Matthew 8:18-34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Invites You In

If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.

God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”

God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!

From He Chose the Nails

Matthew 8:18-34

The Cost of Following Jesus

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
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 Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 5:24-30

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Insight
In our passage today, John portrays Jesus as both life-giver and judge (5:24). As life-giver, Jesus gives us eternal life. As judge, Jesus will not condemn us (Rom. 8:1). God has given Jesus authority to be life-giver and judge “because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). The title “the Son of Man” is a Messianic title (Dan. 7:13-14) that speaks of Jesus’ deity and humanity. Jesus used the title synonymously with “the Son of God” (Matt. 26:63-64).

Victory Over Death!

By Dennis Fisher

The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth. —John 5:28-29



An ancient painting I saw recently made a deep impression on me. Its title, Anastasis, means “resurrection,” and it depicts the triumph of Christ’s victory over death in a stunning way. The Lord Jesus, newly emerged from the tomb, is pulling Adam and Eve out of their coffins to eternal life. What is so amazing about this artwork is the way it shows how spiritual and physical death, the result of the fall, were dramatically reversed by the risen Christ.

Anastasis

Prior to His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus predicted a future day when He will call believers into a new and glorified existence: “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29).

Because of Christ’s victory over death, the grave is not final. We naturally will feel sorrow and grief when those we love die and we are separated from them in this life. But the believer does not grieve as one who has no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). The witness of Jesus’ resurrection is that all Christians will one day be taken from their graves to be clothed with glorified resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:42-44). And so “we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).
Dear Lord, thank You for sacrificing Your life for our
sins so that we might live. We’re thankful that
because You died and rose again, we can have
assurance that one day we’ll be with You in a place of no more death.
Because Christ is alive, we too shall live.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 21, 2014

Don’t Hurt the Lord

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us-astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be-it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask-”Lord, show us the Father . . .” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.

“Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? . If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Rapture Practice - #7116

Monday, April 21, 2014

Back in my old Bible school days, some of my friends liked to get a little "punchy" when they got tired. And that's when you would see them doing what they would call "rapture practice." Yeah, you probably know the Bible describes Christ's coming for His own people, and a trumpet will sound and Christians caught up in the air to meet Him.
Well, one of my crazy friends would suddenly walk into the room and announce, "Rapture practice!" And then he'd go "ta-da!" That's the trumpet. And the other guys would respond. They would raise their hands above their heads and jump into the air. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just telling you about it. I did not invent this.
Christians have had the opportunity for a much more serious rapture practice. I mean, a popular book predicted a date on which the author had rather, he thought, scientifically calculated that Christ would return. Many believers knew about that date and thought about it, even though Christ did not return as predicted at that point.
Look, He will when He's ready; not when we set the date. He said no man would know the day or the hour when He would come. But many believers started to think about it a lot. And even though some of us are uncomfortable with date setting, and we should be, that prediction made a lot of folks look at their lives. And that's a good thing just in case it was the right date. Jesus will return - maybe soon. Maybe we could use a little preparation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Rapture Practice."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Peter 4:7 where Peter begins, "The end of all things is near." These are instructions for how to live when time is short. I feel that shortness of time. Do you? I feel it with my children. I feel it with my grandchildren. I feel like I'm running out of time to mark their lives. I feel that as my life seems to just fly by, and you don't have to have many birthdays to be like, "How can I be this old this fast?"
I look at the prophetic stage that seems to be set right now. I mean, a volatile middle east and Israel in the middle of it all. And the incredible rise of anti-Christian theology, and the marginalization of those who are loyal to Christ. And the Bible describes the falling away of Christians, global warming alarms, and all kinds of unprecedented occurrences and recurrences of natural disasters.
However you cut it, these are urgent times. I can't say Jesus is coming back at a certain time. I can say I'm not sure the world has ever looked more like the world He said He's return to than it looks right now. Look, this is a blueprint for people who are running out of time.
1 Peter 4:7 gives this instruction to people living in urgent times. "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." Any proper response to urgent times begins on your knees. And there are two prerequisites here to urgent times praying. First, you've got to have a clear mind. In other words, before you pray, make sure your mind is in neutral - that you're objective. That you come to God, not with your mind all made up, but you come with a blank piece of paper that says, "God, whatever you say to me, that's it. I'll do it."
Then it says to be self-controlled. You have to come to Him with controlled emotions. A pre-conceived mindset when you pray, or run-away feelings can lead you astray. They can confuse you. They can distort things, destroy judgment. They can drown out the voice of God. God wants to direct you, especially in these urgent times. He wants you to pray boldly. Before you can, you have to dethrone your own pre-conceptions and your own emotions, and then totally center on your sovereign Lord.
If you feel the shortness of time, don't panic. Don't go running around all over the place. First, get on your knees a lot more and listen for God's direction. It's never been more important that you have a God-directed day. There's no time to waste on your bright ideas or your personally conceived plans. The best practice for Christ's return is to spend time in His powerful presence.

Job 7 Bible Reading and Devotionals.

Max Lucado Daily: We’re God’s Idea

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

We’re God’s idea.  His face.  His eyes.  His hands.  His touch.  We are him!

Look deeply into the face of every human being on earth and you’ll see his likeness.  Though some appear to be distant relatives, they’re not.  God has no cousins, only children.

You aren’t an accident or an incident; you’re a gift to the world.  A divine work of art—signed by God.

One of the best gifts I ever received is a football jersey signed by thirty former professional quarterbacks.  For all I know it was bought at a discount sports store.  What makes it unique are the signatures.

The same is true with us.  What makes us special is not our body, but the signature of God on our lives.  We’re his works of art, created in his image.

Significant, not because of what we do, but because of whose we are!

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

Job 7

“Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
    Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
    or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
    and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’
    The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
    my skin is broken and festering.
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
    and they come to an end without hope.
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
    my eyes will never see happiness again.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
    you will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place will know him no more.
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;
    I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
    that you put me under guard?
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
    and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,
    rather than this body of mine.
16 I despise my life; I would not live forever.
    Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,
18 that you examine them every morning
    and test them every moment?
19 Will you never look away from me,
    or let me alone even for an instant?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
    Have I become a burden to you?[d]
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 10:11-18

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”[a]
17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
    I will remember no more.”[b]
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 10:16 Jer. 31:33
Hebrews 10:17 Jer. 31:34

Insight
In Hebrews 10:14 we see this remarkable statement: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” How is this possible? Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth answers this question. Since being “good enough” through personal effort is futile (Rom. 7), only a transfer of account from a righteous person to a sinner could remedy the problem. “He made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ’s atoning death on the cross appeased the wrath of God (Rom. 3:24-26), and His righteousness was attributed to us that we might be declared justified before God.

Easter Every Day

By Cindy Hess Kasper

He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. —Matthew 28:6

A friend of mine, who is a preschool teacher, overheard an animated conversation among her students. Little Maria threw out the question: “Who loves God?” All of them responded, “I do! I do! I do!” Billy said, “I love Jesus.” Kelly protested, “But He died.” Billy said, “Yeah, but every Easter He rises from the dead!”

Obviously, young Billy’s understanding of the meaning of Easter is still developing. We know that Jesus died once for all (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 10:12) and, of course, rose from the dead once. Three days after paying the penalty of our sins on the cross, the sinless Jesus conquered death by rising from the grave and breaking the power of sin. It was this final sacrifice of blood that opened the only way for us to have a relationship with God now and a home with Him forevermore.

“Christ died for our sins, . . . He was buried, and . . . He rose again the third day” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). He has promised that He is preparing a place for us (John 14:1-4), and He will someday return. One day we will be with our risen Savior.

That’s why every year at Eastertime—in fact, every day of the year—we have reason to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1).

Christ’s resurrection is cause for our celebration.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 20, 2014

Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . . —2 Corinthians 1:20
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30  was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.

The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.

Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.

Job 6 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Resentment

Resentment is a prison.  When you’ve put someone in your jail cell of hatred, you are stuck guarding the door.  If you’re out to settle a score, you are never going to rest.  How can you?  For one thing, your enemy may never pay up.

As much as you think you deserve an apology, your debtor may not agree.  The racist may never repent.  The chauvinist may never change. As justified as you are in your quest for vengeance, you may never get a penny’s worth of justice.  And if you do, will it be enough?

You see, resentment is a prison.  Jesus doesn’t question the reality of your wounds.  He just doubts whether resentment is going to heal you.  What are you going to do?  Spend your life guarding the prison jail cell?  Or entrust your wounds to Jesus?

from The Great House of God

Job 6

Then Job replied:

2 “If only my anguish could be weighed
    and all my misery be placed on the scales!
3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—
    no wonder my words have been impetuous.
4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
    my spirit drinks in their poison;
    God’s terrors are marshaled against me.
5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,
    or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[b]?
7 I refuse to touch it;
    such food makes me ill.
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
    that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me,
    to let loose his hand and cut off my life!
10 Then I would still have this consolation—
    my joy in unrelenting pain—
    that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
    What prospects, that I should be patient?
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
    Is my flesh bronze?
13 Do I have any power to help myself,
    now that success has been driven from me?
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
    as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice
    and swollen with melting snow,
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
    and in the heat vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;
    they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look for water,
    the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;
    they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
    you see something dreadful and are afraid.
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
    pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
    rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet;
    show me where I have been wrong.
25 How painful are honest words!
    But what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you mean to correct what I say,
    and treat my desperate words as wind?
27 You would even cast lots for the fatherless
    and barter away your friend.
28 “But now be so kind as to look at me.
    Would I lie to your face?
29 Relent, do not be unjust;
    reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.[c]
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?
    Can my mouth not discern malice?


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 5:1-11

Peace and Hope

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Footnotes:

Romans 5:1 Many manuscripts let us
Romans 5:2 Or let us
Romans 5:3 Or let us

Insight
In Romans 5, the apostle Paul reminds us of our great blessings and privileges as followers of Christ. In verses 1-2, he says that in Christ we have “peace with God” and “access” to God through our faith relationship with Christ. This is part of what he would later call our “reconciliation” to God (vv.10-11). We’ve been restored to relationship with Him through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

The Spotlight

By Joe Stowell

We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. —Romans 5:11

I’ll never forget the Easter Sunday in 1993 when Bernhard Langer won the Masters golf tournament. As he stepped off the 18th green to receive the green jacket—one of golf’s most coveted prizes—a reporter said, “This must be the greatest day of your life!” Without missing a beat, Langer replied: “It’s wonderful to win the greatest tournament in the world, but it means more to win on Easter Sunday—to celebrate the resurrection of my Lord and Savior.”

Langer had an opportunity to boast about himself, but instead he turned the spotlight on Jesus Christ. It’s exactly what Paul was talking about when he said, “We also rejoice [boast] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Rom. 5:11).

It’s easy to look for ways to draw attention to our own accomplishments, making mental lists of things that are “cool” about ourselves. Even Paul admitted that he had a lot to brag about—but he considered all of it “rubbish” for the sake of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8). We would do well to follow his example.

So, if you really want something to boast about, boast about Jesus and what He’s done for you. Look for opportunities to turn the spotlight on Him.

Naught have I gotten but what I received,
Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase—
I’m only a sinner saved by grace! —Gray
You can’t boast in Jesus while you’re preoccupied with yourself.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 19, 2014

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“. . . kept by the power of God . . .”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).

Job 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday

Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients.  But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.
It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.
Nails didn't hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21).
From Six Hours One Friday

Job 5

“Call if you will, but who will answer you?
    To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 Resentment kills a fool,
    and envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen a fool taking root,
    but suddenly his house was cursed.
4 His children are far from safety,
    crushed in court without a defender.
5 The hungry consume his harvest,
    taking it even from among thorns,
    and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble
    as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
    I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He provides rain for the earth;
    he sends water on the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
    at noon they grope as in the night.
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
    he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope,
    and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
    so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[a]
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
    he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you;
    in seven no harm will touch you.
20 In famine he will deliver you from death,
    and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
    and need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
    and need not fear the wild animals.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
    and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure;
    you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many,
    and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,
    like sheaves gathered in season.
27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it and apply it to yourself.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

Made Alive in Christ

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Footnotes:

Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

Insight
Twice in today’s passage, Paul affirms that our salvation is God’s gift, for “by grace you have been saved” (vv.5,8). He reminds us that we are saved so that we can do good works (v.10). In other epistles, Paul encourages us to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14), to be “fruitful in every good work” (Col. 1:10), and to demonstrate “an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). Martin Luther put it this way: “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

I’m Alive

By Marvin Williams

You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. —Ephesians 2:1

Laura Brooks, a 52-year-old mother of two, didn’t know it but she was one of 14,000 people in 2011 whose name was incorrectly entered into the government database as dead. She wondered what was wrong when she stopped receiving disability checks, and her loan payments and her rent checks bounced. She went to the bank to clear up the issue, but the representative told her that her accounts had been closed because she was dead! Obviously, they were mistaken.

The apostle Paul was not mistaken when he said that the Ephesian believers were at one point dead—spiritually dead. They were dead in the sense that they were separated from God, enslaved to sin (Eph. 2:5), and condemned under the wrath of God. What a state of hopelessness!

Yet God in His goodness took action to reverse this condition for them and for us. The living God “who gives life to the dead” (Rom. 4:17) poured out His rich mercy and great love by sending His Son Jesus to this earth. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are made alive (Eph. 2:4-5).

When we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we go from death to life. Now we live to rejoice in His goodness!

I know I’m a sinner and Christ is my need;
His death is my ransom, no merit I plead.
His work is sufficient, on Him I believe;
I have life eternal when Him I receive. —Anon.
Accepting Jesus’ death gives me life.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 18, 2014

Readiness

God called to him . . . . And he said, ’Here I am’ —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

How the Hands Tell It All - #7115

Look, you've probably got a picture of yourself you don't like, right? It might be on your driver's license, or an ID card, or a passport. There's probably a picture of you that you do like. That's the one that shows your good side, your hair's just right, you're smiling. Once at a conference there was a lady who I guess appreciated the speaking of one of my fellow speakers there, and she said, "Would you mind if I give you a picture of myself?" He said, "Well, that would be fine." So she signed it with a note, and he didn't really look at the picture until he got to a lunch that I was attending. We were sitting right next to each other, and he opened it up and he said, "Man! Look at this picture!" It was the most unusual personal photo I've ever seen. It was a picture of her hands.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How the Hands Tell It All."
Our word today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah chapter 49 beginning at verse 15. God asks this provocative question, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born?" Of course the answer to that should be, "Never," although occasionally it does happen. He goes on to say, "Though she may forget, I will not forget you. I have engraved you on the palms of My hands."
That lady gave my speaker friend a picture of her wrinkled, worn hands. You could see that those hands had obviously worked very hard for a very long time. And that is how she wanted to portray her life. Well, it seems like God's saying to us here, "If you want to know what I'm like; if you want to know how I feel about you, look at this picture of Me. It's a picture of my hands."
Do you know what the message is in His hands? "I will never forget you." First, look at the hands of God in a stable in a little town called Bethlehem where all of the power of the creative God is packed into this wrinkled little Jewish baby. And here His hands are so powerless. He can't even grab His mama's nose. These are the hands that created the world, and they are now helpless as He becomes a human being to reach us.
And now look at those hands touching people later in His life; touching them with healing at the point of their need. And then, later, you can see those hands nailed viciously to a cross. A few days later, those same hands are extended to His disciple Thomas to prove He is alive. And now Jesus is alive and glorified, but the nail scars are still there. God says, "We are engraved on the palms of His hands."
Maybe you're in a time when other hands have left you or let you down. Well, today your almighty God has His hands open and He cannot forget you. There are nail prints there because of how much He loves you. He paid for your sins, for your wrong doing, for your running your own life. He paid for that on a cross. And no matter how alone you feel right now, He's offering all the grace and all the love, and all the understanding, and all the power you need, and He'll never turn His back on you. If He was ever going to, He would have done it on that cross.
If you don't know this Jesus, if you've never reached out and grabbed that hand and said as Thomas did, "My Lord and My God" and made Him your own personal Savior with total trust, please do that today. It's Good Friday! He's been reaching for you. Won't you reach back? He wants to know you. He wants you to know Him. You are in His nail-engraved hands once you give your heart to Him.
We've kind of set up our website just to be a place where you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus. I've got some scripture there, and I'm there to meet you really, and just share with you how to take the hand of Jesus and belong to Him from this day on. That website is ANewStory.com. Please, this day, go there.
There's an old hymn that pretty well sums it up. "I shall know Him when redeemed by His side I shall stand. I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side by the print of the nails in His hands."

Matthew 8:1-17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What Do We Do to Him

The soldiers' assignment was simple. Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they wanted to have some fun first. Strong, armed soldiers circled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The beating was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered.  But the spitting?
Spitting isn't intended to hurt the body-it can't. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does. Ever done that? Maybe you haven't spit on anyone, but have you gossiped? Raised your hand in anger? Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that the way we treat others is how we treat Jesus!
From He Chose the Nails


Matthew 8:1-17
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Faith of the Centurion

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many

14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”[b]
Footnotes:

    Matthew 8:2 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
    Matthew 8:17 Isaiah 53:4 (see Septuagint)


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Genesis 41:46-57

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh[a] and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim[b] and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”

56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. 57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
Footnotes:

    Genesis 41:51 Manasseh sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget.
    Genesis 41:52 Ephraim sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful.

Insight
Although Joseph suffered many injustices, God ultimately used him to help others by empowering him to provide food for those who otherwise would have starved. This principle applies to the believer even today. God can help us persevere in our suffering so that we can help others who are in need in the future. In the New Testament, Paul tells us that we experience pain and God’s comfort in order to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

All Kinds Of Help

By Anne Cetas

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.” —Genesis 41:39



In the wake of the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, many people have felt strongly compelled to help. Some donated blood for the injured, some provided free lunches and coffee at their restaurants for workers. Others wrote letters of comfort or just gave hugs. Some sent gifts of money and teddy bears for the children; others offered counseling. People found ways to serve according to their personalities, abilities, and resources.

A story in the Bible about Joseph tells how he used his skills to play an important role in helping people survive a 7-year famine (Gen. 41:53-54). In his case, he could prepare beforehand because he knew a difficult time was coming. After Joseph warned Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that the lean years were coming, Pharaoh put him in charge of the 7-year preparation time. Joseph used wisdom and discernment from God to get his country ready (41:39). Then, when “the famine was over all the face of the earth, . . . Joseph opened all the storehouses” (v.56). He was even able to help his own family (45:16-18).

These stories show the heart of God for the world. He has prepared us and made us who we are that we might care for others in whatever way He leads us.
Lord, help me feel the hurt that others feel
When life inflicts some bitter pain,
And use me in some loving way to heal
The wounds that may through life remain. —D. DeHaan
Compassion offers whatever is necessary to heal.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 17, 2014

All or Nothing?

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea —John 21:7

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Most Expensive Choice - #7114

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Raising children! You know, it's not easy to know what's best for those little lives that God entrusts to us is it? A lot of times we don't know until years later if we did too much or not enough, or just the right amount. We have choices to make about discipline, medical treatment, and education. We've got to decide where the boundaries are going to be; what happens if they go out-of-bounds. Some choices actually make the difference between life and death.
It was exactly that for a couple who had Siamese twins. The girls were joined at the chest and they sharing a common heart. The doctor said there was no way they both could live, but if they were separated, one would certainly die, but the other one had a chance of living. Those parents were faced with a choice for which there was no textbook. They had to decide whether they would let one die so the other child could live.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Expensive Choice."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 8:32. It says this: "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" This is the most expensive choice God the Father ever had to make. The most expensive choice ever made in the history of this planet. Someone had to die for your sins and for mine or we would.
According to Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." There is a death penalty for our sin, and it can only be paid one way; somebody's got to die. God loved us so much He sent His one and only Son to be your substitute. But then came that heart-wrenching moment for a Father; that moment when the Son of God is on the cross. He actually carried all the guilt and all the hell of my sin and your sin. If I were God, I think my fist would have come crashing down on that hill and said, "You can't do this to my Son!"
There God is faced with that awful choice, "Who would die for your sins?" Look, I deserve to; you deserve to. Only one could live, and He chose you. That's why Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" God looked at His Son carrying all of my sins, all of your sins, and He turned His back on His Son so He would never have to turn His back on you. And that is what makes it so tragic and so unforgivable when you ignore that love. We try to make it to God with our pitiful good works; our religion. If that could do it, God would have never sacrificed His Son for our sins.
So today, you and I stand confronted with this question, "What will you do with Jesus?" God's most expensive choice was to turn His back on His Son. Your most expensive choice will be if you turn your back on His Son. Because there goes forgiveness, there goes your relationship with God, there goes eternal life, there goes heaven.
So, what will you do right now? Isn't it time you say to this God who paid this price, "Oh, God, thank You. I am so grateful You chose to have Your Son die so I can live. I'm Yours." Beginning today, here we are at Easter Week. Is there a better time? We stand on the eve of remembering the day Jesus actually died for you and me. What a time to open your heart to Him.
Are you ready to make that choice? Are you ready to open your heart to this Jesus? I'd love to help you get this settled, and that's what our website's all about - ANewStory.com. Please, today, go there - ANewStory.com.
God made His most expensive choice at the cross when His Son died for you. You are now making your most important choice to give yourself to Him and to live.

Job 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Trust the Cross

My dog Salty knows he isn't supposed to get into the trash. But let the house be human free, and dark side of Salty takes over. If there's food in a trash can, the temptation is to?great. That's what happened the other day. I got mad, but I got over it. I cleaned up the mess and forgot about it. Salty didn't! He kept his distance. When I finally saw him, his tail was between his legs, ?his ears drooping. He thinks I'm mad at him. He doesn't know I've already dealt with his mistake.
Somewhere, sometime, you got tangled in garbage…and you've been avoiding god. You wonder if you could ever feel close to God again.The message of his torn flesh on the cross is - you can. The door is open. Don't trust your conscience. Trust the cross. You're welcome in God's presence!
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
from He Chose the Nails

Job 4

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?
3 Think how you have instructed many,
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
    you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
    it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Should not your piety be your confidence
    and your blameless ways your hope?

7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8 As I have observed, those who plow evil
    and those who sow trouble reap it.
9 At the breath of God they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10 The lions may roar and growl,
    yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 “A word was secretly brought to me,
    my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,
14 fear and trembling seized me
    and made all my bones shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face,
    and the hair on my body stood on end.
16 It stopped,
    but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
    and I heard a hushed voice:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If God places no trust in his servants,
    if he charges his angels with error,
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
    whose foundations are in the dust,
    who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
    so that they die without wisdom?’
Footnotes:


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Galatians 3:26–4:7

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

4 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Footnotes:

    Galatians 4:3 Or under the basic principles
    Galatians 4:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture.
    Galatians 4:6 Aramaic for Father

Insight
Paul’s use of the metaphor of adoption is significant. A child who is orphaned and abandoned is likely to die. But through adoption a child is accepted and made part of the family, with full status and rights. That child is given a new life. This is God’s action toward us. When God redeems us, He accepts us into His family as sons and daughters.

Joining The Family

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:26



Maurice Griffin was adopted when he was 32 years old. He had lived with Lisa and Charles Godbold 20 years earlier as a foster child. Although Maurice was now a man living on his own, adoption had been what the family and he had always longed for. Once they were reunited and the adoption was official, Maurice commented, “This is probably the happiest moment in my life. . . . I’m happy to be home.”

Those of us who have joined the family of God may refer to that time as the happiest moment in our lives. When we trust Christ for salvation, we become God’s children, and He becomes our heavenly Father. The Bible assures us, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).

As God’s adopted children, we acquire spiritual siblings—our brothers and sisters in Christ—and we all share an eternal inheritance (Col. 1:12). In addition, Jesus’ Spirit indwells our hearts and enables us to pray using the name Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6)—like a child calling, “Daddy.”

To be a child of God is to experience the closeness and security of a Father who loves us, accepts us, and wants to know us. Our adoption into His family is a wonderful homecoming.
I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth;
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to the mansion, a robe, and a crown. —Buell
God’s arms are always open to welcome anyone home.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Can You Come Down From the Mountain?

While you have the light, believe in the light . . . —John 12:36

We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.

Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just doit! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.

Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wearing the Shirt After the Loss - #7113

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Growing up, my sons never lived anywhere but in the New York area. And, therefore, they developed some pretty intense loyalty to things New York. Take the baseball season for example. Yep, they're still diehard Yankee fans. I mean, even when their Yankees weren't giving them much to cheer about. My sons were so dedicated and they really still are to the Yankees, that after a particularly embarrassing loss my youngest son made it a point to wear his Yankee shirt to school.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wearing the Shirt After the Loss."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 20; one of the most exciting chapters in all of scripture. Verse 1 says, "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark..." Listen, that's not only physically dark, it was just really dark among Jesus' followers. "...while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance."
Later in this chapter it says, "Mary stood outside the tomb crying." And then the story goes on. This is just so beautiful! "At this moment, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 'Woman,' He said, 'why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?' Thinking He was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward Him and cried out, 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)." Wow!
Now, Mary was at the moment of her ultimate loss. She had staked all her hopes and the rest of her life on this Jesus, only to see Him hanging on a cross; to see Him buried in a borrowed tomb. And you know what? It was a hard time for anybody to admit they belonged to Christ. It was a dangerous time for people to admit that. And here she was. She thought that she was on the winning team, and now this unexplainable, seemingly irreversible loss. It was a moment of total defeat it appeared. And most of Jesus' followers? Where are they? They're nowhere to be found.
Now, let's talk about you. Maybe you've lost someone you really loved, somebody you cared about deeply. Or maybe you've gotten bad news from the doctor, or you're out of work, you're out of answers. Now is the time many people retreat. At least they become very silent about their relationship with the Lord, because they don't understand. "God, what are you doing? Where are you?" Mary sure didn't understand what was going on. But, see, now is the time to say like Mary did, "Jesus is still my Lord!"
The test of all you believe... Here you go. The test of all you believe is whether you are loyal when you've lost; loyal in a season of loss. You know, the first one that Jesus appears to, the first person to ever see Jesus resurrected and alive is Mary; the one who stuck with Him at the cross. The one who stuck with Him when He was buried. The one who went there after He was dead and it seemed like all hope was gone; who's still at that tomb afterwards. The one who was loyal to Him; totally committed to Him even in the darkest hour.
What about you? If you stick with Jesus where there seems to be no reason to, you will meet Him in a way that most believers will never ever experience Him. You give your all to Jesus, and at that point you have won. And you experience Him in the dark time, for who did He show up to? Who did He introduce himself to? Who saw Him first? It was the one who had been loyal when there seemed to be no reason.
Is that You? See, if it is, then when the victory comes, you can celebrate as only the loyal can.

Job 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Eternal Choices

God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences. Isn't this the reminder of Calvary's trio?  Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ?  Why not six or ten?  Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center?  Could it be the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God's greatest gifts?  The gift of choice. The two criminals were convicted by the same system.  Condemned to death.  Equally close to the same Jesus.  But one changed and one did not.
You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you?  You look back and you say, "If only I could make up for those bad choices."  You can.  When one thief on the cross prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him.  When the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him.  He allowed him the choice. And he does the same for you and me.
Then (the thief) said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."  Luke 23:42-43
from He Chose the Nails

Job 3

Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:

3 “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
5 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
6 That night—may thick darkness seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
7 May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy be heard in it.
8 May those who curse days[a] curse that day,
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
9 May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?
12 Why were there knees to receive me
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
15 with princes who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,
    and there the weary are at rest.
18 Captives also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
19 The small and the great are there,
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,
21 to those who long for death that does not come,
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,
    whom God has hedged in?
24 For sighing has become my daily food;
    my groans pour out like water.
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I have no peace, no quietness;
    I have no rest, but only turmoil.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Psalm 19:7-14

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
    Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
    may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
    innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Insight
Psalm 19 is a song of David that celebrates how God has revealed Himself to us—first in His creation and then in the Scriptures. While the psalm does not tell us at what point in David’s life this song was written, many scholars have suggested that it was in some way a product of David’s years as a shepherd over his father’s flocks. Constantly exposed to the wonders of God’s creation, David would have found ample material to celebrate how the Creator reveals Himself in what He has made (vv.1-6).

Spoonful Of Sugar

By Julie Ackerman Link

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. . . . Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. —Psalm 19:9-10



Where is Mary Poppins when you need her? I know this sounds as if I’m longing for the good old days when cheerfully unrealistic movies featured characters like this fictional nanny, but what I’m really longing for are people with a vision for the future that is realistically optimistic. I yearn for joyful, creative people who can show us the positive side of what we consider negative, who can remind us that “just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”

David wrote a song that expressed a similar truth. In his words, “the judgments of the Lord” are “sweeter also than . . . honey” (Ps. 19:9-10). Seldom do we hear that truth is sweet. More often we hear that it is bitter or hard to swallow. But truth is so much more than medicine to treat what’s wrong. It’s the diet that will prevent disease. It’s not an inoculation or an injection. It’s a gourmet meal that should be presented as a culinary delight, enticing the hungry to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (34:8).

We sing “Jesus is the sweetest name I know,” but some of us present Him as if He’s gone sour. Pure truth, untainted by pride, is the sweetest, most refreshing taste of all to those who hunger for spiritual sustenance. And we have the privilege of serving it to a starving world.
Jesus is the sweetest name I know,
And He’s just the same as His lovely name,
And that’s the reason why I love Him so;
Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. —Long
The truth of the Lord endures forever. —Psalm 117:2


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The Failure To Pay Close Attention

The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days —2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Golden Street's Matchmakers - #7112

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

I meet a lot of single people in their twenties and thirties, and of course, a lot of them would like to be married. Either they haven't found the right person yet, or they found someone with like commitment phobia who hears wedding bells and runs the other way. Our mate selection process, as you may know very personally, is a little uncertain and sometimes messed up, actually.
Maybe we should consider the Yenta idea. Yenta is the Hebrew matchmaker. She brings people together. It works! I mean, it was popularized in Fiddler on the Roof in that song that goes, "Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match" which I will not sing for you. That old Hebrew culture left nothing to chance when it came to getting people together. Yenta got in the middle and made sure it happened. Have I got a Yenta job for you!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Golden Street's Matchmakers."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 5. I'm reading verses 19 and 20. We're told, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ...not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." Well, what's reconciliation but bringing two people together, right? "We are therefore (it says) Christ's ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." I describe this as the golden street's matchmakers; making sure that you get the message out so that someone you know can go to heaven with you.
I had the privilege at a major national youth convention to ask young people to stand to their feet; young people who were willing to claim one friend for Christ. Not the whole world, just to say, "This one friend, I will do whatever it takes to reach that person and to stand and pray aloud by name for that person." And across that auditorium in our nation's capitol, thousands of kids stood with the name God had laid on their heart.
If I asked you to do that - to say, "I will live my life to take this one person to heaven with me" who would yours be? There's no way that person can get to heaven unless he or she gets to Jesus, and there's probably no way he or she can get to Jesus unless they have a matchmaker.
And God says that's you and me; someone who holds Jesus in one hand and that person that you care about in the other and brings them together. This is not some laid back, "Well, I hope it works" process. No, notice the words in this passage as though God were asking you to. I'm going to ask you on God's behalf, He couldn't be here, so I'm going to ask you intensely, I implore you, I beg you be reconciled to God. Nothing passive about this.
Not long ago we were jolted in our community by three sudden deaths; a couple of them teenagers. Someone called it a wakeup call, and it was. That kind of thing reminds you that time is very short; heaven and hell are very eternal. And nothing, nothing is more important than letting the people you know hear about your Jesus. It's more than living your life in front of them. It's more than even loving them. You've got to tell them, pray daily for them, make a commitment to live your life to redeem theirs. Who do you want to take to heaven with you?
Will you step up to being God's matchmaker? A matchmaker makes sure that people get together, and God is asking you to do whatever it takes, whatever it costs, to bring two people together forever - a person you care about and the Christ who died for that person.

Pray for the victims in Murrysville, Pa.

Ron Hutchcraft's Blogs

This time it was knives. A student rampaged through the halls of Franklin Regional High School, slashing with two long knives. Leaving a trail of blood and 22 wounded victims. So Murrysville, Pa. joins the list no one wants to be on. Like Newtown, Fort Hood - places where one angry person changes lives and families forever. It's too soon to know what triggered this bloodshed. But it's a good bet that anger was once again a big part of it. In fact, anger's at the root of most of the explosions we hear about in the headlines. And lots more that never make it to the headlines. Rage that detonates every day - at home...at work...at school...at sporting events...in traffic. Often the trigger turns out to be something relatively small. The final drop that made a glassful of anger overflow. And there are always victims. Occasionally bleeding outside. Almost always bleeding on the inside. As the world's best-seller, the Bible, says: "Reckless words pierce like a sword." And "the tongue has the power of life and death." But behind the guns and the knives, the verbal sword is the deeper issue. The ticking time bomb of seething anger inside. Which seems more widespread than ever. Making once "safe" places increasingly more dangerous. We need some ways to defuse the bomb inside. 1. Unload your pain before you explode your pain. Behind our anger is almost always hurt. Over mistreatment. Failure. Frustration over a relationship. Feeling attacked or excluded. Crushed dreams. Circumstances beyond our control. And stored-up hurt morphs into the ticking time bomb of rage. Unless you unload it. Not in a blast of anger that scars often innocent victims. But by facing your deepest hurts with someone you can trust. A family member or friend. A counselor or pastor. But say it. Don't stuff it. Where it feeds the ugly anger monster. 2. Reach out to the people in the shadows. The shy ones. The people who seem to be saying, "Leave me alone." That person who's negative...mean...or left out. It is the people who feel isolated - sometimes by their own actions - who need us the most. It's the most unloveable who need our love the most. 3. Let God into the darkness. There's only so much people can do to heal our wounds and defuse the ticking bomb. I met a man recently whose anger from what's happening in every part of his life had brought him, as he said, to "the end of my rope." That day he poured it all out. First to me. Then to God. I could listen. God could heal. And the healing has begun. Yes, it's risky to let someone into the room in our soul where the hurt and anger are stored. But it's a whole lot more risky not to. I need - I think everyone needs - a place to go with the wounds and feelings that have no words. I found that place...in the God who "gets" me. Because He's been here. As a victim of the worst of human injustice and brutality. On that first Good Friday. Jesus is the God who understands. Who loves me enough to die for every wrong thing, every hurting thing I've ever done. He is my one safe place.

Matthew 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: It is Finished

Picture if you will, a blank check.   The amount of the check is "sufficient grace."  The signer of the check is Jesus.  The only blank line is for the payee.  That part is for you!  May I urge you to spend a few moments with your Savior receiving this check?  Reflect on the work of God's grace. The nails that once held a Savior to the cross.  His sacrifice was for you.  Express your thanks for His grace.  Whether for the first time or the thousandth, let Him hear you whisper, "Forgive us our debts." And let Him answer your prayer as you imagine writing your name on the check.
No more deposits are necessary.  So complete was the payment that Jesus used a banking term to proclaim your salvation.  "It is finished"  (John 19:30)!  Perhaps I best slip out now and leave the two of you to talk.
from The Great House of God

Matthew 7

Judging Others

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
True and False Prophets

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
True and False Disciples

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: Matthew 16:13-20

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Footnotes:

    Matthew 16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock.
    Matthew 16:18 That is, the realm of the dead
    Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
    Matthew 16:19 Or will have been

Insight
The place where Jesus asked His disciples the question about His identity was significant, for it was at Caesarea Philippi (v.13), a center of worship for Baal, the Greek god Pan, and the emperor. Jesus first asked what others were saying about His identity (vv.13-14). He then made it personal, directing the question to His own disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” (v.15). To the world, Jesus was merely a great man, such as John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah (v.14). But Peter got it right: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v.16).

Mistaken Identity

By Bill Crowder

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” —Matthew 16:15



My youngest brother, Scott, was born when I was a senior in high school. This age difference made for an interesting situation when he grew to college age. On his first trip to his college campus, I went along with him and our mom. When we arrived, people thought we were Scott Crowder and his dad and his grandmom. Eventually, we gave up correcting them. No matter what we said or did, our actual relationships were overridden by this humorous case of mistaken identity.

Jesus questioned the Pharisees about His identity: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They replied, “The Son of David” (Matt. 22:42). The identity of Messiah was critical, and their answer was correct but incomplete. The Scriptures had affirmed that Messiah would come and reign on the throne of His father David. But Jesus reminded them that though David would be Christ’s ancestor, He would also be more—David referred to Him as “Lord.”

Faced with a similar question, Peter rightly answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Still today, the question of Jesus’ identity rises above the rest in significance—and it is eternally important that we make no mistake in understanding who He is.
Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. —Grant
No mistake is more dangerous than mistaking the identity of Jesus.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 14, 2014

Inner Invincibility

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me . . . —Matthew 11:29

Whom the Lord loves He chastens . . .” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

“. . . to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

“. . . the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Eating, Then Lying Down - #7111

Monday, April 14, 2014

It was one of the classic commercials of all time. It was the Alka Seltzer commercial: two tablets dropping into a glass of water to the tune of "plop, plop, fizz, fizz"? Usually, they showed someone eating something disagreeable just before bedtime; someone who could only be rescued from terminal indigestion with "plop, plop, fizz, fizz". Several years ago, I met someone who knew that agony; the agony of late night stomach revolt.
Terry works in the theater district on Broadway in New York, and he told me how many show people just can't eat before they go on, they're too nervous. So by the time the show's over they're starved. So they get all cleaned up about midnight, and Terry said they'd go out to get a big dinner, and shortly afterwards they would head home for their night's sleep, and their night's wrestling match with what they had just eaten. See, eating's nice if it's followed by digestion.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Eating, Then Lying Down."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Joshua 1:8. And it ends by saying, "Then you will be prosperous and successful." Interested? Here's what it says, "Do not let this Book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
Meditate here is a Hebrew word and it actually suggests a cow chewing its cud. You know, chewing over what the Bible is saying until you've gotten out of it what you need. It's obviously more than just a mental exercise where you just sort of quickly ingest some biblical facts and move on. In fact, the purpose of spiritual eating isn't just to get the Bible into your brain; it's to get it into your life.
A lot of people are suffering from spiritual indigestion, either a discomfort about their relationship with the Lord or just this hollow lethargy toward the things of God. And it may be because they're doing what those midnight munchers on Broadway are doing: eating and then lying down instead of eating and putting it to work.
The ability to read something God says in His Book and then immediately convert that into action is probably the single most important key there is to having a living relationship with Jesus Christ. If you're tired of spiritual blahs and spiritual mediocrity, spiritual boredom, and spiritual failure, consider God's one-word prescription for biblical indigestion or non-digestion. "Meditate so you may be careful to do everything written in it." Key word: do.
So many of us settle for meditating to know what's written in those verses, or to analyze what's written, or even to just understand what's written. None of those are bad, but they're not enough any more than just eating your dinner is enough. You've got to digest it. Maybe digesting God's Word has been the missing ingredient in growing your relationship with Jesus.
Spiritual digestion takes place something like this: First, you read over a verse two or three times, you chew on those verses until you can put them into words of your own. Then you answer the question, "What's God saying here?" A lot of us stop right there. Now you've got to ask the next question, "What should I do differently today because God says this?"
If you're reading a verse let's say about trials, you take out the word trials and you put in there the trial you're going through right now. If you're reading about sin, you put in there a specific sin of yours where it says sin. If it's about loving people, you put in there the name of somebody you have a hard time loving. Then you ask the Lord to help you carry this word from Him in your heart and in your mouth all day, applying it to the specific life change that that word from God calls for.
When you do that, you're digesting God's life-changing spiritual nutrition. Turn eating into doing right away and you'll get stronger every day. Remember, you weren't meant to eat and then just lie down. That's spiritual indigestion and ultimately it's spiritual malnutrition.

Job 2 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What’s Separating You From Joy?

“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. 2 Peter 1:3”

How would you finish the statement: “I’ll be happy when….” With your answer firmly in mind, answer this question. “What’s the one thing separating you from joy?”

What if your ship never comes in, if your dream never comes true? If the situation never changes, could you be happy? If not, then you’re sleeping in the cold cell of discontent. You’re in prison. And you need to know what you have in your Shepherd!

You have a God who hears you; the power of love behind you; the Holy Spirit within you; and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm.

Job 2

On another day the angels[d] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish[e] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Job 2:1 Hebrew the sons of God
Job 2:10 The Hebrew word rendered foolish denotes moral deficiency.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ruth 1:6,11-18;

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Determination

By David C. McCasland

Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. —Ruth 1:16

During a television news report on the plight of refugees displaced from a war-torn country, I was struck by the words of a 10-year-old girl. Despite there being little possibility of returning to their home, she showed a resilient spirit: “When we go back, I’m going to visit my neighbors; I’m going to play with my friends,” she said with quiet determination. “My father says we don’t have a house. And I said we are going to fix it.”

There is a place for tenacity in life, especially when it is rooted in our faith in God and love for others. The book of Ruth begins with three women bound together by tragedy. After Naomi’s husband and two sons died, she decided to return to her home in Bethlehem and urged her widowed daughters-in-law to stay in their country of Moab. Orpah remained but Ruth vowed to go with Naomi, saying, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). When Naomi saw that Ruth “was determined to go with her” (v.18), they began their journey together.

Stubbornness is sometimes rooted in pride, but commitment grows from love. When Jesus went to the cross, “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). From His determination to die for us, we find the resolve to live for Him.

My life, my love, I give to Thee,
Thou Lamb of God who died for me;
Oh, may I ever faithful be,
My Savior and my God! —Hudson
Love calls for commitment.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 13, 2014

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming

Cast your burden on the Lord . . . —Psalm 55:22
We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him— to literally “cast your burden,” which He has given you, “on the Lord . . . .” If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, “What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!”

“Cast your burden on the Lord . . . .” You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God’s shoulder. “. . . the government will be upon His shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6). Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden.