Max Lucado Daily: CHRIST LIVES IN HIS CHILDREN
Proliferating throughout Scripture is an enticing and inviting preposition —the preposition in. Jesus lives in his children. From Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
God in us! Have we sounded the depth of this promise? With God in you, you have a million resources you didn’t have before. Can’t stop worrying? Christ can. And he lives within you. Can’t forget the past, forgive the jerk, or forsake your bad habits? Christ can! And he lives in you! Oh to be so full of him that we could say with the apostle Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!” (Galatians 2:20).
Read more In the Manger
Job 36
Those Who Learn from Their Suffering
1-4 Here Elihu took a deep breath, but kept going:
“Stay with me a little longer. I’ll convince you.
There’s still more to be said on God’s side.
I learned all this firsthand from the Source;
everything I know about justice I owe to my Maker himself.
Trust me, I’m giving you undiluted truth;
believe me, I know these things inside and out.
5-15 “It’s true that God is all-powerful,
but he doesn’t bully innocent people.
For the wicked, though, it’s a different story—
he doesn’t give them the time of day,
but champions the rights of their victims.
He never takes his eyes off the righteous;
he honors them lavishly, promotes them endlessly.
When things go badly,
when affliction and suffering descend,
God tells them where they’ve gone wrong,
shows them how their pride has caused their trouble.
He forces them to heed his warning,
tells them they must repent of their bad life.
If they obey and serve him,
they’ll have a good, long life on easy street.
But if they disobey, they’ll be cut down in their prime
and never know the first thing about life.
Angry people without God pile grievance upon grievance,
always blaming others for their troubles.
Living it up in sexual excesses,
virility wasted, they die young.
But those who learn from their suffering,
God delivers from their suffering.
Obsessed with Putting the Blame on God
16-21 “Oh, Job, don’t you see how God’s wooing you
from the jaws of danger?
How he’s drawing you into wide-open places—
inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings?
And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked,
obsessed with putting the blame on God!
Don’t let your great riches mislead you;
don’t think you can bribe your way out of this.
Did you plan to buy your way out of this?
Not on your life!
And don’t think that night,
when people sleep off their troubles,
will bring you any relief.
Above all, don’t make things worse with more evil—
that’s what’s behind your suffering as it is!
22-25 “Do you have any idea how powerful God is?
Have you ever heard of a teacher like him?
Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do,
or correct him, saying, ‘You did that all wrong!’?
Remember, then, to praise his workmanship,
which is so often celebrated in song.
Everybody sees it;
nobody is too far away to see it.
No One Can Escape from God
26 “Take a long, hard look. See how great he is—infinite,
greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out!
27-33 “He pulls water up out of the sea,
distills it, and fills up his rain-cloud cisterns.
Then the skies open up
and pour out soaking showers on everyone.
Does anyone have the slightest idea how this happens?
How he arranges the clouds, how he speaks in thunder?
Just look at that lightning, his sky-filling light show
illumining the dark depths of the sea!
These are the symbols of his sovereignty,
his generosity, his loving care.
He hurls arrows of light,
taking sure and accurate aim.
The High God roars in the thunder,
angry against evil.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Read: 1 Timothy 4:12–16
12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
INSIGHT
The importance of our relationship with God is also a prominent theme in the Old Testament. As Moses passed the leadership of the Israelites over to Joshua, he reminded his protégé that he must keep a right relationship with God. Joshua was to study God’s Word, “to meditate on it day and night,” and “be careful to do everything written in it.” Only then would Joshua successfully lead his people into the Promised Land (Josh. 1:7–8). Four hundred years later, David gave similar advice to his son Solomon: “Learn to know [God] intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. . . . The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work” (1 Chron. 28:9–10 nlt). Heeding his father’s wise advice, Solomon humbly sought the Lord and succeeded in building the temple (1 Kings 3:3–15; 6:14, 38).
What steps can you take this week to strengthen your personal relationship with God?
For further study consider the free online course Spiritual Life Basics at christianuniversity.org/SLBASICS. - Sim Kay Tee
First Things First
By C. P. Hia
Watch your life and doctrine closely. 1 Timothy 4:16
When you travel by air, before the flight takes off an airline employee presents a safety briefing, which explains what to do if there is a loss of cabin pressure. Passengers are told that oxygen masks will drop from the compartment above and they are to put one on themselves before helping others. Why? Because before you can help anyone else, you need to be physically alert yourself.
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he stressed the importance of maintaining his own spiritual health before helping and serving others. He reminded Timothy of his many responsibilities as a pastor: There were false teachings to contend with (1 Tim. 4:1–5) and wrong doctrines to correct (vv. 6–8). But to discharge his duties well, what was most important was to “watch [his] life and doctrine closely [and] persevere in them” (v. 16). He needed to take care of his own relationship with the Lord first before he could attend to others.
Set an example ... in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12
What Paul told Timothy applies to us too. Each day we encounter people who do not know the Lord. When we tank up on our spiritual oxygen first through time in God’s Word, prayer, and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we keep our relationship right with God. Then we will be spiritually alert to help others.
Lord, open Your Word to me now. Let me breathe in its freshness before I go out to be Your light to the world.
A Christian’s life is the window through which others can see Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Repentance
Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10
Conviction of sin is best described in the words:
My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.
Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.
The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Panic Mistakes - #8064
My childhood church has shown their love for our family in some very special ways, including sending a work crew to actually help make some repairs on our house some years ago - totally unsolicited. Joe was one of those "angels" that God sent. The first challenge for Joe came long before he even got to our house. In fact, it was on the drive out from Chicago. He was sleeping behind the driver's seat in the truck while someone else was driving, and suddenly he was hit with one of his recurring asthma attacks. Now, usually, he's able to get through that real quickly, but this one got a little scary for a while because he had trouble using his inhaler which he carries all the time. Here's what Joe told me. He said, "When you panic, you can't breathe, and I panicked. And you have to breathe to use the inhaler! The only way I can get what will stabilize me is to relax!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Panic Mistakes."
Panic really can shut you down, close you off, and keep you from the very thing you need in order to make it. In fact, when you panic, you can make some mega-mistakes. Like the people described in our word for today from the Word of God from Isaiah 50 beginning in verse 10.
"Let him who walks in the dark and has no light." Okay, now that's the kind of situation where you get scared and you get desperate for a way out. "Let him who walks in the dark and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." When it's dark and you're starting to panic, grab your Father's hand, trust in Him, and relax. You'll be able to breathe again. Okay, that sounds great, but a lot of times when it's dark, that's not how we handle it.
God goes on. "But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches" - okay, this is us when we can't wait for God's answer; we've got to do something. He says, "go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in torment." Wow!
God says, "If you panic and you start figuring out your own answer instead of waiting for My answer, it's just going to lead to misery." I'm pretty sure you have, as I do, plenty of living proof in your life of that happening. God seems to be taking too long. You're sure something has got to be done here. Your fear, your anxiety, your impatience takes over, and you start trying to make it happen yourself. The result? A bigger mess - an answer that really just creates greater problems.
And like my friend who can't draw on the relief of his inhaler while he's panicked, you miss the power and the love of God that you need so desperately in moments like these. It's like God says, "If you can't trust Me and wait for My answer, you're on your own."
Maybe there are things right now that are causing you a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, uncertainty, maybe you're in a lot of pain. Maybe there's a need or a situation that's growing increasingly desperate and you really don't know what to do. That's the time for a person to - let me go back to our verse - "trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." Your Heavenly Father is totally in control. God's got this! He's totally committed to you. He's actively working out His perfect plan for you. He's doing everything right on time - no matter how it feels or no matter how it looks.
Just because it's dark, don't start lighting your own fires and getting your own torches. You'll mess up what God wants to do. This is the time to relax spiritually, not to panic. Relax in His sovereign management of your life. As you surrender yourself and you surrender that situation, each new day God pours His peace and His power and His grace all over you. If you panic, you'll miss His spiritual oxygen, and that's what gives you life when it's hard to breathe.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Job 35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: IT HAPPENED IN A MOMENT
It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. God became a man! Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. Jesus came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were un-manicured, calloused, and dirty. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt…weak; weary; and afraid of failure. His feelings got hurt.
To think of Jesus in such a light seems almost irreverent. There’s something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant and predictable. But don’t do it! For heaven’s sake, don’t! Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out!
Read more In the Manger
Job 35
Elihu’s Third Speech
When God Makes Creation a Classroom
1-3 Elihu lit into Job again:
“Does this kind of thing make any sense?
First you say, ‘I’m perfectly innocent before God.’
And then you say, ‘It doesn’t make a bit of difference
whether I’ve sinned or not.’
4-8 “Well, I’m going to show you
that you don’t know what you’re talking about,
neither you nor your friends.
Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look.
See those clouds towering above you?
If you sin, what difference could that make to God?
No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him?
Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that?
Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments?
The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad
are your family and friends and neighbors.
God’s not dependent on your behavior.
9-15 “When times get bad, people cry out for help.
They cry for relief from being kicked around,
But never give God a thought when things go well,
when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,
When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,
using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.
People are arrogantly indifferent to God—
until, of course, they’re in trouble,
and then God is indifferent to them.
There’s nothing behind such prayers except panic;
the Almighty pays them no mind.
So why would he notice you
just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard,
Or waiting for him to get good and angry
and do something about the world’s problems?
16 “Job, you talk sheer nonsense—
nonstop nonsense!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
Read: Daniel 3:13–25
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[a] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Footnotes:
Daniel 3:17 Or If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and
Trusting God Even If
By Xochitl Dixon
The God we serve is able to deliver us. Daniel 3:17
Due to an injury that occurred in 1992, I suffer from chronic pain in my upper back, shoulders, and neck. During the most excruciating and disheartening moments, it’s not always easy to trust or praise the Lord. But when my situation feels unbearable, God’s constant presence comforts me. He strengthens me and reassures me of His unchanging goodness, limitless power, and sustaining grace. And when I’m tempted to doubt my Lord, I’m encouraged by the determined faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They worshiped God and trusted He was with them, even when their situation seemed hopeless.
When King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into a blazing furnace if they didn’t turn away from the true God to worship his golden statue (Dan. 3:13–15), these three men displayed courageous and confident faith. They never doubted the Lord was worthy of their worship (v. 17), “even if” He didn’t rescue them from their current predicament (v. 18). And God didn’t leave them alone in their time of need; He joined and protected them in the furnace (vv. 24–25).
The God we serve is able to deliver us. Daniel 3:17
God doesn’t leave us alone either. He remains with us through trials that can feel as destructive as Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. Even if our suffering doesn’t end on this side of eternity, God is and always will be mighty, trustworthy, and good. We can rely on His constant and loving presence.
Lord, thank You for being with us, no matter what we’re going through.
Share this prayer from our Facebook page: Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
Faith relies on our Almighty God’s unchanging character, not on our circumstances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
“My Rainbow in the Cloud”
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. —Genesis 9:13
It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.
Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22).
When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
An Island of Light In a Sea of Darkness - #8063
One Christmas season I saw what might have been the most impressive Christmas decorations I've ever seen. Oh, they weren't in midtown Manhattan or one of the many special displays I've seen over the years. They were in a little village on an Indian reservation in the Southwest. This particular tribe is one of the most spiritually unreached in this country. They're pretty isolated and they are a long way from anything else. When I drove through this reservation on a night one Christmas season, I was struck by the absence of hardly any Christmas lights or decorations. It was just dark! Until I reached this one particular village. Against the backdrop of near total darkness, the church there was ablaze with Christmas lights outlining the church buildings, the windows and the doors.
The missionary who lives there told me that quite a few people were drawn to the church because of the lights. Native folks kept dropping by to thank them for the lights and even to ask questions. I can't tell you what a stunningly beautiful sight this was to see driving along a dark reservation highway toward a village with basically no lights of Christmas, and suddenly you see this one island of light in that sea of darkness. You couldn't miss it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Island of Light In a Sea of Darkness."
That picture - an attractive island of light in this otherwise dark place - is a powerful picture of you and me; at least I hope it is. Spiritually speaking, maybe you're in a pretty dark environment at your school, where you work, in that group you're in, in your neighborhood, maybe even where you live. And maybe lately you've been feeling a little beat down, intimidated, kind of embarrassed to talk about your most important relationship; sort of just quietly fitting into the darkness instead of offering an alternative with your life and with your words.
But listen to what Jesus says you are in our word for today from the Word of God from Matthew 5:14-16. "You are the light of the world." Now, right now I'm thinking about that church glowing with light against the darkness that surrounds it. "A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl." Excuse me, but that's what happens when you allow your environment to compromise or to silence your witness for Christ. "Instead," Jesus said, "they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Those lights in that Native village were attracting people. In fact, the darkness around them actually made those lights show up even more. Now, if God's planted you in a dark place, he has you there to be His winsome light. Notice what Jesus said the kind of light it would be that would attract them: "your good deeds." Not all your don'ts and the rules you keep. Not all your beliefs, not the meetings you go to or all the things you're against, but the positive things they see in you that make you stand out in your setting.
Are you known to be the one to go to, to find unconditional love, to find total honesty, to find kindness in a harsh world? Do they find gentleness when they come to you? Do they find peace when everybody's stressed out? Have they heard you pray for them in their moment of need? Do they know you are the place in their world where Jesus can be found? Do they think of you as that one safe person in their world?
Now, if the church in that little Indian village had turned off its lights, the village would have been almost totally dark because the light wasn't on. Don't let that happen where you are. If it's totally dark, don't blame the darkness. It's because the light isn't shining! Without you, without your Jesus, there's nothing but darkness. But with you and with your Jesus, you can be the light that illuminates the darkness, and it is a beautiful sight.
It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. God became a man! Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. Jesus came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were un-manicured, calloused, and dirty. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt…weak; weary; and afraid of failure. His feelings got hurt.
To think of Jesus in such a light seems almost irreverent. There’s something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant and predictable. But don’t do it! For heaven’s sake, don’t! Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out!
Read more In the Manger
Job 35
Elihu’s Third Speech
When God Makes Creation a Classroom
1-3 Elihu lit into Job again:
“Does this kind of thing make any sense?
First you say, ‘I’m perfectly innocent before God.’
And then you say, ‘It doesn’t make a bit of difference
whether I’ve sinned or not.’
4-8 “Well, I’m going to show you
that you don’t know what you’re talking about,
neither you nor your friends.
Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look.
See those clouds towering above you?
If you sin, what difference could that make to God?
No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him?
Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that?
Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments?
The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad
are your family and friends and neighbors.
God’s not dependent on your behavior.
9-15 “When times get bad, people cry out for help.
They cry for relief from being kicked around,
But never give God a thought when things go well,
when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,
When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,
using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.
People are arrogantly indifferent to God—
until, of course, they’re in trouble,
and then God is indifferent to them.
There’s nothing behind such prayers except panic;
the Almighty pays them no mind.
So why would he notice you
just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard,
Or waiting for him to get good and angry
and do something about the world’s problems?
16 “Job, you talk sheer nonsense—
nonstop nonsense!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
Read: Daniel 3:13–25
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[a] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Footnotes:
Daniel 3:17 Or If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and
Trusting God Even If
By Xochitl Dixon
The God we serve is able to deliver us. Daniel 3:17
Due to an injury that occurred in 1992, I suffer from chronic pain in my upper back, shoulders, and neck. During the most excruciating and disheartening moments, it’s not always easy to trust or praise the Lord. But when my situation feels unbearable, God’s constant presence comforts me. He strengthens me and reassures me of His unchanging goodness, limitless power, and sustaining grace. And when I’m tempted to doubt my Lord, I’m encouraged by the determined faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They worshiped God and trusted He was with them, even when their situation seemed hopeless.
When King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into a blazing furnace if they didn’t turn away from the true God to worship his golden statue (Dan. 3:13–15), these three men displayed courageous and confident faith. They never doubted the Lord was worthy of their worship (v. 17), “even if” He didn’t rescue them from their current predicament (v. 18). And God didn’t leave them alone in their time of need; He joined and protected them in the furnace (vv. 24–25).
The God we serve is able to deliver us. Daniel 3:17
God doesn’t leave us alone either. He remains with us through trials that can feel as destructive as Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. Even if our suffering doesn’t end on this side of eternity, God is and always will be mighty, trustworthy, and good. We can rely on His constant and loving presence.
Lord, thank You for being with us, no matter what we’re going through.
Share this prayer from our Facebook page: Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
Faith relies on our Almighty God’s unchanging character, not on our circumstances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
“My Rainbow in the Cloud”
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. —Genesis 9:13
It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.
Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22).
When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
An Island of Light In a Sea of Darkness - #8063
One Christmas season I saw what might have been the most impressive Christmas decorations I've ever seen. Oh, they weren't in midtown Manhattan or one of the many special displays I've seen over the years. They were in a little village on an Indian reservation in the Southwest. This particular tribe is one of the most spiritually unreached in this country. They're pretty isolated and they are a long way from anything else. When I drove through this reservation on a night one Christmas season, I was struck by the absence of hardly any Christmas lights or decorations. It was just dark! Until I reached this one particular village. Against the backdrop of near total darkness, the church there was ablaze with Christmas lights outlining the church buildings, the windows and the doors.
The missionary who lives there told me that quite a few people were drawn to the church because of the lights. Native folks kept dropping by to thank them for the lights and even to ask questions. I can't tell you what a stunningly beautiful sight this was to see driving along a dark reservation highway toward a village with basically no lights of Christmas, and suddenly you see this one island of light in that sea of darkness. You couldn't miss it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Island of Light In a Sea of Darkness."
That picture - an attractive island of light in this otherwise dark place - is a powerful picture of you and me; at least I hope it is. Spiritually speaking, maybe you're in a pretty dark environment at your school, where you work, in that group you're in, in your neighborhood, maybe even where you live. And maybe lately you've been feeling a little beat down, intimidated, kind of embarrassed to talk about your most important relationship; sort of just quietly fitting into the darkness instead of offering an alternative with your life and with your words.
But listen to what Jesus says you are in our word for today from the Word of God from Matthew 5:14-16. "You are the light of the world." Now, right now I'm thinking about that church glowing with light against the darkness that surrounds it. "A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl." Excuse me, but that's what happens when you allow your environment to compromise or to silence your witness for Christ. "Instead," Jesus said, "they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Those lights in that Native village were attracting people. In fact, the darkness around them actually made those lights show up even more. Now, if God's planted you in a dark place, he has you there to be His winsome light. Notice what Jesus said the kind of light it would be that would attract them: "your good deeds." Not all your don'ts and the rules you keep. Not all your beliefs, not the meetings you go to or all the things you're against, but the positive things they see in you that make you stand out in your setting.
Are you known to be the one to go to, to find unconditional love, to find total honesty, to find kindness in a harsh world? Do they find gentleness when they come to you? Do they find peace when everybody's stressed out? Have they heard you pray for them in their moment of need? Do they know you are the place in their world where Jesus can be found? Do they think of you as that one safe person in their world?
Now, if the church in that little Indian village had turned off its lights, the village would have been almost totally dark because the light wasn't on. Don't let that happen where you are. If it's totally dark, don't blame the darkness. It's because the light isn't shining! Without you, without your Jesus, there's nothing but darkness. But with you and with your Jesus, you can be the light that illuminates the darkness, and it is a beautiful sight.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Job 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: JESUS IS THE BRIDGE BUILDER
God’s plan for humanity, crafted in the halls of heaven and carried out on the plains of earth. Only holiness could have imagined it. Only divinity could have enacted it. Only righteousness could have endured it.
When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the women wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears—oh, don’t miss His tears. They came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been. So people came to him! Not one person was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected.
Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures! Or the next time you hear a lifeless liturgy. Remember… it’s man who creates the distance. It’s Jesus who builds the bridge!
Read more In the Manger
Job 34
Elihu’s Second Speech
It’s Impossible for God to Do Evil
1-4 Elihu continued:
“So, my fine friends—listen to me,
and see what you think of this.
Isn’t it just common sense—
as common as the sense of taste—
To put our heads together
and figure out what’s going on here?
5-9 “We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,
but God won’t give me a fair trial.
When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face.
I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’
Have you ever heard anything to beat this?
Does nothing faze this man Job?
Do you think he’s spent too much time in bad company,
hanging out with the wrong crowd,
So that now he’s parroting their line:
‘It doesn’t pay to try to please God’?
10-15 “You’re veterans in dealing with these matters;
certainly we’re of one mind on this.
It’s impossible for God to do anything evil;
no way can the Mighty One do wrong.
He makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done—no more, no less.
Our chickens always come home to roost.
It’s impossible for God to do anything wicked,
for the Mighty One to subvert justice.
He’s the one who runs the earth!
He cradles the whole world in his hand!
If he decided to hold his breath,
every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.
God Is Working Behind the Scenes
16-20 “So, Job, use your head;
this is all pretty obvious.
Can someone who hates order, keep order?
Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?
Doesn’t God always tell it like it is,
exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?
Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor?
Isn’t he equally responsible to everybody?
Don’t people who deserve it die without notice?
Don’t wicked rulers tumble to their doom?
When the so-called great ones are wiped out,
we know God is working behind the scenes.
21-28 “He has his eyes on every man and woman.
He doesn’t miss a trick.
There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough,
to hide those who do evil.
God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence;
their sin is an open-and-shut case.
He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions,
and replaces them at once with others.
Nobody gets by with anything; overnight,
judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.
He punishes the wicked for their wickedness
out in the open where everyone can see it,
Because they quit following him,
no longer even thought about him or his ways.
Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor;
the cry of the afflicted got God’s attention.
Because You Refuse to Live on God’s Terms
29-30 “If God is silent, what’s that to you?
If he turns his face away, what can you do about it?
But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling,
so that those who hate God won’t take over
and ruin people’s lives.
31-33 “So why don’t you simply confess to God?
Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.
Teach me to see what I still don’t see.
Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’
Just because you refuse to live on God’s terms,
do you think he should start living on yours?
You choose. I can’t do it for you.
Tell me what you decide.
34-37 “All right-thinking people say—
and the wise who have listened to me concur—
‘Job is an ignoramus.
He talks utter nonsense.’
Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account
for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.
You’ve compounded your original sin
by rebelling against God’s discipline,
Defiantly shaking your fist at God,
piling up indictments against the Almighty One.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Read: 1 John 4:7–16
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
INSIGHT
Do you wish you could believe God loves you? Or does the thought seem childish and self-centered?
John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23), must have heard his Teacher say that only those who become like a little child would enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:2–4). John took those words personally, but didn’t apply them just to himself. He wrote about the Father who loves all of us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:14–16). With great maturity and childlike certainty he reminds us that believing God is love and loves us personally is what gives us reason to love Him and one another. - Mart DeHaan
Jesus Loves Maysel
By Alyson Kieda
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us. 1 John 4:10
When my sister Maysel was little, she would sing a familiar song in her own way: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells Maysel.” This irritated me to no end! As one of her older, “wiser” sisters, I knew the words were “me so,” not “Maysel.” Yet she persisted in singing it her way.
Now I think my sister had it right all along. The Bible does indeed tell Maysel, and all of us, that Jesus loves us. Over and over again we read that truth. Take, for example, the writings of the apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7, 20). He tells us about God’s love in one of the best-known verses of the Bible: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You love us.
John reinforces that message of love in 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Just as John knew Jesus loved him, we too can have that same assurance: Jesus does love us. The Bible tells us so.
Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You love us. We are filled with gratitude that You love us so much that You died for us.
Jesus loves me! This I know.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
“The Temple of the Holy Spirit”
…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40
I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Your Father Listens When the Kids Agree - #8062
As the Hutchcraft kids were growing up, we had an interesting system of government in our house. I had one big vote, and theoretically, my one could count more than the other. Well, theoretically that is. In reality, that didn't happen too often. One technique our children mastered in our family decision process was very skillful lobbying. For example, the kids (let's say) got wind of the fact that Mom was planning to have casserole for dinner. But they wanted pizza. So they would send our youngest as the sacrificial lamb to ask me about pizza instead. Overruled! Right. Pretty soon, I had two sons in my study asking, with their big sister, of course, managing this campaign behind the scenes down the hall. Again, "Nope! No pizza. Casserole it is." But then they would all three come together, telling me how much all of them wanted pizza. After consulting with Mom, I'll bet you know. We got pizza.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Father Listens When the Kids Agree."
To me as a father, there was power in our children asking together. Apparently, God feels the same way.
Our word for today from the Word of God talks about it in Matthew 18:19-20. God gives us an important secret of spiritual power: praying together. Jesus said, "I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there I am with them." Now, look, I don't know what's different in heaven between one of us asking alone and us asking together, but somehow it does make a difference.
Now, our Heavenly Father, of course, is infinitely greater than any earthly father, but maybe we can learn something about His ways from the times our children come to us in agreement. Look, like I say, I can honestly tell you it did something in my heart. It can affect the outcome. God likes it when His kids come to Him together for something.
Frankly, we Christians do far too little praying together, especially outside of formal prayer meetings. But shouldn't it be a natural way of life for believers, for Christian families, to stop and just go to God together about an issue they care about? We can do it on the phone. We can do it in person. We can text a prayer. We don't need a prayer meeting to do it. We're so private, we're so self-conscious about saying something wrong, but God puts a premium on united prayer. Notice, the Lord's Prayer is "Our Father" not just "my Father." It's "our daily bread" and it's "deliver us from evil."
So what should you be doing when someone else is praying out loud? Sleeping? Planning ahead what you'll say when it's your turn? No, you "agree" with them in your heart. Enter into their requests, "Me too, Lord! I'm believing you for what my sister is asking." Learn the power of prayer triplets, where three believers pray together once a week for three lost people each. And join the growing movement of household prayer meetings where people are coming together in living rooms just to pray for their families and their neighborhood and there schools.
How many people are in a prayer triplet, by the way? Let's do a little Bible math here. You say three? Wrong. Four! Yeah, Jesus promised He's there in the middle with you. He inhabits His children coming to the Father together. So, do it. Come to the Father together. Even get with some folks from another church, another denomination. What? Yes, and begin to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Dad, take the lead to have a praying family, praying together. Don't be afraid to stop in the middle of a conversation about someone's need and say, "Just a second. Let's pray right now." Do it as a married couple, as a family, as a group of Christian employees, as friends. And be prepared to see mountains moved, hearts changed, answers revealed, and lives transformed. Because something special happens in our Father's heart when His kids all agree!
God’s plan for humanity, crafted in the halls of heaven and carried out on the plains of earth. Only holiness could have imagined it. Only divinity could have enacted it. Only righteousness could have endured it.
When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the women wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears—oh, don’t miss His tears. They came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been. So people came to him! Not one person was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected.
Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures! Or the next time you hear a lifeless liturgy. Remember… it’s man who creates the distance. It’s Jesus who builds the bridge!
Read more In the Manger
Job 34
Elihu’s Second Speech
It’s Impossible for God to Do Evil
1-4 Elihu continued:
“So, my fine friends—listen to me,
and see what you think of this.
Isn’t it just common sense—
as common as the sense of taste—
To put our heads together
and figure out what’s going on here?
5-9 “We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,
but God won’t give me a fair trial.
When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face.
I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’
Have you ever heard anything to beat this?
Does nothing faze this man Job?
Do you think he’s spent too much time in bad company,
hanging out with the wrong crowd,
So that now he’s parroting their line:
‘It doesn’t pay to try to please God’?
10-15 “You’re veterans in dealing with these matters;
certainly we’re of one mind on this.
It’s impossible for God to do anything evil;
no way can the Mighty One do wrong.
He makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done—no more, no less.
Our chickens always come home to roost.
It’s impossible for God to do anything wicked,
for the Mighty One to subvert justice.
He’s the one who runs the earth!
He cradles the whole world in his hand!
If he decided to hold his breath,
every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.
God Is Working Behind the Scenes
16-20 “So, Job, use your head;
this is all pretty obvious.
Can someone who hates order, keep order?
Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?
Doesn’t God always tell it like it is,
exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?
Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor?
Isn’t he equally responsible to everybody?
Don’t people who deserve it die without notice?
Don’t wicked rulers tumble to their doom?
When the so-called great ones are wiped out,
we know God is working behind the scenes.
21-28 “He has his eyes on every man and woman.
He doesn’t miss a trick.
There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough,
to hide those who do evil.
God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence;
their sin is an open-and-shut case.
He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions,
and replaces them at once with others.
Nobody gets by with anything; overnight,
judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.
He punishes the wicked for their wickedness
out in the open where everyone can see it,
Because they quit following him,
no longer even thought about him or his ways.
Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor;
the cry of the afflicted got God’s attention.
Because You Refuse to Live on God’s Terms
29-30 “If God is silent, what’s that to you?
If he turns his face away, what can you do about it?
But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling,
so that those who hate God won’t take over
and ruin people’s lives.
31-33 “So why don’t you simply confess to God?
Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.
Teach me to see what I still don’t see.
Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’
Just because you refuse to live on God’s terms,
do you think he should start living on yours?
You choose. I can’t do it for you.
Tell me what you decide.
34-37 “All right-thinking people say—
and the wise who have listened to me concur—
‘Job is an ignoramus.
He talks utter nonsense.’
Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account
for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.
You’ve compounded your original sin
by rebelling against God’s discipline,
Defiantly shaking your fist at God,
piling up indictments against the Almighty One.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Read: 1 John 4:7–16
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
INSIGHT
Do you wish you could believe God loves you? Or does the thought seem childish and self-centered?
John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23), must have heard his Teacher say that only those who become like a little child would enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:2–4). John took those words personally, but didn’t apply them just to himself. He wrote about the Father who loves all of us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:14–16). With great maturity and childlike certainty he reminds us that believing God is love and loves us personally is what gives us reason to love Him and one another. - Mart DeHaan
Jesus Loves Maysel
By Alyson Kieda
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us. 1 John 4:10
When my sister Maysel was little, she would sing a familiar song in her own way: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells Maysel.” This irritated me to no end! As one of her older, “wiser” sisters, I knew the words were “me so,” not “Maysel.” Yet she persisted in singing it her way.
Now I think my sister had it right all along. The Bible does indeed tell Maysel, and all of us, that Jesus loves us. Over and over again we read that truth. Take, for example, the writings of the apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7, 20). He tells us about God’s love in one of the best-known verses of the Bible: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You love us.
John reinforces that message of love in 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Just as John knew Jesus loved him, we too can have that same assurance: Jesus does love us. The Bible tells us so.
Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You love us. We are filled with gratitude that You love us so much that You died for us.
Jesus loves me! This I know.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
“The Temple of the Holy Spirit”
…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40
I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Your Father Listens When the Kids Agree - #8062
As the Hutchcraft kids were growing up, we had an interesting system of government in our house. I had one big vote, and theoretically, my one could count more than the other. Well, theoretically that is. In reality, that didn't happen too often. One technique our children mastered in our family decision process was very skillful lobbying. For example, the kids (let's say) got wind of the fact that Mom was planning to have casserole for dinner. But they wanted pizza. So they would send our youngest as the sacrificial lamb to ask me about pizza instead. Overruled! Right. Pretty soon, I had two sons in my study asking, with their big sister, of course, managing this campaign behind the scenes down the hall. Again, "Nope! No pizza. Casserole it is." But then they would all three come together, telling me how much all of them wanted pizza. After consulting with Mom, I'll bet you know. We got pizza.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Father Listens When the Kids Agree."
To me as a father, there was power in our children asking together. Apparently, God feels the same way.
Our word for today from the Word of God talks about it in Matthew 18:19-20. God gives us an important secret of spiritual power: praying together. Jesus said, "I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there I am with them." Now, look, I don't know what's different in heaven between one of us asking alone and us asking together, but somehow it does make a difference.
Now, our Heavenly Father, of course, is infinitely greater than any earthly father, but maybe we can learn something about His ways from the times our children come to us in agreement. Look, like I say, I can honestly tell you it did something in my heart. It can affect the outcome. God likes it when His kids come to Him together for something.
Frankly, we Christians do far too little praying together, especially outside of formal prayer meetings. But shouldn't it be a natural way of life for believers, for Christian families, to stop and just go to God together about an issue they care about? We can do it on the phone. We can do it in person. We can text a prayer. We don't need a prayer meeting to do it. We're so private, we're so self-conscious about saying something wrong, but God puts a premium on united prayer. Notice, the Lord's Prayer is "Our Father" not just "my Father." It's "our daily bread" and it's "deliver us from evil."
So what should you be doing when someone else is praying out loud? Sleeping? Planning ahead what you'll say when it's your turn? No, you "agree" with them in your heart. Enter into their requests, "Me too, Lord! I'm believing you for what my sister is asking." Learn the power of prayer triplets, where three believers pray together once a week for three lost people each. And join the growing movement of household prayer meetings where people are coming together in living rooms just to pray for their families and their neighborhood and there schools.
How many people are in a prayer triplet, by the way? Let's do a little Bible math here. You say three? Wrong. Four! Yeah, Jesus promised He's there in the middle with you. He inhabits His children coming to the Father together. So, do it. Come to the Father together. Even get with some folks from another church, another denomination. What? Yes, and begin to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Dad, take the lead to have a praying family, praying together. Don't be afraid to stop in the middle of a conversation about someone's need and say, "Just a second. Let's pray right now." Do it as a married couple, as a family, as a group of Christian employees, as friends. And be prepared to see mountains moved, hearts changed, answers revealed, and lives transformed. Because something special happens in our Father's heart when His kids all agree!
Monday, December 4, 2017
Matthew 14:22-36 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHY GOD CAME
The God of the Universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the cow’s feed trough. He left the glory of heaven and moved into our neighborhood.
Who could have imagined he would do such a thing? What a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him. God became a one-celled embryo and entered the womb of Mary. He became like us. Just look at the places he was willing to go: feed troughs, carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries. The places he went to reach us show how far he will go to touch us. He loves to be with the ones he loves!
Read more In the Manger
Matthew 14:22-36
Walking on the Water
22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
27 But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
28 Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
29-30 He said, “Come ahead.”
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
31 Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”
34-36 On return, they beached the boat at Gennesaret. When the people got wind that he was back, they sent out word through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 04, 2017
Read: Luke 1:68–75
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn[a] of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Footnotes:
Luke 1:69 Horn here symbolizes a strong king.
INSIGHT
One of the great themes of Luke’s gospel record is that it continually affirms that the message of Jesus’s death and resurrection is for everyone—not just for Israel. Today’s devotional declares that Christ’s coming would “cause great joy for all the people” (2:10). This important message continues later in this chapter when Simeon says that salvation is prepared in the “sight of all nations” and that Israel’s Messiah is both “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (vv. 30–32). At the conclusion of Luke’s account, the risen Christ tells the two disciples on the Emmaus road that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (24:47). This message was not intended for Israel alone, nor are we to keep it to ourselves. The entire world is the object of God’s love.
For more on sharing your faith, see the Discovery Series booklet Truth with Love: Sharing the Story of Jesus. - Bill Crowder
Christmas at MacPherson
By Poh Fang Chia
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Luke 1:68
About 230 families and individuals live at MacPherson Gardens, Block 72 in my neighborhood. Each person has his or her own life story. On the tenth floor resides an elderly woman whose children have grown up, gotten married, and moved out. She lives by herself now. Just a few doors away from her is a young couple with two kids—a boy and a girl. And a few floors below lives a young man serving in the army. He has been to church before; maybe he will visit again on Christmas Day. I met these people last Christmas when our church went caroling in the neighborhood to spread Christmas cheer.
Every Christmas—as on the first Christmas—there are many people who do not know that God has entered into our world as a baby whose name is Jesus (Luke 1:68; 2:21). Or they do not know the significance of that event—it is “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (2:10). Yes, all people! Regardless of our nationality, culture, gender, or financial status, Jesus came to die for us and offer us complete forgiveness so that we can be reconciled with Him and enjoy His love, joy, peace, and hope. All people, from the woman next door to the colleagues we have lunch with, need to hear this wonderful news!
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
On the first Christmas, the angels were the bearers of this joyous news. Today, God desires to work through us to take the story to others.
Lord, use me to touch the lives of others with the news of Your coming.
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 04, 2017
The Law of Opposition
To him who overcomes… —Revelation 2:7
Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.
Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.
Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.
And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.
Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 04, 2017
The Hole in Your Heart - #8061
Our friend had a medical procedure to repair what the doctor called "a hole in her heart." Then he told her that everyone is born with a hole in their heart. That got my attention. Really? I called a longtime friend of mine who is a highly experienced and respected heart surgeon. He told me that before we are born, there's a hole that is this passageway for blood to enter our pre-natal heart. In most people, and I'm glad I'm most people, the hole heals up within a few days after birth. But for a few, it doesn't go away, and it really needs to be repaired.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hole in Your Heart."
So everyone is born with a hole in their heart. Not just physically, but spiritually. But unlike that physical hole in your heart, the spiritual one doesn't go away unless you let the greatest physician of all fill that hole.
That spiritual hole in our heart keeps letting us know that it's there through the loneliness that no relationship seems to remove. The emptiness that never goes away for very long, no matter what we do to fill up our life. The "what's it all for?" questions about life that make everything seem so ultimately meaningless. It's like there's this voice inside us that seems to be saying, "Something's missing." We keep thinking the next relationship will be what we're missing, or the next thrill, or the next accomplishment, the next spiritual experience, the next "toy," the next milestone. But every time we get to the top of the hill we think has what we've been looking for, we find there's another hill to climb.
After a while, we assume that this hollowness inside, this hole in our heart is just how it is. The Bible describes King Solomon as the richest and wisest man of his time. And he had the resources to do it all. Here's his conclusion: "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." But just accepting that hole in your heart is ultimately deadly. It needs to be treated. It needs to be healed by the only One big enough to fill that hole in your heart; the God who made you to belong to Him. The brilliant physicist Blaise Pascal concluded that "inside every man is a God-shaped vacuum."
The hole in your heart is there to tell you that you really need God and that He isn't there because of something that makes it impossible for God to live there - all the sinning you and I have done; all the wrong things. Until that's forgiven and removed, the God you were made for has to remain outside.
In John 4:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is at a well, talking with a woman who has tried to fill the hole in her heart with one relationship after another. Jesus says to her, and to you, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst ... the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Wow, those words, "Thirsty again" - that's the hole in our heart. "Never thirst" - well, that's the hole in our heart finally filled as Jesus erases every sin of your life with His amazing forgiveness. He can do that because He did all the dying for all the sinning you've ever done. It's paid for. Which means your heart can be clean today and the God of the universe can finally move in; your lifetime search over. But you have to reach out to Jesus. You've got to tell Him that you're done driving your life, and that you're trusting completely in His death for your sin.
Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, you made me. You've got me. You paid for me with your life on the cross. I'm yours." He's alive. He walked out of his grave. He can walk into your life today.
You know, there's great information about how to begin this relationship at our website. And I want to invite you just to make your next stop that website if you could. It's ANewStory.com. Would you go there?
You've lived enough days without the One you were made for. You don't need to be without Him one more day.
The God of the Universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the cow’s feed trough. He left the glory of heaven and moved into our neighborhood.
Who could have imagined he would do such a thing? What a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him. God became a one-celled embryo and entered the womb of Mary. He became like us. Just look at the places he was willing to go: feed troughs, carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries. The places he went to reach us show how far he will go to touch us. He loves to be with the ones he loves!
Read more In the Manger
Matthew 14:22-36
Walking on the Water
22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
27 But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
28 Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
29-30 He said, “Come ahead.”
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
31 Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”
34-36 On return, they beached the boat at Gennesaret. When the people got wind that he was back, they sent out word through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 04, 2017
Read: Luke 1:68–75
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn[a] of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Footnotes:
Luke 1:69 Horn here symbolizes a strong king.
INSIGHT
One of the great themes of Luke’s gospel record is that it continually affirms that the message of Jesus’s death and resurrection is for everyone—not just for Israel. Today’s devotional declares that Christ’s coming would “cause great joy for all the people” (2:10). This important message continues later in this chapter when Simeon says that salvation is prepared in the “sight of all nations” and that Israel’s Messiah is both “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (vv. 30–32). At the conclusion of Luke’s account, the risen Christ tells the two disciples on the Emmaus road that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (24:47). This message was not intended for Israel alone, nor are we to keep it to ourselves. The entire world is the object of God’s love.
For more on sharing your faith, see the Discovery Series booklet Truth with Love: Sharing the Story of Jesus. - Bill Crowder
Christmas at MacPherson
By Poh Fang Chia
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Luke 1:68
About 230 families and individuals live at MacPherson Gardens, Block 72 in my neighborhood. Each person has his or her own life story. On the tenth floor resides an elderly woman whose children have grown up, gotten married, and moved out. She lives by herself now. Just a few doors away from her is a young couple with two kids—a boy and a girl. And a few floors below lives a young man serving in the army. He has been to church before; maybe he will visit again on Christmas Day. I met these people last Christmas when our church went caroling in the neighborhood to spread Christmas cheer.
Every Christmas—as on the first Christmas—there are many people who do not know that God has entered into our world as a baby whose name is Jesus (Luke 1:68; 2:21). Or they do not know the significance of that event—it is “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (2:10). Yes, all people! Regardless of our nationality, culture, gender, or financial status, Jesus came to die for us and offer us complete forgiveness so that we can be reconciled with Him and enjoy His love, joy, peace, and hope. All people, from the woman next door to the colleagues we have lunch with, need to hear this wonderful news!
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
On the first Christmas, the angels were the bearers of this joyous news. Today, God desires to work through us to take the story to others.
Lord, use me to touch the lives of others with the news of Your coming.
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 04, 2017
The Law of Opposition
To him who overcomes… —Revelation 2:7
Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.
Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.
Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.
And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.
Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 04, 2017
The Hole in Your Heart - #8061
Our friend had a medical procedure to repair what the doctor called "a hole in her heart." Then he told her that everyone is born with a hole in their heart. That got my attention. Really? I called a longtime friend of mine who is a highly experienced and respected heart surgeon. He told me that before we are born, there's a hole that is this passageway for blood to enter our pre-natal heart. In most people, and I'm glad I'm most people, the hole heals up within a few days after birth. But for a few, it doesn't go away, and it really needs to be repaired.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hole in Your Heart."
So everyone is born with a hole in their heart. Not just physically, but spiritually. But unlike that physical hole in your heart, the spiritual one doesn't go away unless you let the greatest physician of all fill that hole.
That spiritual hole in our heart keeps letting us know that it's there through the loneliness that no relationship seems to remove. The emptiness that never goes away for very long, no matter what we do to fill up our life. The "what's it all for?" questions about life that make everything seem so ultimately meaningless. It's like there's this voice inside us that seems to be saying, "Something's missing." We keep thinking the next relationship will be what we're missing, or the next thrill, or the next accomplishment, the next spiritual experience, the next "toy," the next milestone. But every time we get to the top of the hill we think has what we've been looking for, we find there's another hill to climb.
After a while, we assume that this hollowness inside, this hole in our heart is just how it is. The Bible describes King Solomon as the richest and wisest man of his time. And he had the resources to do it all. Here's his conclusion: "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." But just accepting that hole in your heart is ultimately deadly. It needs to be treated. It needs to be healed by the only One big enough to fill that hole in your heart; the God who made you to belong to Him. The brilliant physicist Blaise Pascal concluded that "inside every man is a God-shaped vacuum."
The hole in your heart is there to tell you that you really need God and that He isn't there because of something that makes it impossible for God to live there - all the sinning you and I have done; all the wrong things. Until that's forgiven and removed, the God you were made for has to remain outside.
In John 4:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is at a well, talking with a woman who has tried to fill the hole in her heart with one relationship after another. Jesus says to her, and to you, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst ... the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Wow, those words, "Thirsty again" - that's the hole in our heart. "Never thirst" - well, that's the hole in our heart finally filled as Jesus erases every sin of your life with His amazing forgiveness. He can do that because He did all the dying for all the sinning you've ever done. It's paid for. Which means your heart can be clean today and the God of the universe can finally move in; your lifetime search over. But you have to reach out to Jesus. You've got to tell Him that you're done driving your life, and that you're trusting completely in His death for your sin.
Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, you made me. You've got me. You paid for me with your life on the cross. I'm yours." He's alive. He walked out of his grave. He can walk into your life today.
You know, there's great information about how to begin this relationship at our website. And I want to invite you just to make your next stop that website if you could. It's ANewStory.com. Would you go there?
You've lived enough days without the One you were made for. You don't need to be without Him one more day.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Matthew 14:1-21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Just Call Him Jesus
God's plan for humanity…it was crafted in the halls of heaven and carried out on the plains of earth. Only holiness could have imagined it. Only divinity could have enacted it. Only righteousness could have endured it.
When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the women wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears-oh, don't miss His tears. They came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been.
So people came to him! Not one person was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures! Or the next time you hear a lifeless liturgy. Remember. It's man who creates the distance. It's Jesus who builds the bridge!
From In the Manger
Matthew 14:1-21
The Death of John
1-2 At about this time, Herod, the regional ruler, heard what was being said about Jesus. He said to his servants, “This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead. That’s why he’s able to work miracles!”
3-5 Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias “adultery.” Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid because so many people revered John as a prophet of God.
6-12 But at his birthday celebration, he got his chance. Herodias’s daughter provided the entertainment, dancing for the guests. She swept Herod away. In his drunken enthusiasm, he promised her on oath anything she wanted. Already coached by her mother, she was ready: “Give me, served up on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer.” That sobered the king up fast. Unwilling to lose face with his guests, he did it—ordered John’s head cut off and presented to the girl on a platter. She in turn gave it to her mother. Later, John’s disciples got the body, gave it a reverent burial, and reported to Jesus.
Supper for Five Thousand
13-14 When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick.
15 Toward evening the disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.”
16 But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper.”
17 “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.
18-21 Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Read: Micah 5:2–4
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
Footnotes:
Micah 5:2 Or rulers
INSIGHT
Christ’s second coming is also the theme of several New Testament passages. As Christ ascended into heaven, the angels told His disciples that Christ “will come back in the same way” they saw Him go (Acts 1:11). Jesus said His return would be unannounced and could occur at any moment; therefore, we are to “Be on guard! Be alert!” (Mark 13:33–37). The early Christians believed that Jesus’s return was “almost here” (Rom. 13:11–14). The apostle James encouraged believers to “be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8; see also Rev. 1:3). The anticipation that Jesus could come any moment led some Christians in Thessalonica to become idle, quitting their jobs and waiting for Him to return. But Paul told them to get back to work and live meaningful lives (2 Thess. 3:11–13).
“While we [patiently] wait for the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—that wonderful day of Jesus’s return—we can ask the Spirit to help us to live “holy and godly lives . . . spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (2 Peter 3:11, 14).
In what ways can you enjoy God’s presence today as you wait for Jesus’s return? - Sim Kay Tee
Waiting
By Amy Boucher Pye
Bethlehem . . . out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. Micah 5:2
“How much longer until it’s Christmas?” When my children were little, they asked this question repeatedly. Although we used a daily Advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas, they still found the waiting excruciating.
We can easily recognize a child’s struggle with waiting, but we might underestimate the challenge it can involve for all of God’s people. Consider, for instance, those who received the message of the prophet Micah, who promised that out of Bethlehem would come a “ruler over Israel” (5:2) who would “stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord” (v. 4). The initial fulfillment of this prophecy came when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1) —after the people had waited some 700 years. But some of the prophecy’s fulfillment is yet to come. For we wait in hope for the return of Jesus, when all of God’s people will “live securely” and “his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth” (Mic. 5:4). Then we will rejoice greatly, for our long wait will be over.
We wait, comforting Spirit, for all the world to experience Your love.
Most of us don’t find waiting easy, but we can trust that God will honor His promises to be with us as we wait (Matt. 28:20). For when Jesus was born in little Bethlehem, He ushered in life in all its fullness (see John 10:10)—life without condemnation. We enjoy His presence with us today while we eagerly wait for His return.
We wait, Father God, and we hope. We wait, dear Jesus, as we long for peace to break out. We wait, comforting Spirit, for all the world to experience Your love.
We wait for God’s promises, believing they will come true.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 03, 2017
“Not by Might nor by Power”
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power… —1 Corinthians 2:4
If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.
Once you are rooted in reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God disapproves of our human efforts to cling to the concept that sanctification is merely an experience, while forgetting that even our sanctification must also be sanctified (see John 17:19). I must deliberately give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 01, 2017
Driving Better When You're Being Watched - #8060
Oh, I will long remember some of those thrill-packed times of my life when I was teaching our oldest son to drive. Actually, there was a strange by-product of his learning to drive-my driving improved! Over the years you can get a little careless about some of the right ways to drive, especially when you're living in the metropolitan New York area where stunt driving is a survival skill! But knowing that my son was learning to drive, I suddenly became conscious of this pair of eyes watching me from the back seat-an impressionable teenage boy watching how his Dad holds the wheel, keeps the speed limit, changes lanes, stops at stop signs and approaches cars from the rear. Those eyes had an effect. I honestly ended up driving, well, like I should have been driving all along
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Driving Better When You're Being Watched."
Sometimes it really matters how you're driving because you're being watched, which you are if you belong to Jesus Christ, by the people around you who don't know Him that is. And it really matters how you drive your life because of the extremely important position God has put you in. I want to make sure you know what that is. It's defined in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:20. "We are, therefore, (Here's your title.) Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." Notice, this doesn't say we should be Christ's ambassador. It says we are. It's just a fact.
In many countries, America's ambassador is the main representative of this country. People assume that America is like that ambassador who is American. Now the sobering reality of your everyday life as a follower of Jesus is that people are sizing up Jesus Christ based on you; deciding what Jesus is like based on what you're like. You say, "Well, I don't want that responsibility." It doesn't matter. You've got the responsibility. You are carrying Jesus' reputation on you.
Just as I was watched as a driver by my son, you and I are being watched, whether we realize it or not. And that's good. I need to know someone's watching my driving. It makes me a better driver. You and I need to know how important our daily actions are; because they are shaping someone's impression of Jesus. Think about it. Sometimes we feel like it doesn't matter how we talk, or how we act, or how we choose, or how we treat somebody, or how we are under stress. But it really, really does.
It matters that you go out of your way to tell the truth, to reach out to a person who is down. It matters that you keep your temper, that you clean up your language, that you stop complaining, that you show respect. I urge you to focus on one person in your world who probably doesn't have Jesus as their Savior; one person you really want to see in heaven with you someday. When you pray by name for that spiritually dying person, when you focus on them being in heaven with you, you suddenly start to realize that's a pair of eyes watching you.
Actually, that lost person has been watching, but now you're basing your actions on that awareness. It grips you that literally someone's forever could depend on how you live. You can be a reason they're attracted to Jesus or a reason they reject Jesus-a major factor in whether they spend forever in heaven or hell. Did you know that most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know? Did you know that most people who reject Jesus do it because of a Christian they know?
That realization makes you pray as never before-to be in God's Word for daily strength and for daily orders. There is no greater incentive to spiritual sharpness than to know you are Christ's ambassador; that you are giving Him a reputation by everything you say and do. So, get both hands on the wheel, watch your speed, and drive very carefully. You're being watched, and someone's eternity may depend on what they see in you.
God's plan for humanity…it was crafted in the halls of heaven and carried out on the plains of earth. Only holiness could have imagined it. Only divinity could have enacted it. Only righteousness could have endured it.
When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. The feet upon which the women wept were calloused and dusty. And his tears-oh, don't miss His tears. They came from a heart as broken as yours or mine has ever been.
So people came to him! Not one person was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures! Or the next time you hear a lifeless liturgy. Remember. It's man who creates the distance. It's Jesus who builds the bridge!
From In the Manger
Matthew 14:1-21
The Death of John
1-2 At about this time, Herod, the regional ruler, heard what was being said about Jesus. He said to his servants, “This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead. That’s why he’s able to work miracles!”
3-5 Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias “adultery.” Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid because so many people revered John as a prophet of God.
6-12 But at his birthday celebration, he got his chance. Herodias’s daughter provided the entertainment, dancing for the guests. She swept Herod away. In his drunken enthusiasm, he promised her on oath anything she wanted. Already coached by her mother, she was ready: “Give me, served up on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer.” That sobered the king up fast. Unwilling to lose face with his guests, he did it—ordered John’s head cut off and presented to the girl on a platter. She in turn gave it to her mother. Later, John’s disciples got the body, gave it a reverent burial, and reported to Jesus.
Supper for Five Thousand
13-14 When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick.
15 Toward evening the disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.”
16 But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper.”
17 “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.
18-21 Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Read: Micah 5:2–4
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
Footnotes:
Micah 5:2 Or rulers
INSIGHT
Christ’s second coming is also the theme of several New Testament passages. As Christ ascended into heaven, the angels told His disciples that Christ “will come back in the same way” they saw Him go (Acts 1:11). Jesus said His return would be unannounced and could occur at any moment; therefore, we are to “Be on guard! Be alert!” (Mark 13:33–37). The early Christians believed that Jesus’s return was “almost here” (Rom. 13:11–14). The apostle James encouraged believers to “be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8; see also Rev. 1:3). The anticipation that Jesus could come any moment led some Christians in Thessalonica to become idle, quitting their jobs and waiting for Him to return. But Paul told them to get back to work and live meaningful lives (2 Thess. 3:11–13).
“While we [patiently] wait for the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—that wonderful day of Jesus’s return—we can ask the Spirit to help us to live “holy and godly lives . . . spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (2 Peter 3:11, 14).
In what ways can you enjoy God’s presence today as you wait for Jesus’s return? - Sim Kay Tee
Waiting
By Amy Boucher Pye
Bethlehem . . . out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. Micah 5:2
“How much longer until it’s Christmas?” When my children were little, they asked this question repeatedly. Although we used a daily Advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas, they still found the waiting excruciating.
We can easily recognize a child’s struggle with waiting, but we might underestimate the challenge it can involve for all of God’s people. Consider, for instance, those who received the message of the prophet Micah, who promised that out of Bethlehem would come a “ruler over Israel” (5:2) who would “stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord” (v. 4). The initial fulfillment of this prophecy came when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1) —after the people had waited some 700 years. But some of the prophecy’s fulfillment is yet to come. For we wait in hope for the return of Jesus, when all of God’s people will “live securely” and “his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth” (Mic. 5:4). Then we will rejoice greatly, for our long wait will be over.
We wait, comforting Spirit, for all the world to experience Your love.
Most of us don’t find waiting easy, but we can trust that God will honor His promises to be with us as we wait (Matt. 28:20). For when Jesus was born in little Bethlehem, He ushered in life in all its fullness (see John 10:10)—life without condemnation. We enjoy His presence with us today while we eagerly wait for His return.
We wait, Father God, and we hope. We wait, dear Jesus, as we long for peace to break out. We wait, comforting Spirit, for all the world to experience Your love.
We wait for God’s promises, believing they will come true.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 03, 2017
“Not by Might nor by Power”
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power… —1 Corinthians 2:4
If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.
Once you are rooted in reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God disapproves of our human efforts to cling to the concept that sanctification is merely an experience, while forgetting that even our sanctification must also be sanctified (see John 17:19). I must deliberately give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 01, 2017
Driving Better When You're Being Watched - #8060
Oh, I will long remember some of those thrill-packed times of my life when I was teaching our oldest son to drive. Actually, there was a strange by-product of his learning to drive-my driving improved! Over the years you can get a little careless about some of the right ways to drive, especially when you're living in the metropolitan New York area where stunt driving is a survival skill! But knowing that my son was learning to drive, I suddenly became conscious of this pair of eyes watching me from the back seat-an impressionable teenage boy watching how his Dad holds the wheel, keeps the speed limit, changes lanes, stops at stop signs and approaches cars from the rear. Those eyes had an effect. I honestly ended up driving, well, like I should have been driving all along
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Driving Better When You're Being Watched."
Sometimes it really matters how you're driving because you're being watched, which you are if you belong to Jesus Christ, by the people around you who don't know Him that is. And it really matters how you drive your life because of the extremely important position God has put you in. I want to make sure you know what that is. It's defined in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:20. "We are, therefore, (Here's your title.) Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." Notice, this doesn't say we should be Christ's ambassador. It says we are. It's just a fact.
In many countries, America's ambassador is the main representative of this country. People assume that America is like that ambassador who is American. Now the sobering reality of your everyday life as a follower of Jesus is that people are sizing up Jesus Christ based on you; deciding what Jesus is like based on what you're like. You say, "Well, I don't want that responsibility." It doesn't matter. You've got the responsibility. You are carrying Jesus' reputation on you.
Just as I was watched as a driver by my son, you and I are being watched, whether we realize it or not. And that's good. I need to know someone's watching my driving. It makes me a better driver. You and I need to know how important our daily actions are; because they are shaping someone's impression of Jesus. Think about it. Sometimes we feel like it doesn't matter how we talk, or how we act, or how we choose, or how we treat somebody, or how we are under stress. But it really, really does.
It matters that you go out of your way to tell the truth, to reach out to a person who is down. It matters that you keep your temper, that you clean up your language, that you stop complaining, that you show respect. I urge you to focus on one person in your world who probably doesn't have Jesus as their Savior; one person you really want to see in heaven with you someday. When you pray by name for that spiritually dying person, when you focus on them being in heaven with you, you suddenly start to realize that's a pair of eyes watching you.
Actually, that lost person has been watching, but now you're basing your actions on that awareness. It grips you that literally someone's forever could depend on how you live. You can be a reason they're attracted to Jesus or a reason they reject Jesus-a major factor in whether they spend forever in heaven or hell. Did you know that most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know? Did you know that most people who reject Jesus do it because of a Christian they know?
That realization makes you pray as never before-to be in God's Word for daily strength and for daily orders. There is no greater incentive to spiritual sharpness than to know you are Christ's ambassador; that you are giving Him a reputation by everything you say and do. So, get both hands on the wheel, watch your speed, and drive very carefully. You're being watched, and someone's eternity may depend on what they see in you.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Job 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Why Would He Come?
The God of the Universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the cow's feed trough. He left the glory of heaven and moved into our neighborhood. Who would have imagined he would do such a thing?
What a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him. God became a one-celled embryo and entered the womb of Mary. He became like us. Just look at the places he was willing to go: feed troughs, carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries.
The places he went to reach us show how far he will go to touch us. He loves to be with the ones he loves!
From In the Manger
Numbers 27
Job 33
1-4 “So please, Job, hear me out,
honor me by listening to me.
What I’m about to say
has been carefully thought out.
I have no ulterior motives in this;
I’m speaking honestly from my heart.
The Spirit of God made me what I am,
the breath of God Almighty gave me life!
God Always Answers, One Way or Another
5-7 “And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.
Lay out your arguments. Stand up for yourself!
Look, I’m human—no better than you;
we’re both made of the same kind of mud.
So let’s work this through together;
don’t let my aggressiveness overwhelm you.
8-11 “Here’s what you said.
I heard you say it with my own ears.
You said, ‘I’m pure—I’ve done nothing wrong.
Believe me, I’m clean—my conscience is clear.
But God keeps picking on me;
he treats me like I’m his enemy.
He’s thrown me in jail;
he keeps me under constant surveillance.’
12-14 “But let me tell you, Job, you’re wrong, dead wrong!
God is far greater than any human.
So how dare you haul him into court,
and then complain that he won’t answer your charges?
God always answers, one way or another,
even when people don’t recognize his presence.
15-18 “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,
when men and women are deep in sleep,
fast asleep in their beds—
God opens their ears
and impresses them with warnings
To turn them back from something bad they’re planning,
from some reckless choice,
And keep them from an early grave,
from the river of no return.
19-22 “Or, God might get their attention through pain,
by throwing them on a bed of suffering,
So they can’t stand the sight of food,
have no appetite for their favorite treats.
They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,
reduced to a bag of bones.
They hang on the cliff-edge of death,
knowing the next breath may be their last.
23-25 “But even then an angel could come,
a champion—there are thousands of them!—
to take up your cause,
A messenger who would mercifully intervene,
canceling the death sentence with the words:
‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’
Before you know it, you’re healed,
the very picture of health!
26-28 “Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!
You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,
finding yourself set right with God.
You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,
testifying, ‘I messed up my life—
and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.
But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.
I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’
29-30 “This is the way God works.
Over and over again
He pulls our souls back from certain destruction
so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!
31-33 “Keep listening, Job.
Don’t interrupt—I’m not finished yet.
But if you think of anything I should know, tell me.
There’s nothing I’d like better than to see your name cleared.
Meanwhile, keep listening. Don’t distract me with interruptions.
I’m going to teach you the basics of wisdom.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Read: 2 Chronicles 16:1–9
Asa’s Last Years
16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim[a] and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites[b] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen[c]? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 16:4 Also known as Abel Beth Maakah
2 Chronicles 16:8 That is, people from the upper Nile region
2 Chronicles 16:8 Or charioteers
Ham and Eggs
By Kirsten Holmberg
The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
In the fable of the chicken and the pig, the two animals discuss opening a restaurant together. As they plan their menu, the chicken suggests they serve ham and eggs. The pig swiftly objects saying, “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you would only be involved.”
Although the pig didn’t care to put himself on the platter, his understanding of commitment is instructive to me as I learn to better follow God with my whole heart.
Lord, I want to rely on You more fully. Please help me to look up and to trust You more.
To protect his kingdom, Asa, king of Judah, sought to break up a treaty between the kings of Israel and Aram. To accomplish this, he sent personal treasure along with “silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple” to secure favor with Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram (2 Chron. 16:2). Ben-Hadad agreed and their joint forces repelled Israel.
But God’s prophet Hanani called Asa foolish for relying on human help instead of God who had delivered other enemies into their hands. Hanani asserted, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (v. 9).
As we face our own battles and challenges, let’s remember that God is our best ally. He strengthens us when we’re willing to “serve up” a whole-hearted commitment to Him.
Lord, I want to rely on You more fully. Sometimes I see only what is around me. Please help me to look up and to trust You more.
When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time. Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
The God of the Universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the cow's feed trough. He left the glory of heaven and moved into our neighborhood. Who would have imagined he would do such a thing?
What a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him. God became a one-celled embryo and entered the womb of Mary. He became like us. Just look at the places he was willing to go: feed troughs, carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries.
The places he went to reach us show how far he will go to touch us. He loves to be with the ones he loves!
From In the Manger
Numbers 27
Job 33
1-4 “So please, Job, hear me out,
honor me by listening to me.
What I’m about to say
has been carefully thought out.
I have no ulterior motives in this;
I’m speaking honestly from my heart.
The Spirit of God made me what I am,
the breath of God Almighty gave me life!
God Always Answers, One Way or Another
5-7 “And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.
Lay out your arguments. Stand up for yourself!
Look, I’m human—no better than you;
we’re both made of the same kind of mud.
So let’s work this through together;
don’t let my aggressiveness overwhelm you.
8-11 “Here’s what you said.
I heard you say it with my own ears.
You said, ‘I’m pure—I’ve done nothing wrong.
Believe me, I’m clean—my conscience is clear.
But God keeps picking on me;
he treats me like I’m his enemy.
He’s thrown me in jail;
he keeps me under constant surveillance.’
12-14 “But let me tell you, Job, you’re wrong, dead wrong!
God is far greater than any human.
So how dare you haul him into court,
and then complain that he won’t answer your charges?
God always answers, one way or another,
even when people don’t recognize his presence.
15-18 “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,
when men and women are deep in sleep,
fast asleep in their beds—
God opens their ears
and impresses them with warnings
To turn them back from something bad they’re planning,
from some reckless choice,
And keep them from an early grave,
from the river of no return.
19-22 “Or, God might get their attention through pain,
by throwing them on a bed of suffering,
So they can’t stand the sight of food,
have no appetite for their favorite treats.
They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,
reduced to a bag of bones.
They hang on the cliff-edge of death,
knowing the next breath may be their last.
23-25 “But even then an angel could come,
a champion—there are thousands of them!—
to take up your cause,
A messenger who would mercifully intervene,
canceling the death sentence with the words:
‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’
Before you know it, you’re healed,
the very picture of health!
26-28 “Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!
You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,
finding yourself set right with God.
You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,
testifying, ‘I messed up my life—
and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.
But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.
I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’
29-30 “This is the way God works.
Over and over again
He pulls our souls back from certain destruction
so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!
31-33 “Keep listening, Job.
Don’t interrupt—I’m not finished yet.
But if you think of anything I should know, tell me.
There’s nothing I’d like better than to see your name cleared.
Meanwhile, keep listening. Don’t distract me with interruptions.
I’m going to teach you the basics of wisdom.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Read: 2 Chronicles 16:1–9
Asa’s Last Years
16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim[a] and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites[b] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen[c]? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 16:4 Also known as Abel Beth Maakah
2 Chronicles 16:8 That is, people from the upper Nile region
2 Chronicles 16:8 Or charioteers
Ham and Eggs
By Kirsten Holmberg
The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
In the fable of the chicken and the pig, the two animals discuss opening a restaurant together. As they plan their menu, the chicken suggests they serve ham and eggs. The pig swiftly objects saying, “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you would only be involved.”
Although the pig didn’t care to put himself on the platter, his understanding of commitment is instructive to me as I learn to better follow God with my whole heart.
Lord, I want to rely on You more fully. Please help me to look up and to trust You more.
To protect his kingdom, Asa, king of Judah, sought to break up a treaty between the kings of Israel and Aram. To accomplish this, he sent personal treasure along with “silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple” to secure favor with Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram (2 Chron. 16:2). Ben-Hadad agreed and their joint forces repelled Israel.
But God’s prophet Hanani called Asa foolish for relying on human help instead of God who had delivered other enemies into their hands. Hanani asserted, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (v. 9).
As we face our own battles and challenges, let’s remember that God is our best ally. He strengthens us when we’re willing to “serve up” a whole-hearted commitment to Him.
Lord, I want to rely on You more fully. Sometimes I see only what is around me. Please help me to look up and to trust You more.
When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time. Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
Friday, December 1, 2017
Job 32 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: ON YOUR KNEES BEFORE JESUS
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave, where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There is one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t enter standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees! So, at the birth of Jesus, while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring… the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus!
Read more In the Manger
Job 32
Elihu Speaks
God’s Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible
1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch—wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.
6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:
“I’m a young man,
and you are all old and experienced.
That’s why I kept quiet
and held back from joining the discussion.
I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell.
The longer you live, the wiser you become.’
But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.
So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well!
I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.
11-14 “I hung on your words while you spoke,
listened carefully to your arguments.
While you searched for the right words,
I was all ears.
And now what have you proved? Nothing.
Nothing you say has even touched Job.
And don’t excuse yourselves by saying, ‘We’ve done our best.
Now it’s up to God to talk sense into him.’
Job has yet to contend with me.
And rest assured, I won’t be using your arguments!
15-22 “Do you three have nothing else to say?
Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!
Why should I wait any longer,
now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks?
I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right!
It’s my turn—and it’s about time!
I’ve got a lot to say,
and I’m bursting to say it.
The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.
I’m a volcano ready to blow.
I have to speak—I have no choice.
I have to say what’s on my heart,
And I’m going to say it straight—
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I was never any good at bootlicking;
my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 01, 2017
Read: Mark 9:33–37
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
INSIGHT
Mark 9 is an action-packed chapter in our second gospel account. The chapter opens with the transfiguration of Jesus (vv. 1–13), where Peter, James, and John witness the glory of Christ and the voice of the Father while seeing Moses and Elijah join Jesus on the mountain to discuss His coming death and resurrection. Then, after descending the mountain and entering the valley below, the Lord of light is confronted by the power of darkness—from which He rescues a demon-possessed boy (vv. 14–29). After Jesus reminds the disciples of His coming death and resurrection (vv. 3–32), the disciples argue about which of them will have the highest place in the kingdom. This discussion of greatness initiates Jesus’s call to servanthood. After hearing how their Master would sacrifice Himself for them, they must be reminded that they too were called to lay themselves down for the benefit of others.
Our natural inclination is to put self first. How might you intentionally look to serve someone today? - Bill Crowder
The Last Will Be First
By James Banks
Those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:12
Recently I was among the last in line to board a large passenger jet with unassigned seating. I located a middle seat beside the wing, but the only spot for my bag was the overhead compartment by the very last row. This meant I had to wait for everyone to leave before I could go back and retrieve it.
I laughed as I settled into my seat and a thought occurred to me that seemed to be from the Lord: “It really won’t hurt you to wait. It will actually do you good.” So I resolved to enjoy the extra time, helping other passengers lower their luggage after we landed and assisting a flight attendant with cleaning. By the time I was able to retrieve my bag, I laughed again when someone thought I worked for the airline.
We serve Him best by serving others.
That day’s experience made me ponder Jesus’s words to His disciples: “Anyone who wants to be first, must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
I waited because I had to, but in Jesus’s “upside down” kingdom, there’s a place of honor for those who voluntarily set themselves aside to attend to others’ needs.
Jesus came into our hurried, me-first world not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). We serve Him best by serving others. The lower we bend, the closer we are to Him.
Loving Lord, help me to follow You into the needs of others and serve You there.
Jesus’s kingdom is upside-down.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 01, 2017
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 01, 2017 not available yet
Putting Clean On Over Dirty - #5711 - December 1, 2008
It was a simple order, "Get dressed." When Mom said it, our five-year-old grandson did what she asked. Moments later, he emerged from his room dressed for the day. That's good. It wasn't until he was undressing that night that Mom noticed a slight anomaly in how he had gotten dressed. He had two pairs of underwear on! When Mom asked him about it, he answered with a bemused look on his face: "Oh, I just put clean underwear on over the dirty underwear." Not good.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Putting Clean On Over Dirty."
Unfortunately, that is an all too common practice among God's children that is. Instead of taking off some things in our life that are dirty, we keep those and just put some clean stuff on over the dirty. It may make you feel better about the dirty stuff, it may be covered up from most people, but the dirty is still there. And you've got trouble with God.
There's a game all too many of us church folks play. It's described in Isaiah 29:13-15. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me...Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?'" Of course, God knows. He's not impressed with all those Christian words we say and Christian meetings we go to and Christian causes we support. He's interested in what's really going on in your heart, in your real life.
There are a lot of nice people who have some very not-nice things going on beneath the nice. Nice Christians who are poisoning their soul with pornography, seemingly unaware that Jesus is standing there all the time. Nice Christians who still have a serious problem with their temper, whose rage is so hurtful, but known only to a few. There are nice Christians who are hiding a pattern of abuse, or a heart full of bitterness, a life of lying, a relationship that our culture calls an affair but God calls adultery, a secret but sinful addiction, an agenda of revenge, sex outside of God's fence of marriage; so many secrets that Christians cover with a layer of clean.
Maybe the lie we want to believe is that the good we put on over the bad somehow excuses or makes up for the bad. Not with a holy God. That's a lie that may stave off the judgment of your own conscience but it will only compound the judgment of God. And about it being a secret, Romans 2:16 describes the day "when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." If you're covering up sin with spiritual stuff, you are sponsoring an unholy coexistence that is an insult to a Savior who gave His life on the cross "so that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24) the Bible says, not hide our sins.
In Ephesians 4, God commands us to "put off your old self" and "to be made new," to "put on the new self." He goes on to tell us to put off lying and put on truth, put off trash talk and put on uplifting talk, put off anger and bitterness and put on forgiveness and compassion, put off any kind of sexual immorality and put on purity.
So you are at a crossroads. God brought us together today to tell you that covering up your dirty with a layer of clean isn't going to cut it. It's self-deception, it's living a lie, it's defying God, and it's building up judgment. Don't you think it's time to come clean even if it hurts? It will hurt a whole lot more not to come clean. You know you're sick of that battle inside you. It's tearing you apart - the guilt, the fear of getting caught, the shame. And you know God is sick of this charade. While God is speaking to you, while your heart is open to the truth, run to the cross where everything you're hiding was paid for with Jesus' blood. If you've never been there to get the sin of your life forgiven, don't miss what He died for. Today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." Go to our website. You'll find some more information there on how to be sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net and leave all that dirty stuff, once and for all, at the foot of His old rugged cross.
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave, where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There is one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t enter standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees! So, at the birth of Jesus, while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring… the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus!
Read more In the Manger
Job 32
Elihu Speaks
God’s Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible
1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch—wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.
6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:
“I’m a young man,
and you are all old and experienced.
That’s why I kept quiet
and held back from joining the discussion.
I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell.
The longer you live, the wiser you become.’
But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.
So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well!
I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.
11-14 “I hung on your words while you spoke,
listened carefully to your arguments.
While you searched for the right words,
I was all ears.
And now what have you proved? Nothing.
Nothing you say has even touched Job.
And don’t excuse yourselves by saying, ‘We’ve done our best.
Now it’s up to God to talk sense into him.’
Job has yet to contend with me.
And rest assured, I won’t be using your arguments!
15-22 “Do you three have nothing else to say?
Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!
Why should I wait any longer,
now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks?
I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right!
It’s my turn—and it’s about time!
I’ve got a lot to say,
and I’m bursting to say it.
The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.
I’m a volcano ready to blow.
I have to speak—I have no choice.
I have to say what’s on my heart,
And I’m going to say it straight—
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I was never any good at bootlicking;
my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 01, 2017
Read: Mark 9:33–37
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
INSIGHT
Mark 9 is an action-packed chapter in our second gospel account. The chapter opens with the transfiguration of Jesus (vv. 1–13), where Peter, James, and John witness the glory of Christ and the voice of the Father while seeing Moses and Elijah join Jesus on the mountain to discuss His coming death and resurrection. Then, after descending the mountain and entering the valley below, the Lord of light is confronted by the power of darkness—from which He rescues a demon-possessed boy (vv. 14–29). After Jesus reminds the disciples of His coming death and resurrection (vv. 3–32), the disciples argue about which of them will have the highest place in the kingdom. This discussion of greatness initiates Jesus’s call to servanthood. After hearing how their Master would sacrifice Himself for them, they must be reminded that they too were called to lay themselves down for the benefit of others.
Our natural inclination is to put self first. How might you intentionally look to serve someone today? - Bill Crowder
The Last Will Be First
By James Banks
Those who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:12
Recently I was among the last in line to board a large passenger jet with unassigned seating. I located a middle seat beside the wing, but the only spot for my bag was the overhead compartment by the very last row. This meant I had to wait for everyone to leave before I could go back and retrieve it.
I laughed as I settled into my seat and a thought occurred to me that seemed to be from the Lord: “It really won’t hurt you to wait. It will actually do you good.” So I resolved to enjoy the extra time, helping other passengers lower their luggage after we landed and assisting a flight attendant with cleaning. By the time I was able to retrieve my bag, I laughed again when someone thought I worked for the airline.
We serve Him best by serving others.
That day’s experience made me ponder Jesus’s words to His disciples: “Anyone who wants to be first, must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
I waited because I had to, but in Jesus’s “upside down” kingdom, there’s a place of honor for those who voluntarily set themselves aside to attend to others’ needs.
Jesus came into our hurried, me-first world not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). We serve Him best by serving others. The lower we bend, the closer we are to Him.
Loving Lord, help me to follow You into the needs of others and serve You there.
Jesus’s kingdom is upside-down.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 01, 2017
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 01, 2017 not available yet
Putting Clean On Over Dirty - #5711 - December 1, 2008
It was a simple order, "Get dressed." When Mom said it, our five-year-old grandson did what she asked. Moments later, he emerged from his room dressed for the day. That's good. It wasn't until he was undressing that night that Mom noticed a slight anomaly in how he had gotten dressed. He had two pairs of underwear on! When Mom asked him about it, he answered with a bemused look on his face: "Oh, I just put clean underwear on over the dirty underwear." Not good.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Putting Clean On Over Dirty."
Unfortunately, that is an all too common practice among God's children that is. Instead of taking off some things in our life that are dirty, we keep those and just put some clean stuff on over the dirty. It may make you feel better about the dirty stuff, it may be covered up from most people, but the dirty is still there. And you've got trouble with God.
There's a game all too many of us church folks play. It's described in Isaiah 29:13-15. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me...Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?'" Of course, God knows. He's not impressed with all those Christian words we say and Christian meetings we go to and Christian causes we support. He's interested in what's really going on in your heart, in your real life.
There are a lot of nice people who have some very not-nice things going on beneath the nice. Nice Christians who are poisoning their soul with pornography, seemingly unaware that Jesus is standing there all the time. Nice Christians who still have a serious problem with their temper, whose rage is so hurtful, but known only to a few. There are nice Christians who are hiding a pattern of abuse, or a heart full of bitterness, a life of lying, a relationship that our culture calls an affair but God calls adultery, a secret but sinful addiction, an agenda of revenge, sex outside of God's fence of marriage; so many secrets that Christians cover with a layer of clean.
Maybe the lie we want to believe is that the good we put on over the bad somehow excuses or makes up for the bad. Not with a holy God. That's a lie that may stave off the judgment of your own conscience but it will only compound the judgment of God. And about it being a secret, Romans 2:16 describes the day "when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." If you're covering up sin with spiritual stuff, you are sponsoring an unholy coexistence that is an insult to a Savior who gave His life on the cross "so that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24) the Bible says, not hide our sins.
In Ephesians 4, God commands us to "put off your old self" and "to be made new," to "put on the new self." He goes on to tell us to put off lying and put on truth, put off trash talk and put on uplifting talk, put off anger and bitterness and put on forgiveness and compassion, put off any kind of sexual immorality and put on purity.
So you are at a crossroads. God brought us together today to tell you that covering up your dirty with a layer of clean isn't going to cut it. It's self-deception, it's living a lie, it's defying God, and it's building up judgment. Don't you think it's time to come clean even if it hurts? It will hurt a whole lot more not to come clean. You know you're sick of that battle inside you. It's tearing you apart - the guilt, the fear of getting caught, the shame. And you know God is sick of this charade. While God is speaking to you, while your heart is open to the truth, run to the cross where everything you're hiding was paid for with Jesus' blood. If you've never been there to get the sin of your life forgiven, don't miss what He died for. Today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." Go to our website. You'll find some more information there on how to be sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net and leave all that dirty stuff, once and for all, at the foot of His old rugged cross.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Matthew 13:31-5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD KEEPS HIS WORD
Our daughter Jenna was born in Brazil. Soon after we brought her home we received a hefty bill. No matter how much I pleaded or explained, the insurance company said, “We won’t pay.” The hospital meanwhile said, “You must pay!” The bill was $2,500. The good news is that we paid the bill. The bad news is we were broke as a result.
Philippians 4:6 became a theme promise. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” I was a novice to anxiety-free living, but I treated each anxious thought—and there were many—with prayer. “Lord, with your help I will not be anxious. But I’m in a foreign country with a new baby and an empty bank account. Hint, hint!” God took the hint!
God keeps His word. I just need to ask. Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer!
Read more Before Amen
Matthew 13:31-5
31-32 Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”
33 Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.”
34-35 All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:
I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open
things hidden since the world’s first day.
The Curtain of History
36 Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, “Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field.”
37-39 So he explained. “The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.
40-43 “The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.
“Are you listening to this? Really listening?
44 “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
45-46 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.
47-50 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That’s how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won’t do any good.”
51 Jesus asked, “Are you starting to get a handle on all this?”
They answered, “Yes.”
52 He said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”
53-57 When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint.
58 But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Read: Luke 7:36–50
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Footnotes:
Luke 7:41 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see Matt. 20:2).
Imperfect, Yet Loved
By Albert Lee
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
In Japan, food products are immaculately prepared and packaged. Not only must they taste good but they must look good too. Often I wonder if I am purchasing the food or the packaging! Because of the Japanese emphasis on good quality, products with slight defects are often discarded. However, in recent years wakeari products have gained popularity. Wakeari means “there is a reason” in Japanese. These products are not thrown away but are sold at a cheap price “for a reason”—for example, a crack in a rice cracker.
My friend who lives in Japan tells me that wakeari is also a catchphrase for people who are obviously less than perfect.
Broken people are made whole by God’s love.
Jesus loves all people—including the wakeari who society casts aside. When a woman who had lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at a Pharisee’s house, she went there and knelt behind Jesus at His feet, weeping (Luke 7:37–38). The Pharisee labeled her “a sinner” (v. 39), but Jesus accepted her. He spoke gently to her, assuring her that her sins were forgiven (v. 48).
Jesus loves imperfect, wakeari people—which includes you and me. And the greatest demonstration of His love for us is that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). As recipients of His love, may we be conduits of His love to the flawed people around us so they too may know that they can receive God’s love despite their imperfections.
I know I’m not perfect, Lord, so help me not to be hypocritical and pretend I have it all together. Open my heart to others in acceptance and love so that they might know Jesus’s concern for them.
Broken people are made whole by God’s love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 30, 2017
“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 30, 2017
When Time Is Running Out - #8059
A friend of mine attended a semi-pro football game between his team, which was an Arkansas team, and the overwhelming favorites, the team from Tennessee. Actually, the Tennessee team was already playoff-bound, and much to everyone's surprise, the halftime score was Arkansas 55, Tennessee 21. At the end of the third quarter it was still Arkansas 55, Tennessee 21. An upset in the making. Not so fast. Final score – Tennessee 56, Arkansas 55 – a victory won with a touchdown in the last seconds of the game. Another one of those surprising outcomes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Time Is Running Out."
Any fan who left after the third quarter of that game, sure that he knew the outcome, would have been shocked to learn how it finally turned out. Sometimes in sports it looks as if there's just not enough time to come back and win, right? But it happens. Actually, not just in sports. That fourth quarter, that final seconds victory thing is often the modus operandi of God.
You may be in a situation right now where it looks as if a happy ending is impossible – time is running out. Look, there's just isn't enough time to turn it around; enough time for humans to turn it around. When it comes to the ways of God, Yogi Berra suddenly becomes a theologian when he says, "It ain't over 'till it's over."
But when we conclude there's not enough time left for our prayers to be answered, we tend to do what Abraham did many years ago – we panic and we mess things up royally. In Genesis 15:4, God tells Abram, as he was known then, "A son coming from your own body will be your heir." Now, that's a miracle considering that Abraham and Sarah were well beyond childbearing age.
Then, in our word for today, Genesis 16, beginning with verse 1, we find that "Sarah...had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, 'The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.'" Don't you hear like alarm bells going off right here? Yeah, well, Abram missed them.
And because they can't wait for God to do it His way and in His time, Abram makes this tragic mistake. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. Thirteen years later, "The Lord did for Sarah what He had promised-of course. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age" (Genesis 21:1-2). And so, Isaac was born.
Tragically, the results of Abraham's panic and Abraham's impatience gave birth to a conflict that continues 4,000 years later between the children of Ishmael and the children of Isaac. And we're still all feeling the affects of it. The moral for you and me is pretty clear – wait for God.
Wait for God to do it His way - don't panic, don't bail out, or don't take the controls because you think time is running out! What it could take humans years to do, God can do in minutes. And He's preparing an answer for you right now – one that will be right for everyone. It will be without regrets. But often, He's the God of the eleventh hour, demonstrating His power and faithfulness in ways that will take us farther into His love than we've ever been before. He's often that fourth quarter two-minute warning God.
So, don't leave the game early because it looks like there's no chance. You might miss an amazing victory!
Our daughter Jenna was born in Brazil. Soon after we brought her home we received a hefty bill. No matter how much I pleaded or explained, the insurance company said, “We won’t pay.” The hospital meanwhile said, “You must pay!” The bill was $2,500. The good news is that we paid the bill. The bad news is we were broke as a result.
Philippians 4:6 became a theme promise. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” I was a novice to anxiety-free living, but I treated each anxious thought—and there were many—with prayer. “Lord, with your help I will not be anxious. But I’m in a foreign country with a new baby and an empty bank account. Hint, hint!” God took the hint!
God keeps His word. I just need to ask. Before amen—comes the power of a simple prayer!
Read more Before Amen
Matthew 13:31-5
31-32 Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”
33 Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.”
34-35 All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:
I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open
things hidden since the world’s first day.
The Curtain of History
36 Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, “Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field.”
37-39 So he explained. “The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.
40-43 “The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.
“Are you listening to this? Really listening?
44 “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
45-46 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.
47-50 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That’s how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won’t do any good.”
51 Jesus asked, “Are you starting to get a handle on all this?”
They answered, “Yes.”
52 He said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”
53-57 When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint.
58 But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Read: Luke 7:36–50
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Footnotes:
Luke 7:41 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see Matt. 20:2).
Imperfect, Yet Loved
By Albert Lee
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
In Japan, food products are immaculately prepared and packaged. Not only must they taste good but they must look good too. Often I wonder if I am purchasing the food or the packaging! Because of the Japanese emphasis on good quality, products with slight defects are often discarded. However, in recent years wakeari products have gained popularity. Wakeari means “there is a reason” in Japanese. These products are not thrown away but are sold at a cheap price “for a reason”—for example, a crack in a rice cracker.
My friend who lives in Japan tells me that wakeari is also a catchphrase for people who are obviously less than perfect.
Broken people are made whole by God’s love.
Jesus loves all people—including the wakeari who society casts aside. When a woman who had lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at a Pharisee’s house, she went there and knelt behind Jesus at His feet, weeping (Luke 7:37–38). The Pharisee labeled her “a sinner” (v. 39), but Jesus accepted her. He spoke gently to her, assuring her that her sins were forgiven (v. 48).
Jesus loves imperfect, wakeari people—which includes you and me. And the greatest demonstration of His love for us is that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). As recipients of His love, may we be conduits of His love to the flawed people around us so they too may know that they can receive God’s love despite their imperfections.
I know I’m not perfect, Lord, so help me not to be hypocritical and pretend I have it all together. Open my heart to others in acceptance and love so that they might know Jesus’s concern for them.
Broken people are made whole by God’s love.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 30, 2017
“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 30, 2017
When Time Is Running Out - #8059
A friend of mine attended a semi-pro football game between his team, which was an Arkansas team, and the overwhelming favorites, the team from Tennessee. Actually, the Tennessee team was already playoff-bound, and much to everyone's surprise, the halftime score was Arkansas 55, Tennessee 21. At the end of the third quarter it was still Arkansas 55, Tennessee 21. An upset in the making. Not so fast. Final score – Tennessee 56, Arkansas 55 – a victory won with a touchdown in the last seconds of the game. Another one of those surprising outcomes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Time Is Running Out."
Any fan who left after the third quarter of that game, sure that he knew the outcome, would have been shocked to learn how it finally turned out. Sometimes in sports it looks as if there's just not enough time to come back and win, right? But it happens. Actually, not just in sports. That fourth quarter, that final seconds victory thing is often the modus operandi of God.
You may be in a situation right now where it looks as if a happy ending is impossible – time is running out. Look, there's just isn't enough time to turn it around; enough time for humans to turn it around. When it comes to the ways of God, Yogi Berra suddenly becomes a theologian when he says, "It ain't over 'till it's over."
But when we conclude there's not enough time left for our prayers to be answered, we tend to do what Abraham did many years ago – we panic and we mess things up royally. In Genesis 15:4, God tells Abram, as he was known then, "A son coming from your own body will be your heir." Now, that's a miracle considering that Abraham and Sarah were well beyond childbearing age.
Then, in our word for today, Genesis 16, beginning with verse 1, we find that "Sarah...had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, 'The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.'" Don't you hear like alarm bells going off right here? Yeah, well, Abram missed them.
And because they can't wait for God to do it His way and in His time, Abram makes this tragic mistake. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. Thirteen years later, "The Lord did for Sarah what He had promised-of course. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age" (Genesis 21:1-2). And so, Isaac was born.
Tragically, the results of Abraham's panic and Abraham's impatience gave birth to a conflict that continues 4,000 years later between the children of Ishmael and the children of Isaac. And we're still all feeling the affects of it. The moral for you and me is pretty clear – wait for God.
Wait for God to do it His way - don't panic, don't bail out, or don't take the controls because you think time is running out! What it could take humans years to do, God can do in minutes. And He's preparing an answer for you right now – one that will be right for everyone. It will be without regrets. But often, He's the God of the eleventh hour, demonstrating His power and faithfulness in ways that will take us farther into His love than we've ever been before. He's often that fourth quarter two-minute warning God.
So, don't leave the game early because it looks like there's no chance. You might miss an amazing victory!
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