than his own. If you're a woman, say "I love you" in his language; not just on Valentine's Day or anniversary, but remember "I love you" never means more than after that finish line that he crosses after a long day's run.