Max Lucado Daily: What He Says He Will Do
God will always be the same. No one else will. Companies follow pay raises with pink slips. Friends applaud you when you drive a classic and dismiss you when you drive a dud. Not God. God is always the same. James 4:1 says, with Him, “there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Catch God in a bad mood? Won’t happen. Fear exhausting His grace? A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first. Think He’s given up on you? Wrong. Did He not make a promise to you?
God is not a human being, and He will not lie. He is not a human, and He does not change His mind. What He says He will do. What He promises will come true. His strength, truth, ways, and love never change.
Hebrews 13:8 declares “He is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Trust him…what He says, He will do!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
One Nation Under One King
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philippians 2:1-5
Imitating Christ’s Humility
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Genuine Concern
November 20, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. —Philippians 2:4
On the first night at family camp, the camp director informed the families of the schedule for the week. When finished, he asked if anyone else had anything to say. A young girl stood up and made a passionate appeal for help. She shared about her little brother—a boy with special needs—and how he could be a challenge to care for. She talked about how tiring this was for her family, and she asked everyone there to help them keep an eye on him during the week. It was an appeal born out of genuine concern for her brother and her parents. As the week went on, it was great to see people pitching in to help this family.
Her appeal was a gentle reminder of how easily we can all get wrapped up in our own world, life, and problems—to the point that we fail to see the needs of others. Here’s how Paul described our responsibility: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). The next verse reminds us that this is part of the example of Christ: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Our caring displays a Christlike concern for people who are hurting. May we rest in God’s grace, trusting Him to enable us to serve others in their seasons of need.
Lord, open my eyes to the hurts, needs, and struggles
of a world that is so desperately in need of Your love.
Help me to be Your instrument to inject
that love into hurting lives.
Nothing costs as much as caring—except not caring.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 20, 2013
The Forgiveness of God
In Him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins . . . —Ephesians 1:7
Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Dog Walking - #7008
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Okay, I never voted for having a dog in our house. I think they sneaked her in when I was on a trip or something. Her name was Missy - a Shih Tzu, and the last time she went to this dog care place, they registered her as Missy Hutchcraft. Now that's my last name! There's no family resemblance, and I wasn't sure I want to give her my last name.
But I must confess, Missy taught me something I might never have understood. See, it was never hard to find Missy. When our son was home he was her master. So when he went to college, you never knew where you were going to find her in the house. But when he came home, oh it was easy. If you found him, you found Missy. If he was in the living room, she was in the living room. He was in the basement, Missy's in the basement. He was in his room, Missy was in his room. Missy didn't care where she was as long as she was where her master was.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dog Walking."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Joshua chapter 14, and it spotlights an ancient Jewish hero named Caleb. When the ancient Jewish people had come to the border of the land God had promised them, Moses sent 12 spies in. Ten came back and said, "Giants, walled cities, no way we can take it." Two came back, Joshua and Caleb, and said, "Let's go for it! We've got God!" Ten saw how big the giants were instead of how big their God was.
Well, they got to wander for 40 years as a result of that, and a whole generation of unbelieving adults didn't get to go to the Promised Land. Forty years later, though, the Jews have conquered that land under General Joshua. And Caleb and Joshua do get to go in because they believed they could. Caleb is now 85, but he's still a tiger for God. Or better yet, he's a dog. That's actually what Caleb means - "dog." What a thing to name your kid, "Yo, Dog!" Listen, it's a great name when you understand why.
In Joshua 14:7, the 85-year-old man says, "I was 40 years old when Moses sent me to explore the land, and I brought him back a report according to my convictions. But my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear.
I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly." Then it says a little later in the chapter, "You, Caleb, have followed the Lord your God wholeheartedly." It says one more time later in the chapter "he wholly followed the Lord all the days he lived." Good dog! What a tribute! What an epitaph! I'd love it on my tombstone, "He followed the Lord his God wholeheartedly." Caleb is God's puppy dog. He doesn't care where he goes; he just wants to be where his Master is going and he'll follow Him there even if there are giants there.
That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 12:26, "Whoever serves Me must follow Me so that where I am my servant will be." See, if you love Jesus, you don't plan your life. You pray, you listen, and you look to His Word to find out where He's headed. Where is He headed in your day? Where's He headed with your family? Where's He headed with that relationship? With your ministry? With your child? And then you just go there right behind Him.
Missy let her master's steps determine hers. She followed my son wholeheartedly. That's what you're supposed to do with Jesus. Caleb wouldn't let anything make him leave his Master's lead. Not years in the wilderness, not hardship, not giants bigger than he was, not waiting a long time for what God promised, and not being almost the only one standing up for what was right. He just said, "I'll follow my Lord. I'll follow my Lord. I'll follow my Lord no matter where He takes me."
Could it be that under all that Christian head knowledge, all that activity, and all that Christianity you've lost sight of the simple, uncomplicated bottom line? You've just got to find out where Jesus is going and go with Him in that direction.
I hate to say it, but I want to be like Missy. Or maybe more like Caleb; not caring where I end up as long as I'm right on the heels of my Master, following the Lord my God wholeheartedly.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
2 Peter 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Builds the Bridge
People came to Jesus. My, how they came to Him! They touched Him as He walked down the street; they followed Him around the sea; they invited Him into their homes and placed their children at His feet. Why? Because He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be-Jesus.
There's not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Him. There were those who mocked Him. Those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected.
Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul.
Remember. It's man who creates the distance. It is Jesus who builds the bridge!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
2 Peter 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes:
2 Peter 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family.
2 Peter 1:17 Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 39
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
3 my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.[b]
6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.
12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
before I depart and am no more.”
Footnotes:
Psalm 39:1 In Hebrew texts 39:1-13 is numbered 39:2-14.
Psalm 39:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 11.
Traveling Companion
November 19, 2013 — by David H. Roper
For I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as all my fathers were. —Psalm 39:12
I looked up the members of my seminary graduating class recently and discovered that many of my friends are now deceased. It was a sober reminder of the brevity of life. Three score and ten, give or take a few years, and we’re gone (Ps. 90:10). Israel’s poet was right: We’re but strangers here and sojourners (39:12).
The brevity of life makes us think about our “end”—the measure of our days and how fleeting they are (v.4), a feeling that grows more certain as we draw closer to the end of our lives. This world is not our home; we’re but strangers and sojourners here.
Yet we are not alone on the journey. We are strangers and sojourners with God (39:12), a thought that makes the journey less troubling, less frightening, less worrisome. We pass through this world and into the next with a loving Father as our constant companion and guide. We’re strangers here on earth, but we are never alone on the journey (73:23-24). We have One who says, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).
We may lose sight of father, mother, spouse, and friends, but we always know that God is walking beside us. An old saying puts it like this: “Good company on the road makes the way to seem lighter.”
My times are in my Father’s hand;
How could I wish or ask for more?
For He who has my pathway planned
Will guide me till my journey’s o’er. —Fraser
As you travel life’s weary road, let Jesus lift your heavy load.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 19, 2013
“When He Has Come”
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Sweaters - #7007
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Well, it's time to get out the old winter wardrobe again, and a lot of us don't mind. You see, there's something very special about winter clothes - they're big, they're bulky. In other words, those sweaters cover a multitude of bulges and figure-faults unlike those summer clothes. Remember them? They reveal entirely too much, and I'm not even talking about modesty here. I'm talking honesty about all the figure problems. You know? Winter covers the bulges; summer exposes them. And in that sense, summer is coming for each of us.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Sweaters."
Well, you've got an appointment, and there is no way to cancel it; no way to reschedule it. It's defined for us in 2 Corinthians 5:10, our word for today from the Word of God. "For we must all..." Okay, this is speaking to Christians now, "We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad." Actually the Greek word for "bad" there means worthless, useless - whether it's good or whether it's worthless.
Now, this is sort of a good news/bad news statement. This appointment we have to keep before the Judgment Seat of Christ is not to determine whether we go to heaven or hell. That's settled on the basis of whether you've given your life to Christ or not and accepted the forgiveness that He bought for you on the cross. No, this is Christ's evaluation of how you spent the one life He gave you. Did you spend the days of your life on things that He considers good or things He considers worthless?
See, people are making their evaluation of your life right now. And you may have impressed people very favorably with your Christian commitment, your busyness for the Lord, your spiritual talk. But you can wear spiritual sweaters when you're with people, because they can't see all the bulges that are underneath. They can't see who you are when you're alone; how you treat your family; what you do when no one else is looking. They can't see your motive, whether it's to impress men that you're doing this spiritual thing, or whether it's to please your Lord.
See, this word "appear," "We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ." It's an interesting word in the original Greek. It means to be laid bare - to be turned inside out. Everything can be seen; nothing hidden. The Judgment Seat is a place of no secrets. Your image won't matter there, your reputation, your pedigree, the impressions men have had of you. None of that is going to matter. Our eternal rewards will be based on who we really are.
One of the early church fathers responded to this passage this way. He said, "Let us then imagine Christ's judgment seat to be present now, and account the Judge to be already present and everything to be revealed." I agree with that. Why wait till the Judgment Seat to see the me that nobody knows? Right now, go to work on the dark corners; the spiritual bulges...that sinful secret that maybe only you know about - those twisted motives.
Then the summer unveiling at Christ's Judgment Seat will be a celebration of God's transforming grace in your life, and of rich rewards for an authentic faith. It's time to get in shape! Remember, when you stand before the gaze of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are no sweaters.
People came to Jesus. My, how they came to Him! They touched Him as He walked down the street; they followed Him around the sea; they invited Him into their homes and placed their children at His feet. Why? Because He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be-Jesus.
There's not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Him. There were those who mocked Him. Those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected.
Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul.
Remember. It's man who creates the distance. It is Jesus who builds the bridge!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
2 Peter 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes:
2 Peter 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family.
2 Peter 1:17 Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 39
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
3 my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.[b]
6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.
12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
before I depart and am no more.”
Footnotes:
Psalm 39:1 In Hebrew texts 39:1-13 is numbered 39:2-14.
Psalm 39:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 11.
Traveling Companion
November 19, 2013 — by David H. Roper
For I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as all my fathers were. —Psalm 39:12
I looked up the members of my seminary graduating class recently and discovered that many of my friends are now deceased. It was a sober reminder of the brevity of life. Three score and ten, give or take a few years, and we’re gone (Ps. 90:10). Israel’s poet was right: We’re but strangers here and sojourners (39:12).
The brevity of life makes us think about our “end”—the measure of our days and how fleeting they are (v.4), a feeling that grows more certain as we draw closer to the end of our lives. This world is not our home; we’re but strangers and sojourners here.
Yet we are not alone on the journey. We are strangers and sojourners with God (39:12), a thought that makes the journey less troubling, less frightening, less worrisome. We pass through this world and into the next with a loving Father as our constant companion and guide. We’re strangers here on earth, but we are never alone on the journey (73:23-24). We have One who says, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).
We may lose sight of father, mother, spouse, and friends, but we always know that God is walking beside us. An old saying puts it like this: “Good company on the road makes the way to seem lighter.”
My times are in my Father’s hand;
How could I wish or ask for more?
For He who has my pathway planned
Will guide me till my journey’s o’er. —Fraser
As you travel life’s weary road, let Jesus lift your heavy load.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 19, 2013
“When He Has Come”
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned . . .” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Sweaters - #7007
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Well, it's time to get out the old winter wardrobe again, and a lot of us don't mind. You see, there's something very special about winter clothes - they're big, they're bulky. In other words, those sweaters cover a multitude of bulges and figure-faults unlike those summer clothes. Remember them? They reveal entirely too much, and I'm not even talking about modesty here. I'm talking honesty about all the figure problems. You know? Winter covers the bulges; summer exposes them. And in that sense, summer is coming for each of us.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Sweaters."
Well, you've got an appointment, and there is no way to cancel it; no way to reschedule it. It's defined for us in 2 Corinthians 5:10, our word for today from the Word of God. "For we must all..." Okay, this is speaking to Christians now, "We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad." Actually the Greek word for "bad" there means worthless, useless - whether it's good or whether it's worthless.
Now, this is sort of a good news/bad news statement. This appointment we have to keep before the Judgment Seat of Christ is not to determine whether we go to heaven or hell. That's settled on the basis of whether you've given your life to Christ or not and accepted the forgiveness that He bought for you on the cross. No, this is Christ's evaluation of how you spent the one life He gave you. Did you spend the days of your life on things that He considers good or things He considers worthless?
See, people are making their evaluation of your life right now. And you may have impressed people very favorably with your Christian commitment, your busyness for the Lord, your spiritual talk. But you can wear spiritual sweaters when you're with people, because they can't see all the bulges that are underneath. They can't see who you are when you're alone; how you treat your family; what you do when no one else is looking. They can't see your motive, whether it's to impress men that you're doing this spiritual thing, or whether it's to please your Lord.
See, this word "appear," "We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ." It's an interesting word in the original Greek. It means to be laid bare - to be turned inside out. Everything can be seen; nothing hidden. The Judgment Seat is a place of no secrets. Your image won't matter there, your reputation, your pedigree, the impressions men have had of you. None of that is going to matter. Our eternal rewards will be based on who we really are.
One of the early church fathers responded to this passage this way. He said, "Let us then imagine Christ's judgment seat to be present now, and account the Judge to be already present and everything to be revealed." I agree with that. Why wait till the Judgment Seat to see the me that nobody knows? Right now, go to work on the dark corners; the spiritual bulges...that sinful secret that maybe only you know about - those twisted motives.
Then the summer unveiling at Christ's Judgment Seat will be a celebration of God's transforming grace in your life, and of rich rewards for an authentic faith. It's time to get in shape! Remember, when you stand before the gaze of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are no sweaters.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Ezekiel 36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Accepting God as Your Father
I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will! Let God give you what your family doesn’t.
How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept Him as Lord, another to recognize Him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept Him as Father.
To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe.
To accept Him as Savior is to accept His gift of salvation offered on the cross.
To regard Him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done!
God has proven Himself as a faithful father. Now, let God fill the void others have left. You’re His child and “God will give you the blessing He promised!” (Gal. 4:7).
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 36
Hope for the Mountains of Israel
36 “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The enemy said of you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession.”’ 3 Therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because they ravaged and crushed you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you— 5 this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’ 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.
8 “‘But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, 10 and I will cause many people to live on you—yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.
13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because some say to you, “You devour people and deprive your nation of its children,” 14 therefore you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign Lord. 15 No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Israel’s Restoration Assured
16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.
22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’
37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Nehemiah 9:7-21
“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[a] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
Footnotes:
Nehemiah 9:9 Or the Sea of Reeds
Welcome Back
November 18, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful. —Nehemiah 9:17
Jim decided to follow Christ at the age of 10. Fifteen years later his commitment had faded. He had adopted a live-for-the-moment philosophy and developed some bad habits. Then his life seemed to fall apart. He had problems at work. Three family members died almost simultaneously. Fears and doubts began to plague Jim, and nothing seemed to help—until one day when he read Psalm 121:2, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” These words cut through the fear and confusion in his heart. He turned back to God for help, and God welcomed him.
Jim’s spiritual journey reminds me of ancient Israel’s history. The Israelites had a unique relationship with God—they were His chosen people (Neh. 9:1-15). However, they spent many years rebelling and ignoring God’s goodness, turning away to follow their own path (vv.16-21). Yet when they returned to Him and repented, God was “ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness” (v.17).
These divine qualities encourage us to draw near to God—even after we have wandered away from Him. When we humbly abandon our rebellious ways and recommit ourselves to God’s ways, He will show compassion and welcome us back to closeness with Him.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me. —Thompson
God’s arms of welcome are always open.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 18, 2013
Winning into Freedom
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36
If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
“If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Shutting Out the Bugs - #7006
Monday, November 18, 2013
I don't mind sharing my cereal with my family or with house guests. I draw the line at sharing it with the bugs in the house. They seem to like my shredded wheat. In fact, given a chance, these bugs somehow get into the cabinet, get into the box and help themselves. It's not fun to find them sharing your cereal when you open the box in the morning. Eventually they hatch out into moths.
I finally found out how to keep them out. I mean, out of the box. We just put the cereal into Tupperware. The other day I pulled out the Tupperware, and when I did, I saw these two moths hanging onto the edges of the lid. But I smiled! I said, "You guys really want to get in there don't you? But I have sealed you out! There is no crack where you can get in." (But should I be talking to moths?)
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shutting Out the Bugs."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Samuel chapter 11. It's one of the most heart-breaking chapters in the Bible. It's about David's life, and if you'll read the chapters before, they are all about victory, conquest, and blessing. And immediately after this chapter you begin to read about rape in David's family, death in his family, deceit, the rebellion of his son, the temporary loss of his kingdom. It's like it goes from good news to bad news. What happened?
2 Samuel chapter 11: "In the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful and David sent someone to find out about her." Well from here on, it's disaster. David ends up, though this is someone else's wife, having an adulterous relationship with her that night, and then from there it's all downhill.
Until then, David's life has been pretty well sealed shut against compromises and against sins. The bugs couldn't get in. And then he began to allow some cracks where Satan could get in. He stayed home when he should have been off fighting battles for the Lord. He took a day off spiritually. He was idle when he should have been busy.
Then he saw a tempting woman. Oh, he could have looked away, but he kept looking - another crack. He pursued the temptation. He sent someone to find out about her. Finally he ended up in bed with another man's wife, and then arranging for the death of her husband - his loyal friend - to cover his sin.
If you had told David he was going to go this far, he would have said, "That is impossible! I would never do anything like that!" But see, when you allow sin and Satan a place to get in, you end up where you never thought you'd end up. You probably have no idea how far from God Satan wants to take you. But he can't touch you if you close up the holes in your life where he could get in. That's why Ephesians 4:27 says, "Don't give the Devil a foothold." Can you see some cracks, some small compromises, some small flirtations with what you know is wrong? It could be in what you're watching or listening to.
Maybe you're slowly being softened up to accept some of the attitudes and the actions portrayed in what you're seeing or hearing. Maybe there are some small lies, some small cracks in your integrity, cutting some corners to make it financially. Maybe you're allowing some anger or resentment to just build up inside you. It could be that you've let pride get in or doubt or a relationship that is inching toward sin. Well, whatever the crack, it's going to cost you too much. Just ask David, and don't kid yourself. If he was capable of great sin, so are you and so am I. It's time to go to Jesus with this, to repent of the openings that you've been allowing to develop and let Him be your personal Savior from that specific sin.
Those bugs at our house were able to lurk around the edges of my cereal container, but they couldn't get in; they couldn't do any damage. They were sealed out. Like Satan's lurking around the edges of your life right now, looking for a way to ruin you. Don't give him an opening. Surrender your weak spots to Jesus every new day. The enemy's bugs will be around you, but they're not getting in.
I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will! Let God give you what your family doesn’t.
How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept Him as Lord, another to recognize Him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept Him as Father.
To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe.
To accept Him as Savior is to accept His gift of salvation offered on the cross.
To regard Him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done!
God has proven Himself as a faithful father. Now, let God fill the void others have left. You’re His child and “God will give you the blessing He promised!” (Gal. 4:7).
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 36
Hope for the Mountains of Israel
36 “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The enemy said of you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession.”’ 3 Therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because they ravaged and crushed you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you— 5 this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’ 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.
8 “‘But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, 10 and I will cause many people to live on you—yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.
13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because some say to you, “You devour people and deprive your nation of its children,” 14 therefore you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign Lord. 15 No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Israel’s Restoration Assured
16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.
22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’
37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Nehemiah 9:7-21
“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[a] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
Footnotes:
Nehemiah 9:9 Or the Sea of Reeds
Welcome Back
November 18, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful. —Nehemiah 9:17
Jim decided to follow Christ at the age of 10. Fifteen years later his commitment had faded. He had adopted a live-for-the-moment philosophy and developed some bad habits. Then his life seemed to fall apart. He had problems at work. Three family members died almost simultaneously. Fears and doubts began to plague Jim, and nothing seemed to help—until one day when he read Psalm 121:2, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” These words cut through the fear and confusion in his heart. He turned back to God for help, and God welcomed him.
Jim’s spiritual journey reminds me of ancient Israel’s history. The Israelites had a unique relationship with God—they were His chosen people (Neh. 9:1-15). However, they spent many years rebelling and ignoring God’s goodness, turning away to follow their own path (vv.16-21). Yet when they returned to Him and repented, God was “ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness” (v.17).
These divine qualities encourage us to draw near to God—even after we have wandered away from Him. When we humbly abandon our rebellious ways and recommit ourselves to God’s ways, He will show compassion and welcome us back to closeness with Him.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me. —Thompson
God’s arms of welcome are always open.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 18, 2013
Winning into Freedom
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36
If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
“If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Shutting Out the Bugs - #7006
Monday, November 18, 2013
I don't mind sharing my cereal with my family or with house guests. I draw the line at sharing it with the bugs in the house. They seem to like my shredded wheat. In fact, given a chance, these bugs somehow get into the cabinet, get into the box and help themselves. It's not fun to find them sharing your cereal when you open the box in the morning. Eventually they hatch out into moths.
I finally found out how to keep them out. I mean, out of the box. We just put the cereal into Tupperware. The other day I pulled out the Tupperware, and when I did, I saw these two moths hanging onto the edges of the lid. But I smiled! I said, "You guys really want to get in there don't you? But I have sealed you out! There is no crack where you can get in." (But should I be talking to moths?)
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shutting Out the Bugs."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Samuel chapter 11. It's one of the most heart-breaking chapters in the Bible. It's about David's life, and if you'll read the chapters before, they are all about victory, conquest, and blessing. And immediately after this chapter you begin to read about rape in David's family, death in his family, deceit, the rebellion of his son, the temporary loss of his kingdom. It's like it goes from good news to bad news. What happened?
2 Samuel chapter 11: "In the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful and David sent someone to find out about her." Well from here on, it's disaster. David ends up, though this is someone else's wife, having an adulterous relationship with her that night, and then from there it's all downhill.
Until then, David's life has been pretty well sealed shut against compromises and against sins. The bugs couldn't get in. And then he began to allow some cracks where Satan could get in. He stayed home when he should have been off fighting battles for the Lord. He took a day off spiritually. He was idle when he should have been busy.
Then he saw a tempting woman. Oh, he could have looked away, but he kept looking - another crack. He pursued the temptation. He sent someone to find out about her. Finally he ended up in bed with another man's wife, and then arranging for the death of her husband - his loyal friend - to cover his sin.
If you had told David he was going to go this far, he would have said, "That is impossible! I would never do anything like that!" But see, when you allow sin and Satan a place to get in, you end up where you never thought you'd end up. You probably have no idea how far from God Satan wants to take you. But he can't touch you if you close up the holes in your life where he could get in. That's why Ephesians 4:27 says, "Don't give the Devil a foothold." Can you see some cracks, some small compromises, some small flirtations with what you know is wrong? It could be in what you're watching or listening to.
Maybe you're slowly being softened up to accept some of the attitudes and the actions portrayed in what you're seeing or hearing. Maybe there are some small lies, some small cracks in your integrity, cutting some corners to make it financially. Maybe you're allowing some anger or resentment to just build up inside you. It could be that you've let pride get in or doubt or a relationship that is inching toward sin. Well, whatever the crack, it's going to cost you too much. Just ask David, and don't kid yourself. If he was capable of great sin, so are you and so am I. It's time to go to Jesus with this, to repent of the openings that you've been allowing to develop and let Him be your personal Savior from that specific sin.
Those bugs at our house were able to lurk around the edges of my cereal container, but they couldn't get in; they couldn't do any damage. They were sealed out. Like Satan's lurking around the edges of your life right now, looking for a way to ruin you. Don't give him an opening. Surrender your weak spots to Jesus every new day. The enemy's bugs will be around you, but they're not getting in.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Ezekiel 35, bible reading and devotionals.
Max Lucado Daily: A Tiny Seed, A Tiny Deed
Do not despise…small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. Zechariah 4:10 NLT
Against a towering giant, a brook pebble seems futile. But God used it to topple Goliath. Compared to the tithes of the wealthy, a widow’s coins seem puny. But Jesus used them to inspire us…
Moses had a staff.
David had a sling.
Samson had a jawbone.
Rahab had a string.
Mary had some ointment.
Aaron had a rod.
Dorcas had a needle.
All were used by God.
What do you have? Much more than you might think. God inhabits the tiny seed. He empowers the tiny deed. Never discount the smallness of your deeds.
Ezekiel 35
A Prophecy Against Edom
35 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. 4 I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 “‘Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, 6 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. 8 I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. 9 I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 “‘Because you have said, “These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them,” even though I the Lord was there, 11 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I the Lord have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said, “They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour.” 13 You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it. 14 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 John 1
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Footnotes:
1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
1 John 1:7 Or every
Hero Over Sin
November 17, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
Create in me a clean heart, O God. —Psalm 51:10
Not long ago, someone asked me a very tough question: “What is the longest you have gone without sinning? A week, a day, an hour?” How can we answer a question like that? If we’re truthful, we might say, “I can’t live a day without sinning.” Or if we look back over the past week, we might see that we haven’t confessed to God even one sin. But we would be fooling ourselves if we said we hadn’t sinned in our thoughts or actions for a week.
God knows our hearts and whether we’re sensitive to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. If we really know ourselves, we take 1 John 1:8 to heart, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We certainly don’t want verse 10 to be true of us, “If we say that we have not sinned, . . . His word is not in us.”
A more encouraging question to ask might be: “What is God’s response to our admission of sin and need for forgiveness?” The answer: “If we confess . . . , He is faithful and just to forgive us” (v.9). Jesus has taken our sin problem upon Himself by dying in our place and rising again. That’s why He can create in us “a clean heart” (Ps. 51:10). My young friend Jaydon is right when he says, “Jesus is the hero over our sins.”
No one can say he doesn’t need
Forgiveness for his sin,
For all must come to Christ by faith
To have new life within. —Branon
Christ’s forgiveness is the door to a new beginning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 17, 2013
The Eternal Goal
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17
Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.
My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.
There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.
Do not despise…small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. Zechariah 4:10 NLT
Against a towering giant, a brook pebble seems futile. But God used it to topple Goliath. Compared to the tithes of the wealthy, a widow’s coins seem puny. But Jesus used them to inspire us…
Moses had a staff.
David had a sling.
Samson had a jawbone.
Rahab had a string.
Mary had some ointment.
Aaron had a rod.
Dorcas had a needle.
All were used by God.
What do you have? Much more than you might think. God inhabits the tiny seed. He empowers the tiny deed. Never discount the smallness of your deeds.
Ezekiel 35
A Prophecy Against Edom
35 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. 4 I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 “‘Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, 6 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. 8 I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. 9 I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 “‘Because you have said, “These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them,” even though I the Lord was there, 11 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I the Lord have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said, “They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour.” 13 You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it. 14 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 John 1
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Footnotes:
1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
1 John 1:7 Or every
Hero Over Sin
November 17, 2013 — by Anne Cetas
Create in me a clean heart, O God. —Psalm 51:10
Not long ago, someone asked me a very tough question: “What is the longest you have gone without sinning? A week, a day, an hour?” How can we answer a question like that? If we’re truthful, we might say, “I can’t live a day without sinning.” Or if we look back over the past week, we might see that we haven’t confessed to God even one sin. But we would be fooling ourselves if we said we hadn’t sinned in our thoughts or actions for a week.
God knows our hearts and whether we’re sensitive to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. If we really know ourselves, we take 1 John 1:8 to heart, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We certainly don’t want verse 10 to be true of us, “If we say that we have not sinned, . . . His word is not in us.”
A more encouraging question to ask might be: “What is God’s response to our admission of sin and need for forgiveness?” The answer: “If we confess . . . , He is faithful and just to forgive us” (v.9). Jesus has taken our sin problem upon Himself by dying in our place and rising again. That’s why He can create in us “a clean heart” (Ps. 51:10). My young friend Jaydon is right when he says, “Jesus is the hero over our sins.”
No one can say he doesn’t need
Forgiveness for his sin,
For all must come to Christ by faith
To have new life within. —Branon
Christ’s forgiveness is the door to a new beginning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 17, 2013
The Eternal Goal
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17
Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.
My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.
There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
1 Peter 5, bible reading and devotionals.
MaxLucado.com: Crazy Idea?
My family consisted of me, two sisters and a brother. We were siblings because we came from the same family. I’m sure there have been times when they did not want to call me their brother, but they didn’t have that choice. Nor do we. When I see someone calling God Father and Jesus Savior, I meet a brother or a sister—regardless of the name of their church or denomination.
What would happen—I know this is a crazy thought—but what would happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their names to simply “church?” What if reference to any denomination were removed and we were all just Christians? Then we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us—our common Father.
Crazy idea? Perhaps. But I think God would like it. It was his to begin with.
“Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other, which will bring glory to God.” (Rom. 15:7)
From A Gentle Thunder
1 Peter 5
New International Version (NIV)
To the Elders and the Flock
5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[a]
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12 With the help of Silas,[b] whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 5:5 Prov. 3:34
1 Peter 5:12 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 13:1-10
Submission to Governing Authorities
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Love Fulfills the Law
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Footnotes:
Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21
Romans 13:9 Lev. 19:18
To Whom It Is Due
November 16, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. —Romans 13:7
My husband and I live in a rural area surrounded by farms where this slogan is popular: “If you ate a meal today, thank a farmer.” Farmers definitely deserve our gratitude. They do the hot, hard work of tilling soil, planting seeds, and harvesting the food that keeps us from starving to death.
But every time I thank a farmer, I also try to remember to offer praise to God, for He is the One responsible for producing the food we eat. He gives light, sends rain, and creates the energy within the seed that gives it the strength to push through the soil and produce fruit.
Although the earth and everything in it belong to God (Ps. 24:1), He has chosen humans to be its caretakers. We are responsible to use the earth’s resources as He would use them—to do His work in the world (115:16). And just as we are stewards of God’s physical creation, we also are stewards of His design for society. We do this by respecting those He has placed in authority, by paying taxes, by giving honor to those who have earned it, and by continuing to pay our debt of love (Rom. 13:7-8). But one thing we reserve for God: All praise and glory belong to Him, for He is the One who makes everything possible (Ps. 96:8).
Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation. —Schütz
God’s unsearchable ways deserve our unbounded praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 16, 2013
Still Human!
. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31
In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.
We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.
We want to be able to say, “Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!” But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Ezekiel 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Becoming Like Him
Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we're being changed from "glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes. We take on His heart.
And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it's a delight.
The Psalmist says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).
Nothing-nothing compares with it!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
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.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[c] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Ezekiel 34:26 Or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be named in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be seen as blessed
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 8:23-34
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[a] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Footnotes:
Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes
Our Fearless Champion
November 15, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
Why are you fearful? —Matthew 8:26
Falling asleep was a challenging event during my childhood. No sooner had my parents turned out the lights than the crumpled clothes I had thrown on the chair would take on the form of a fiery dragon and the thoughts of something living under my bed put me into a panic that made sleep impossible.
I’ve come to realize that the immobilizing power of fear is not just a childhood experience. Fear keeps us from forgiving, taking a stand at the office, giving our resources to God’s kingdom, or saying no when all our friends are saying yes. Left to ourselves, we are up against a lot of fiery dragons in our lives.
In the story of the disciples in the storm-tossed boat, I’m struck by the fact that the only one who was not afraid was Jesus. He was not afraid of the storm, nor was He afraid of a crazy man in a graveyard or of the legion of demons that possessed him (Matt. 8:23-34).
In the face of fear, we need to hear Jesus ask, “Why are you fearful?” (v.26) and be reminded that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6). There is nothing that He can’t overcome and therefore nothing for Him to fear. So, next time you’re haunted by your fears, remember that you can rely on Jesus, our fearless Champion!
Lord, thank You for the reminder that You will
never leave us nor forsake us. When I am afraid, I
know that I can rely on Your presence and power
to calm my heart and overcome my fears.
In times of fear, call out to Jesus, our fearless Champion.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 15, 2013
“What Is That to You?”
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22
One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Scale That Never Lies - #7005
Friday, November 15, 2013
Most days of my life I have to assess the damage from the day before - on a scale. When you have a history of being sort of "blimpy" when you were young and a slow metabolism as I do, it's very good to weigh yourself every day. One summer we spent the night with our son who was staying in a mobile home. He was unusually enthusiastic about the scale he had. He really wanted us to weigh ourselves on it. See, he's a scale watcher too.
My wife got on first, and she said, "Yes!" I got on and I weighed 15 pounds less than I had weighed only a few days before. I was ecstatic! But only briefly. The three of us compared notes. See, everyone had experienced a miraculous weight loss of 15-20 pounds the moment we stepped on that scale. Of course, we also weighed something wildly different every time we got on that scale. Oh, it told us what we wanted to believe was true, but alas that scale was loco!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Scale That Never Lies."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy chapter 3. I'll begin reading at verse 14. It's really about how to live in a time of confusing ideas and relativism. It talks about a time when people will experience "deceiving and being deceived" and people trying to suit their own desires. And it says, "gathering around a great number of teachers that say what their itching ears want to hear." Well, I think we just might be living in a time like that, huh?
Verse 14, "As for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it." Verse 16, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Now, God is saying here in a whirlwind of confusing ideas, there's one scale that never lies to you. It is the God-authored Word of God, the Bible.
If you want to base your life on what's really true and what will always work, you will weigh everything by the only book God ever wrote. What the Bible says, that's reality.
Not what the culture says; what the Bible says. It sits above every idea of man and it judges it true or false, worthy or worthless. Otherwise, it's just easy to go on information that seems right; that you'd like to believe like that flattering scale. But you end up with wrong information on a dead-end street. There are a lot of scales that lie to you.
Maybe you're making your choices based on what's culturally okay. "Well, most people in my school are _____." "Well, you have to when you're in my business." "Most scholars in our field believe this is correct." "Most of my friends say I should leave my mate." Be careful! The cultural scale is lying more and more, and it frequently changes its mind.
Some people are weighing things on a scale marked Politically Correct. A lot that is politically correct is biblically wrong. So which scale are you going to go by? You can weigh your choices based on what pleases certain people or the response you're getting or the applause you get. You can weigh things based on how you feel, but your feelings are so easily manipulated; they will lie to you most of the time.
If you want the truth that will stand the test of time, submit every feeling, every decision, every idea to God's inerrant scale - the Word of God. Your life is going to be confusing; a perennial shopping trip without knowing what to buy until you settle what your final word is going to be, what your bottom line will be, what your life authority is going to be. God has spoken and He has written it down. Let His Word be the final word.
I've found a scale that told me what I wanted to believe, but it was a lie. Don't make that mistake with the things that can make or break your life. God's scale will not always tell you what you want to hear, but He will always tell you the truth.
Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we're being changed from "glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes. We take on His heart.
And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it's a delight.
The Psalmist says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).
Nothing-nothing compares with it!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
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.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[c] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Ezekiel 34:26 Or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be named in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be seen as blessed
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 8:23-34
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[a] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Footnotes:
Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes
Our Fearless Champion
November 15, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
Why are you fearful? —Matthew 8:26
Falling asleep was a challenging event during my childhood. No sooner had my parents turned out the lights than the crumpled clothes I had thrown on the chair would take on the form of a fiery dragon and the thoughts of something living under my bed put me into a panic that made sleep impossible.
I’ve come to realize that the immobilizing power of fear is not just a childhood experience. Fear keeps us from forgiving, taking a stand at the office, giving our resources to God’s kingdom, or saying no when all our friends are saying yes. Left to ourselves, we are up against a lot of fiery dragons in our lives.
In the story of the disciples in the storm-tossed boat, I’m struck by the fact that the only one who was not afraid was Jesus. He was not afraid of the storm, nor was He afraid of a crazy man in a graveyard or of the legion of demons that possessed him (Matt. 8:23-34).
In the face of fear, we need to hear Jesus ask, “Why are you fearful?” (v.26) and be reminded that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6). There is nothing that He can’t overcome and therefore nothing for Him to fear. So, next time you’re haunted by your fears, remember that you can rely on Jesus, our fearless Champion!
Lord, thank You for the reminder that You will
never leave us nor forsake us. When I am afraid, I
know that I can rely on Your presence and power
to calm my heart and overcome my fears.
In times of fear, call out to Jesus, our fearless Champion.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 15, 2013
“What Is That to You?”
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22
One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Scale That Never Lies - #7005
Friday, November 15, 2013
Most days of my life I have to assess the damage from the day before - on a scale. When you have a history of being sort of "blimpy" when you were young and a slow metabolism as I do, it's very good to weigh yourself every day. One summer we spent the night with our son who was staying in a mobile home. He was unusually enthusiastic about the scale he had. He really wanted us to weigh ourselves on it. See, he's a scale watcher too.
My wife got on first, and she said, "Yes!" I got on and I weighed 15 pounds less than I had weighed only a few days before. I was ecstatic! But only briefly. The three of us compared notes. See, everyone had experienced a miraculous weight loss of 15-20 pounds the moment we stepped on that scale. Of course, we also weighed something wildly different every time we got on that scale. Oh, it told us what we wanted to believe was true, but alas that scale was loco!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Scale That Never Lies."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy chapter 3. I'll begin reading at verse 14. It's really about how to live in a time of confusing ideas and relativism. It talks about a time when people will experience "deceiving and being deceived" and people trying to suit their own desires. And it says, "gathering around a great number of teachers that say what their itching ears want to hear." Well, I think we just might be living in a time like that, huh?
Verse 14, "As for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it." Verse 16, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Now, God is saying here in a whirlwind of confusing ideas, there's one scale that never lies to you. It is the God-authored Word of God, the Bible.
If you want to base your life on what's really true and what will always work, you will weigh everything by the only book God ever wrote. What the Bible says, that's reality.
Not what the culture says; what the Bible says. It sits above every idea of man and it judges it true or false, worthy or worthless. Otherwise, it's just easy to go on information that seems right; that you'd like to believe like that flattering scale. But you end up with wrong information on a dead-end street. There are a lot of scales that lie to you.
Maybe you're making your choices based on what's culturally okay. "Well, most people in my school are _____." "Well, you have to when you're in my business." "Most scholars in our field believe this is correct." "Most of my friends say I should leave my mate." Be careful! The cultural scale is lying more and more, and it frequently changes its mind.
Some people are weighing things on a scale marked Politically Correct. A lot that is politically correct is biblically wrong. So which scale are you going to go by? You can weigh your choices based on what pleases certain people or the response you're getting or the applause you get. You can weigh things based on how you feel, but your feelings are so easily manipulated; they will lie to you most of the time.
If you want the truth that will stand the test of time, submit every feeling, every decision, every idea to God's inerrant scale - the Word of God. Your life is going to be confusing; a perennial shopping trip without knowing what to buy until you settle what your final word is going to be, what your bottom line will be, what your life authority is going to be. God has spoken and He has written it down. Let His Word be the final word.
I've found a scale that told me what I wanted to believe, but it was a lie. Don't make that mistake with the things that can make or break your life. God's scale will not always tell you what you want to hear, but He will always tell you the truth.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Ezekiel 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Study Your Children
Crankcase oil coursed my dad's veins. He repaired engines for a living. Dad loved machines.
But God gave my dad a mechanical moron, a son who couldn't differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. Dad tried to teach me. I tried to learn. Honestly, I did. Machines anesthetized me. But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books?
He gives him a library card. Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that. You know what he didn't do? Never once did he say: "Why can't you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?"
Study your children while you can. The greatest gift you can give your child is not your riches, but revealing to them their own!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 33
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of[b] them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ 13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— 15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. 16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. 18 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. 19 And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. 20 Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”
Jerusalem’s Fall Explained
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” 22 Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’
27 “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague. 28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.’
30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.
33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Leviticus 19:9-15
New International Version (NIV)
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
On Helping Others
November 14, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. —Leviticus 19:9
When snowstorms bury the grazing lands, ranchers must feed their herds by hand. As hay is tossed from wagons and trucks, the strongest animals bull their way to the front. Timid or sickly animals get little or no feed unless the rancher intervenes.
Workers in refugee camps and food pantries report a similar pattern. When they open their stores to those in need, the weak and timid may not make it to the front of the line. Like the ranchers, these human lifelines must take steps to ensure that their services reach the feeble, weary, and sick at the edge of society’s attention.
They are carrying out a principle set forth by God long ago. In Leviticus 19, Moses instructed Israel’s farmers and vintners to leave portions of their crops so the poor and the stranger could have something to eat (vv.9-10).
We too can serve as caretakers to the weak and weary. Whether we’re teachers coaxing quiet students to open up, workers coming alongside a struggling co-worker, prisoners looking out for new arrivals, or parents showing attention to their children, we have ways to honor God by helping others.
As we seek to serve those in need, may the grace of God that reached us in our need move us to reach out to others in theirs.
Father, open my eyes to those struggling to have
enough food, enough love, enough hope; then open my
heart to find ways to help them receive love, using my
hands in service to them—and through them, to You.
By serving others, we serve God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 14, 2013
Discovering Divine Design
As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27
We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “. . . the Lord led me . . .” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Waiting for a Clean Room - #7004
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Over the years I've been placed in positions where I was supposed to motivate people to do something. Obviously that word motivate comes from the same word as motion - get people moving in some area. And I have to say my greatest motivational challenges have not come with large groups or with small groups; well one small group especially - my family. How do you motivate two boys to clean their room? If someone ever wrote an effective book on this, oh I would have bought it. It could have been a best seller. I won't be writing it, so go ahead.
Now, you talk about trying to get some people moving? Somehow my sons developed a very high tolerance for mess. It would drive me crazy! I like to be able to see my floor. You know? They didn't care. I like to walk to my bed. They never minded climbing into theirs. There was one day of the year I could motivate them to bulldoze... I mean clean their room. It was the day before Christmas. See they were anxious to see what was in those presents under the tree, so I made a simple rule: No gifts are coming into this room until it is clean. Guess what? They got moving!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting for a Clean Room."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the life of Daniel; a man who God says was on His most respected list. He's called "highly esteemed" by God. And when you see how Daniel prayed, you'll see part of the reason why. We're in Daniel chapter 9 for our word for today from the Word of God, and Daniel's asking God for something only God could do. In this case, to restore Jerusalem and its temple. Maybe you've got one of those only God can do it things in your life right now. Well, listen to what happens.
Verse 20, "While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill-while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I'd seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight, about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you.'"
Now, there is in this passage a very important key to answered prayer. Notice how Daniel went about it. He said, "confessing my sin" first, and then he says, "then making my request." That's the kind of prayer we don't know much about. We request, but we don't repent first. Daniel's confessing here is specific, not general. If you go back through the prayer, he is talking about specific sins. It's intense repentance; it's not laid back, casual about my sin.
You may be wondering why your prayer doesn't seem to be getting through; why there seems to be no answer. Well, there could be several reasons. But this passage suggests one that is often overlooked. You could be sabotaging your own prayer by not cleaning your room. See, God cannot bless sin. So He says, "I want to give you some wonderful gifts, but I will not bring them into this messy room."
Right now there may be something you're thinking or saying or doing or not doing that's hurting God; you're disobeying God. David spelled out the effect of un-repented sin in Psalm 66:18 when he said, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear me." The blessing can't get through because there's a sinful action or attitude that's blocking that pipeline from heaven. So, if things seem bogged down between you and heaven, dare to ask God "Is there something in my life that's keeping you from giving me your best?" Like David prayed in Psalm 139 , "Search me, O God, know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me." Un-repented sin is the great saboteur of the supernatural.
Remember the biblical order for powerful praying; confessing my sin, making my request. If the answer you sought hasn't come, it could be that your Father is waiting for a clean room.
Crankcase oil coursed my dad's veins. He repaired engines for a living. Dad loved machines.
But God gave my dad a mechanical moron, a son who couldn't differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. Dad tried to teach me. I tried to learn. Honestly, I did. Machines anesthetized me. But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books?
He gives him a library card. Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that. You know what he didn't do? Never once did he say: "Why can't you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?"
Study your children while you can. The greatest gift you can give your child is not your riches, but revealing to them their own!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 33
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of[b] them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ 13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— 15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. 16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. 18 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. 19 And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. 20 Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”
Jerusalem’s Fall Explained
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” 22 Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’
27 “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague. 28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.’
30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.
33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Leviticus 19:9-15
New International Version (NIV)
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
On Helping Others
November 14, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. —Leviticus 19:9
When snowstorms bury the grazing lands, ranchers must feed their herds by hand. As hay is tossed from wagons and trucks, the strongest animals bull their way to the front. Timid or sickly animals get little or no feed unless the rancher intervenes.
Workers in refugee camps and food pantries report a similar pattern. When they open their stores to those in need, the weak and timid may not make it to the front of the line. Like the ranchers, these human lifelines must take steps to ensure that their services reach the feeble, weary, and sick at the edge of society’s attention.
They are carrying out a principle set forth by God long ago. In Leviticus 19, Moses instructed Israel’s farmers and vintners to leave portions of their crops so the poor and the stranger could have something to eat (vv.9-10).
We too can serve as caretakers to the weak and weary. Whether we’re teachers coaxing quiet students to open up, workers coming alongside a struggling co-worker, prisoners looking out for new arrivals, or parents showing attention to their children, we have ways to honor God by helping others.
As we seek to serve those in need, may the grace of God that reached us in our need move us to reach out to others in theirs.
Father, open my eyes to those struggling to have
enough food, enough love, enough hope; then open my
heart to find ways to help them receive love, using my
hands in service to them—and through them, to You.
By serving others, we serve God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 14, 2013
Discovering Divine Design
As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27
We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “. . . the Lord led me . . .” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Waiting for a Clean Room - #7004
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Over the years I've been placed in positions where I was supposed to motivate people to do something. Obviously that word motivate comes from the same word as motion - get people moving in some area. And I have to say my greatest motivational challenges have not come with large groups or with small groups; well one small group especially - my family. How do you motivate two boys to clean their room? If someone ever wrote an effective book on this, oh I would have bought it. It could have been a best seller. I won't be writing it, so go ahead.
Now, you talk about trying to get some people moving? Somehow my sons developed a very high tolerance for mess. It would drive me crazy! I like to be able to see my floor. You know? They didn't care. I like to walk to my bed. They never minded climbing into theirs. There was one day of the year I could motivate them to bulldoze... I mean clean their room. It was the day before Christmas. See they were anxious to see what was in those presents under the tree, so I made a simple rule: No gifts are coming into this room until it is clean. Guess what? They got moving!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting for a Clean Room."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the life of Daniel; a man who God says was on His most respected list. He's called "highly esteemed" by God. And when you see how Daniel prayed, you'll see part of the reason why. We're in Daniel chapter 9 for our word for today from the Word of God, and Daniel's asking God for something only God could do. In this case, to restore Jerusalem and its temple. Maybe you've got one of those only God can do it things in your life right now. Well, listen to what happens.
Verse 20, "While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill-while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I'd seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight, about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you.'"
Now, there is in this passage a very important key to answered prayer. Notice how Daniel went about it. He said, "confessing my sin" first, and then he says, "then making my request." That's the kind of prayer we don't know much about. We request, but we don't repent first. Daniel's confessing here is specific, not general. If you go back through the prayer, he is talking about specific sins. It's intense repentance; it's not laid back, casual about my sin.
You may be wondering why your prayer doesn't seem to be getting through; why there seems to be no answer. Well, there could be several reasons. But this passage suggests one that is often overlooked. You could be sabotaging your own prayer by not cleaning your room. See, God cannot bless sin. So He says, "I want to give you some wonderful gifts, but I will not bring them into this messy room."
Right now there may be something you're thinking or saying or doing or not doing that's hurting God; you're disobeying God. David spelled out the effect of un-repented sin in Psalm 66:18 when he said, "If I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear me." The blessing can't get through because there's a sinful action or attitude that's blocking that pipeline from heaven. So, if things seem bogged down between you and heaven, dare to ask God "Is there something in my life that's keeping you from giving me your best?" Like David prayed in Psalm 139 , "Search me, O God, know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me." Un-repented sin is the great saboteur of the supernatural.
Remember the biblical order for powerful praying; confessing my sin, making my request. If the answer you sought hasn't come, it could be that your Father is waiting for a clean room.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
1 Peter 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Fill in the Blank
How would you fill in the blank: a person is made right with God through. . . what?
A person is made right with God through. . .being good. Pay your taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don't drink too much or drink at all. Christian conduct- that's the secret.
Suffering. There's the answer. No, it's doctrine. That's how to be made right with God.
No, no, no. All of the above are tried. All are taught. But none are from God. In fact, that's the problem. None are from God. Who does the saving, you or Him?
Romans 3:28 says, "A person is made right with God through faith." Not through good works, suffering, or doctrine. Those may be the result of salvation, but they're not the cause of it.
Salvation comes through faith in God's sacrifice. In the gift of His Son. It's not what you do…it's what He did.
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
1 Peter 4
New International Version (NIV)
Living for God
4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering for Being a Christian
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[a]
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 4:18 Prov. 11:31 (see Septuagint)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Unity and Diversity in the Body
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
A Piece Of The Puzzle
November 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. —1 Corinthians 12:18
At her birthday celebration, the honored guest turned the tables by giving everyone at the party a gift. Kriste gave each of us a personal note expressing what we mean to her, along with encouraging words about the person God made us to be. Enclosed with every note was one piece of a jigsaw puzzle as a reminder that each of us is unique and important in God’s plan.
That experience helped me to read 1 Corinthians 12 with new eyes. Paul compared the church—the body of Christ—to a human body. Just as our physical bodies have hands, feet, eyes, and ears, all are part of a unified body. No follower of Christ can claim independence from the body, nor can one part tell another that it is not needed (vv.12-17). “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (v.18).
It’s easy to feel less important than others whose gifts are different and perhaps more visible than ours. The Lord, however, wants us to see ourselves as He does—uniquely created and highly valued by Him.
You are one piece of a picture that is not complete without you. God has gifted you to be an important part of the body of Christ to bring Him honor.
Lord, help me not to compare myself with others
in Your family. May I seek instead to be the person
You’ve made me to be, and help me to use what
You’ve given me to bless others today.
Your life is God’s gift to you; make it your gift to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 13, 2013
Faith or Experience?
. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20
We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Running to the Rescue - #7003
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
I never saw the movie Jaws, but I know it's about this shark that keeps snacking on people who are in the ocean. And that's why the lifeguard at Ocean City, New Jersey got my attention that summer day when he ordered us all out of the water. Oh, I was cooperative. I didn't even ask any questions. In moments, there were hundreds of people out of the water and lined up on the beach. But the shark was just in my imagination. The real problem was three children who had gone out too far in high tide, and they were too close to the jetty in spite of a lifeguard's warning. Now they were in very serious trouble; they were going down.
I looked down toward the beaches to my left and my right, and the swimmers had been cleared from the water as far as I could see. All the lifeguards from all over were running from those beaches to our beach, and pretty soon every lifeguard in the neighborhood was there. Some were swimming out to the children; others were launching the rowboat and rowing right into high tide. Thankfully they rescued all three children relatively unharmed, but man, was it dramatic! Those lifeguards, of course, usually stay in their own areas, but not this time. When it was life-or-death, they all worked together.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running to the Rescue."
Our word for today from the Word of God highlights some verses from Acts chapters 1 and 2. Jesus is briefing the 11 men who would launch His eternal rescue mission around the world. He says in Acts 1:8 , "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." What a massive challenge for 11 guys! Take this life-saving news across the city, across the area, and across the world! It's overwhelming!
So here's what they did. Verse 14, "They all joined together constantly in prayer." Good idea. Chapter 2, verse 1, "When the Day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place." Notice that word "together" again. Then in verse 41, "Those who accepted His message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day."
They were having an impact. Verse 44: "All the believers were together and had everything in common." Verse 47: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
They were surrounded by dying people without Christ. And they responded the same way the Ocean City Beach Patrol did that day. They realized they had to work together if they were going to rise to rescue those people. Now, the believers in your area, no matter what their distinctives are and no matter what their denominations are and what differences they have; they're God's life-saving team in your community. More often than not, the tragedy in most places is that God's lifeguards are each working their own beach; often widely separated from each other.
That might be okay except for one thing. Lost people are going down while they are huddled in their little corner of the beach. The fact is, in our lifetime America has become a post-Christian nation. The people we live around and work around know very little about the Bible or about our Savior. We're losing the battle to rescue people. How can we continue to work separately? Is it that we've forgotten the price Jesus paid for these people? Have we forgotten the eternal hell when you miss the Savior?
Maybe it's time all of us admit what seems so obvious. We're all failing to truly make an impact; to make much of a difference in rescuing the perishing. And maybe you could be the one, like the lifeguard on our beach, to call to the rescuers from other groups and say, "Hey, people are dying here! Come on, we've got to work together!" There's nothing like a burden for lost people to pull God's people together. It's time we begin to reach across the lines between us and form prayer groups on behalf of the lost that none of us are reaching. It's time your church leaves that bickering over trivia and come together to fight for the lost in your community. It's time we forget turf. Turf doesn't matter when people are dying. It's time we begin to plan how we can do what the first century Christians did, work together to impact a city for Jesus Christ.
I can still picture those lifeguards running full speed ahead to get together, because the cries of dying people brought them together. Brothers and sisters, this is life or death. We have got to get together.
How would you fill in the blank: a person is made right with God through. . . what?
A person is made right with God through. . .being good. Pay your taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don't drink too much or drink at all. Christian conduct- that's the secret.
Suffering. There's the answer. No, it's doctrine. That's how to be made right with God.
No, no, no. All of the above are tried. All are taught. But none are from God. In fact, that's the problem. None are from God. Who does the saving, you or Him?
Romans 3:28 says, "A person is made right with God through faith." Not through good works, suffering, or doctrine. Those may be the result of salvation, but they're not the cause of it.
Salvation comes through faith in God's sacrifice. In the gift of His Son. It's not what you do…it's what He did.
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
1 Peter 4
New International Version (NIV)
Living for God
4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Suffering for Being a Christian
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[a]
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 4:18 Prov. 11:31 (see Septuagint)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Unity and Diversity in the Body
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
A Piece Of The Puzzle
November 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. —1 Corinthians 12:18
At her birthday celebration, the honored guest turned the tables by giving everyone at the party a gift. Kriste gave each of us a personal note expressing what we mean to her, along with encouraging words about the person God made us to be. Enclosed with every note was one piece of a jigsaw puzzle as a reminder that each of us is unique and important in God’s plan.
That experience helped me to read 1 Corinthians 12 with new eyes. Paul compared the church—the body of Christ—to a human body. Just as our physical bodies have hands, feet, eyes, and ears, all are part of a unified body. No follower of Christ can claim independence from the body, nor can one part tell another that it is not needed (vv.12-17). “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (v.18).
It’s easy to feel less important than others whose gifts are different and perhaps more visible than ours. The Lord, however, wants us to see ourselves as He does—uniquely created and highly valued by Him.
You are one piece of a picture that is not complete without you. God has gifted you to be an important part of the body of Christ to bring Him honor.
Lord, help me not to compare myself with others
in Your family. May I seek instead to be the person
You’ve made me to be, and help me to use what
You’ve given me to bless others today.
Your life is God’s gift to you; make it your gift to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 13, 2013
Faith or Experience?
. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20
We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Running to the Rescue - #7003
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
I never saw the movie Jaws, but I know it's about this shark that keeps snacking on people who are in the ocean. And that's why the lifeguard at Ocean City, New Jersey got my attention that summer day when he ordered us all out of the water. Oh, I was cooperative. I didn't even ask any questions. In moments, there were hundreds of people out of the water and lined up on the beach. But the shark was just in my imagination. The real problem was three children who had gone out too far in high tide, and they were too close to the jetty in spite of a lifeguard's warning. Now they were in very serious trouble; they were going down.
I looked down toward the beaches to my left and my right, and the swimmers had been cleared from the water as far as I could see. All the lifeguards from all over were running from those beaches to our beach, and pretty soon every lifeguard in the neighborhood was there. Some were swimming out to the children; others were launching the rowboat and rowing right into high tide. Thankfully they rescued all three children relatively unharmed, but man, was it dramatic! Those lifeguards, of course, usually stay in their own areas, but not this time. When it was life-or-death, they all worked together.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running to the Rescue."
Our word for today from the Word of God highlights some verses from Acts chapters 1 and 2. Jesus is briefing the 11 men who would launch His eternal rescue mission around the world. He says in Acts 1:8 , "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." What a massive challenge for 11 guys! Take this life-saving news across the city, across the area, and across the world! It's overwhelming!
So here's what they did. Verse 14, "They all joined together constantly in prayer." Good idea. Chapter 2, verse 1, "When the Day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place." Notice that word "together" again. Then in verse 41, "Those who accepted His message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day."
They were having an impact. Verse 44: "All the believers were together and had everything in common." Verse 47: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
They were surrounded by dying people without Christ. And they responded the same way the Ocean City Beach Patrol did that day. They realized they had to work together if they were going to rise to rescue those people. Now, the believers in your area, no matter what their distinctives are and no matter what their denominations are and what differences they have; they're God's life-saving team in your community. More often than not, the tragedy in most places is that God's lifeguards are each working their own beach; often widely separated from each other.
That might be okay except for one thing. Lost people are going down while they are huddled in their little corner of the beach. The fact is, in our lifetime America has become a post-Christian nation. The people we live around and work around know very little about the Bible or about our Savior. We're losing the battle to rescue people. How can we continue to work separately? Is it that we've forgotten the price Jesus paid for these people? Have we forgotten the eternal hell when you miss the Savior?
Maybe it's time all of us admit what seems so obvious. We're all failing to truly make an impact; to make much of a difference in rescuing the perishing. And maybe you could be the one, like the lifeguard on our beach, to call to the rescuers from other groups and say, "Hey, people are dying here! Come on, we've got to work together!" There's nothing like a burden for lost people to pull God's people together. It's time we begin to reach across the lines between us and form prayer groups on behalf of the lost that none of us are reaching. It's time your church leaves that bickering over trivia and come together to fight for the lost in your community. It's time we forget turf. Turf doesn't matter when people are dying. It's time we begin to plan how we can do what the first century Christians did, work together to impact a city for Jesus Christ.
I can still picture those lifeguards running full speed ahead to get together, because the cries of dying people brought them together. Brothers and sisters, this is life or death. We have got to get together.
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