Max Lucado Daily: GOD BECAME A BABY
Prior to Bethlehem God gave us his messengers, his teachers, and his words. But in the manger, God gave us himself. Extraordinary, don’t you think?
I imagine even Gabriel scratched his head at the idea of “God with us.” Gabriel surely was not one to question his God-given missions. When God sent, Gabriel went. And when the word got out that God was to become a human, Gabriel was no doubt enthused. He could envision the moment! The Messiah in a blazing chariot. The King descending on a fiery cloud. An explosion of light from which the Messiah would emerge.
What he never expected, however, was a slip of paper with a Nazarene address. “God will become a baby,” it read. “Tell the mother to name the child Jesus. And tell her not to be afraid.”
Isaiah 2
The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:
There’s a day coming
when the mountain of God’s House
Will be The Mountain—
solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
people from all over set out for it.
They’ll say, “Come,
let’s climb God’s Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He’ll show us the way he works
so we can live the way we’re made.”
Zion’s the source of the revelation.
God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.
He’ll settle things fairly between nations.
He’ll make things right between many peoples.
They’ll turn their swords into shovels,
their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won’t play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
let’s live in the light of God.
6-9 God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob
because their world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
a world rolling in wealth,
Stuffed with things,
no end to its machines and gadgets,
And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes.
These people make their own gods and worship what they make.
A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.
Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving!
10 Head for the hills,
hide in the caves
From the terror of God,
from his dazzling presence.
11-17 People with a big head are headed for a fall,
pretentious egos brought down a peg.
It’s God alone at front-and-center
on the Day we’re talking about,
The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
is matched against all big-talking rivals,
against all swaggering big names;
Against all giant sequoias
hugely towering,
and against the expansive chestnut;
Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,
against the ranges of Alps and Andes;
Against every soaring skyscraper,
against all proud obelisks and statues;
Against ocean-going luxury liners,
against elegant three-masted schooners.
The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,
the pretentious egos brought down to earth,
Leaving God alone at front-and-center
on the Day we’re talking about.
18 And all those sticks and stones
dressed up to look like gods
will be gone for good.
19 Clamber into caves in the cliffs,
duck into any hole you can find.
Hide from the terror of God,
from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
towering and terrifying.
20-21 On that Day men and women will take
the sticks and stones
They’ve decked out in gold and silver
to look like gods and then worshiped,
And they will dump them
in any ditch or gully,
Then run for rock caves
and cliff hideouts
To hide from the terror of God,
from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
towering and terrifying.
22 Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,
so full of themselves, so full of hot air!
Can’t you see there’s nothing to them?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Colossians 4:2–6
Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer,p being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a doorq for our message, so that we may proclaim the mysteryr of Christ, for which I am in chains.s 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wiset in the way you act toward outsiders;u make the most of every opportunity.v 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace,w seasoned with salt,x so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Insight
While under house arrest in Rome, Paul composed what are commonly referred to as his Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Although grouped together because all were written from Paul’s place of confinement, these four letters each have their own distinct audience and purpose. One of the Prison Letters (Philippians) was directed to Greece while the other three epistles were sent to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Ephesians and Colossians present the theme of the body of Christ and Christ the head of the church (Christ’s headship)—though from different perspectives. Ephesians focuses on His headship, while Colossians looks more closely at the church. Philippians, written to the members of Paul’s first church plant on European soil, describes how believers can experience joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Philemon is the only personal letter of the group, encouraging his dear friend to deal kindly with a recently converted runaway slave, Onesimus.
Every Opportunity
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5
Ever caught a dragon? I hadn’t until my son convinced me to download a game on my phone. Producing a digital map mirroring the real world, the game allows you to catch colorful creatures near you.
Unlike most mobile games, this one requires movement. Anywhere you go is part of the game’s playing field. The result? I’m doing a lot more walking! Anytime my son and I play, we strive to maximize every opportunity to nab the critters that pop up around us.
It’s easy to focus on, even obsess over, a game that’s crafted to captivate users. But as I played the game, I was convicted with this question: Am I this intentional about maximizing the spiritual opportunities around me?
Paul knew the need to be alert to God’s work around us. In Colossians 4, he asked for prayer for an opportunity to share the gospel (v. 3). Then he challenged, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity” (v. 5). Paul didn’t want the Colossians to miss any chance of influencing others toward Christ. But doing so would require truly seeing them and their needs, then engaging in ways “full of grace” (v. 6).
In our world, far more things vie for our time and attention than a game’s imaginary dragons. But God invites us to navigate a real-world adventure, every day seeking opportunities to point to Him. By: Adam R. Holz
Reflect & Pray
When did God use someone in an unexpected way to bring you into deeper relationship with Him? When has He used you to impact someone’s life during an ordinary day?
Jesus, thank You that You’re constantly at work in the people around me. Help me to make the most of every opportunity I have to demonstrate Your love and grace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Total Surrender
Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." —Mark 10:28
Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.
Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).
True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me. The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 13:1-20
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 12, 2020
No Torpedoes in the Harbor - #8654
My oldest son was always a challenging child: creative, active, a mind of his own, a different drummer he marched to than his sister or brother. But we had our share of tender moments, too. Some of the ones I treasure in the photo album in my mind are the times he'd slow down a little and climb into his Daddy's lap. And we'd just cuddle for a while. Sometimes I wasn't sure how he could breathe, he had his head so buried in my chest. And then he'd look up at me with those big blue eyes and he'd say something I've obviously never forgotten, "When I'm in your arms, Daddy, I feel so safe."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Torpedoes in the Harbor."
So safe. That's not only how a child is supposed to feel with his father, it's how a wife is supposed to feel with her husband. When a man is really a man (at least as God defines manhood) his wife can always say, "When I'm with you, I feel so safe." Sadly, a lot of the time the one we promised to cherish or protect feels anything but safe with us, guys. She feels wounded, attacked, criticized and devalued. And that's just wrong.
Listen to our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Colossians 3:19 - "Husbands, love your wives." Now we might be OK if it stopped there. We could pipe up and say, "Hey, no problemo. I love my wife." Sorry, but the verse doesn't stop there. It goes on to say, "...and do not be harsh with them." It's pretty plain, isn't it? Love and harshness don't go together. Love makes a woman feel safe. Harshness makes a woman feel anything but safe.
I wonder if maybe you've gotten so busy, so stressed, so uptight that you've been spilling all over the one you love the most. She gets the meanness that you can't let other people see, and she doesn't deserve it! You stood at an altar one day, man, and you pledged before God that you would honor her and protect her. But you're not protecting her from you! Sometimes, we just get all self-absorbed. I tend to drift into self-absorption when I'm feeling really squeezed by all I've got to do, when I'm really tired, when I'm on overload. And that's when the harsh words are most likely to come.
Which is the total opposite of God's directive on how a man is supposed to treat his lifetime partner. In 1 Peter 3:7, He tells us, "Husbands...be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." God cares so much about how you treat your wife that it can literally be the difference in whether or not He responds to your prayers!
Certain packages carry a sign that says "Handle with care." Wives should come with a sign like that. That's what they need. It's what they're supposed to get. It's the treatment God expects us to give them. Frankly, a woman who is being spoken to or treated harshly by her husband has an understandable feeling of betrayal. Why? Because her husband's love was supposed to be the harbor for which the heart of a woman truly longs. That's harbor as in the one place wher
e you're finally safe - the one place you won't be attacked.
No woman should be hit with torpedoes in the harbor because the man who loves her is being harsh with her. Man, when she's with you, would you let her know that she is really safe.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Isaiah 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS WITH US
Jesus understands you. He’s faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. Scripture says Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
If Jesus understands our weaknesses, then so does God. Jesus was God in human form. He was God with us. That is why Jesus is called Immanuel. Immanu means “with us.” El refers to Elohim, or God. So Immanuel is not an “above-us God” or a “somewhere-in-the-neighborhood God.” He came as the “with-us God.” All of us.
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Search for restrictions on the promise and you’ll find none. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with us” promise. God is with us. What great news.
Isaiah 1
Messages of Judgment
The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
2-4 Heaven and earth, you’re the jury.
Listen to God’s case:
“I had children and raised them well,
and they turned on me.
The ox knows who’s boss,
the mule knows the hand that feeds him,
But not Israel.
My people don’t know up from down.
Shame! Misguided God-dropouts,
staggering under their guilt-baggage,
Gang of miscreants,
band of vandals—
My people have walked out on me, their God,
turned their backs on The Holy of Israel,
walked off and never looked back.
5-9 “Why bother even trying to do anything with you
when you just keep to your bullheaded ways?
You keep beating your heads against brick walls.
Everything within you protests against you.
From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head,
nothing’s working right.
Wounds and bruises and running sores—
untended, unwashed, unbandaged.
Your country is laid waste,
your cities burned down.
Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch,
reduced to rubble by barbarians.
Daughter Zion is deserted—
like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street,
Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks,
like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats.
If God-of-the-Angel-Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors,
we’d be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah.
10 “Listen to my Message,
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God’s revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.
11-12 “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?”
God’s asking.
“Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don’t you think I’ve had my fill
of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
When you come before me,
whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that—
all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
13-17 “Quit your worship charades.
I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
18-20 “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
This is God’s Message:
“If your sins are blood-red,
they’ll be snow-white.
If they’re red like crimson,
they’ll be like wool.
If you’ll willingly obey,
you’ll feast like kings.
But if you’re willful and stubborn,
you’ll die like dogs.”
That’s right. God says so.
21-23 Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city
has become a whore!
She was once all justice,
everyone living as good neighbors,
And now they’re all
at one another’s throats.
Your coins are all counterfeits.
Your wine is watered down.
Your leaders are turncoats
who keep company with crooks.
They sell themselves to the highest bidder
and grab anything not nailed down.
They never stand up for the homeless,
never stick up for the defenseless.
24-31 This Decree, therefore, of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the Strong One of Israel:
“This is it! I’ll get my oppressors off my back.
I’ll get back at my enemies.
I’ll give you the back of my hand,
purge the junk from your life, clean you up.
I’ll set honest judges and wise counselors among you
just like it was back in the beginning.
Then you’ll be renamed
City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City.”
God’s right ways will put Zion right again.
God’s right actions will restore her penitents.
But it’s curtains for rebels and God-traitors,
a dead end for those who walk out on God.
“Your dalliances in those oak grove shrines
will leave you looking mighty foolish,
All that fooling around in god and goddess gardens
that you thought was the latest thing.
You’ll end up like an oak tree
with all its leaves falling off,
Like an unwatered garden,
withered and brown.
‘The Big Man’ will turn out to be dead bark and twigs,
and his ‘work,’ the spark that starts the fire
That exposes man and work both
as nothing but cinders and smoke.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 12:41–44
The Widow’s Offering
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were puty and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Insight
The word treasury in Mark 12:41 and 43 translates the word gazophulakion; this compound word is from gaza, “a treasure” and phulake, “a place where something is guarded.” Together they carry the meaning “treasure house.” The word was used by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus to refer to “a special room in the women’s court of the Temple in which gold and silver bullion was kept” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary). Gentiles were allowed within the confines of the temple but they were restricted to the space known as the Court of the Gentiles. Women could go farther but not beyond the Women’s Court. Inside the Women’s Court were thirteen trumpet-shaped chests where the offerings of the people were deposited. It’s been noted that of the thirteen chests, six were for gifts in general and seven were for distinct purposes. The widow that Jesus witnessed in the temple made her deposit into one of those receptacles.
He Knows All About It
His understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:5
Finn, a Siamese fighting fish, lived at our house for two years. My young daughter would often bend down to talk with him after dropping food into his tank. When the topic of pets came up in kindergarten, she proudly claimed him as her own. Eventually, Finn passed away, and my daughter was heartbroken.
My mother advised me to listen closely to my daughter’s feelings and tell her, “God knows all about it.” I agreed that God knows everything, yet wondered, How will that be comforting? Then it occurred to me that God isn’t simply aware of the events in our lives—He compassionately sees into our souls and knows how they affect us. He understands that “little things” can feel like big things depending on our age, past wounds, or lack of resources.
Jesus saw the real size of a widow’s gift—and heart—as she dropped two coins into a temple collection box. He described what it meant for her as He said, “This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. . . . [She put in] all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43–44).
The widow kept quiet about her situation but Jesus recognized that what others considered a tiny donation was a sacrifice to her. He sees our lives in the same way. May we find comfort in His limitless understanding. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How might you show compassion to someone who is upset about a “small” problem? How does God respond when you tell Him about your problems?
God, thank You for knowing me completely and loving me. Help me to feel Your comfort when I consider Your infinite knowledge of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Obedience to the “Heavenly Vision”
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19
If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings.
“Though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it. Waiting for a vision that “tarries” is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work, only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.
Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proven to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don’t go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).
It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
The King's Speech - #8653
Now, I don't really go see many movies. I mean, my popcorn is much cheaper than theirs, and actually, I don't like the sticky "cinemuck" on the floor. Now, I haven't seen this movie, but the story's fascinating. I read about it. It was called The King's Speech, and that year it walked off with all kinds of Academy Awards.
King George VI was handicapped with a stutter, and he had to go on radio to give the speech of his life. Great Britain is about to go to war, and their king must rally them. Ultimately he is able to say what he needs to say to the people, and they need to hear it. It was because of the man who gave him the coaching and the help he needed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The King's Speech."
Now, I'm personally familiar with that story line. Well, actually, every follower of Jesus should be. Because we've all been positioned by Him to deliver a message from the King of all kings, with all the help we'll need. It's a message people must hear, because their eternity depends on it.
But we hold back because we're afraid we'll fail, we'll mess it up, or people won't like us. What we're missing is that we're not in this alone. There is someone who has promised to give us everything we will need if we'll just open our mouth.
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 2 Corinthians 5:19. It says, "God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men's sins against them but blotting them out." That's a wonderful message, and He's given it to us to tell others. And He says, "We are Christ's ambassadors..." Now, if you belong to Jesus, the King Himself has given you a life-changing trust. He has given you a message to deliver. He's counting on you.
Since the eternal destinies of the people around us depend on hearing the King's message, our silence could be for them a silent death sentence. God told me, so I would tell them, and I don't. So they may live and die without ever hearing what Jesus did on the cross for them because I failed them, and I failed Him.
As bold as I am speaking on a platform, I know, as most believers do. I know the fear that keeps us from telling people close to us about our Jesus. I still experience that. But in those moments of fear and holding back this life-saving message, we can experience the wonder of what God promised to a reluctant, inadequate Moses. He said, "I will be with you...Now, go; I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say" (Exodus 3:11, 4:12).
You know, so often I have failed to deliver the message of Jesus because I was afraid of what might happen to me if I told them. That's wrong! Isn't the greater fear what will happen to them if I don't tell them?
The lepers in the book of 2 Kings, who had found all this food at an enemy camp
at a time when all the people in the city were dying of starvation, after stuffing themselves made this realization. They said, and I quote, "This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves...We're not doing right" (2 Kings 7:9). And I'm thinking, "Man, could that be us?"
Hey, the King will go with me. The King will give me the words to say. He's the hand, I'm just His glove.
Jesus understands you. He’s faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. Scripture says Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
If Jesus understands our weaknesses, then so does God. Jesus was God in human form. He was God with us. That is why Jesus is called Immanuel. Immanu means “with us.” El refers to Elohim, or God. So Immanuel is not an “above-us God” or a “somewhere-in-the-neighborhood God.” He came as the “with-us God.” All of us.
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Search for restrictions on the promise and you’ll find none. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with us” promise. God is with us. What great news.
Isaiah 1
Messages of Judgment
The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
2-4 Heaven and earth, you’re the jury.
Listen to God’s case:
“I had children and raised them well,
and they turned on me.
The ox knows who’s boss,
the mule knows the hand that feeds him,
But not Israel.
My people don’t know up from down.
Shame! Misguided God-dropouts,
staggering under their guilt-baggage,
Gang of miscreants,
band of vandals—
My people have walked out on me, their God,
turned their backs on The Holy of Israel,
walked off and never looked back.
5-9 “Why bother even trying to do anything with you
when you just keep to your bullheaded ways?
You keep beating your heads against brick walls.
Everything within you protests against you.
From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head,
nothing’s working right.
Wounds and bruises and running sores—
untended, unwashed, unbandaged.
Your country is laid waste,
your cities burned down.
Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch,
reduced to rubble by barbarians.
Daughter Zion is deserted—
like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street,
Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks,
like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats.
If God-of-the-Angel-Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors,
we’d be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah.
10 “Listen to my Message,
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God’s revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.
11-12 “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?”
God’s asking.
“Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don’t you think I’ve had my fill
of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
When you come before me,
whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that—
all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
13-17 “Quit your worship charades.
I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
18-20 “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
This is God’s Message:
“If your sins are blood-red,
they’ll be snow-white.
If they’re red like crimson,
they’ll be like wool.
If you’ll willingly obey,
you’ll feast like kings.
But if you’re willful and stubborn,
you’ll die like dogs.”
That’s right. God says so.
21-23 Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city
has become a whore!
She was once all justice,
everyone living as good neighbors,
And now they’re all
at one another’s throats.
Your coins are all counterfeits.
Your wine is watered down.
Your leaders are turncoats
who keep company with crooks.
They sell themselves to the highest bidder
and grab anything not nailed down.
They never stand up for the homeless,
never stick up for the defenseless.
24-31 This Decree, therefore, of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the Strong One of Israel:
“This is it! I’ll get my oppressors off my back.
I’ll get back at my enemies.
I’ll give you the back of my hand,
purge the junk from your life, clean you up.
I’ll set honest judges and wise counselors among you
just like it was back in the beginning.
Then you’ll be renamed
City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City.”
God’s right ways will put Zion right again.
God’s right actions will restore her penitents.
But it’s curtains for rebels and God-traitors,
a dead end for those who walk out on God.
“Your dalliances in those oak grove shrines
will leave you looking mighty foolish,
All that fooling around in god and goddess gardens
that you thought was the latest thing.
You’ll end up like an oak tree
with all its leaves falling off,
Like an unwatered garden,
withered and brown.
‘The Big Man’ will turn out to be dead bark and twigs,
and his ‘work,’ the spark that starts the fire
That exposes man and work both
as nothing but cinders and smoke.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 12:41–44
The Widow’s Offering
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were puty and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Insight
The word treasury in Mark 12:41 and 43 translates the word gazophulakion; this compound word is from gaza, “a treasure” and phulake, “a place where something is guarded.” Together they carry the meaning “treasure house.” The word was used by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus to refer to “a special room in the women’s court of the Temple in which gold and silver bullion was kept” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary). Gentiles were allowed within the confines of the temple but they were restricted to the space known as the Court of the Gentiles. Women could go farther but not beyond the Women’s Court. Inside the Women’s Court were thirteen trumpet-shaped chests where the offerings of the people were deposited. It’s been noted that of the thirteen chests, six were for gifts in general and seven were for distinct purposes. The widow that Jesus witnessed in the temple made her deposit into one of those receptacles.
He Knows All About It
His understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:5
Finn, a Siamese fighting fish, lived at our house for two years. My young daughter would often bend down to talk with him after dropping food into his tank. When the topic of pets came up in kindergarten, she proudly claimed him as her own. Eventually, Finn passed away, and my daughter was heartbroken.
My mother advised me to listen closely to my daughter’s feelings and tell her, “God knows all about it.” I agreed that God knows everything, yet wondered, How will that be comforting? Then it occurred to me that God isn’t simply aware of the events in our lives—He compassionately sees into our souls and knows how they affect us. He understands that “little things” can feel like big things depending on our age, past wounds, or lack of resources.
Jesus saw the real size of a widow’s gift—and heart—as she dropped two coins into a temple collection box. He described what it meant for her as He said, “This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. . . . [She put in] all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43–44).
The widow kept quiet about her situation but Jesus recognized that what others considered a tiny donation was a sacrifice to her. He sees our lives in the same way. May we find comfort in His limitless understanding. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How might you show compassion to someone who is upset about a “small” problem? How does God respond when you tell Him about your problems?
God, thank You for knowing me completely and loving me. Help me to feel Your comfort when I consider Your infinite knowledge of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Obedience to the “Heavenly Vision”
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19
If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings.
“Though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it. Waiting for a vision that “tarries” is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work, only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.
Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proven to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don’t go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).
It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
The King's Speech - #8653
Now, I don't really go see many movies. I mean, my popcorn is much cheaper than theirs, and actually, I don't like the sticky "cinemuck" on the floor. Now, I haven't seen this movie, but the story's fascinating. I read about it. It was called The King's Speech, and that year it walked off with all kinds of Academy Awards.
King George VI was handicapped with a stutter, and he had to go on radio to give the speech of his life. Great Britain is about to go to war, and their king must rally them. Ultimately he is able to say what he needs to say to the people, and they need to hear it. It was because of the man who gave him the coaching and the help he needed.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The King's Speech."
Now, I'm personally familiar with that story line. Well, actually, every follower of Jesus should be. Because we've all been positioned by Him to deliver a message from the King of all kings, with all the help we'll need. It's a message people must hear, because their eternity depends on it.
But we hold back because we're afraid we'll fail, we'll mess it up, or people won't like us. What we're missing is that we're not in this alone. There is someone who has promised to give us everything we will need if we'll just open our mouth.
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 2 Corinthians 5:19. It says, "God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men's sins against them but blotting them out." That's a wonderful message, and He's given it to us to tell others. And He says, "We are Christ's ambassadors..." Now, if you belong to Jesus, the King Himself has given you a life-changing trust. He has given you a message to deliver. He's counting on you.
Since the eternal destinies of the people around us depend on hearing the King's message, our silence could be for them a silent death sentence. God told me, so I would tell them, and I don't. So they may live and die without ever hearing what Jesus did on the cross for them because I failed them, and I failed Him.
As bold as I am speaking on a platform, I know, as most believers do. I know the fear that keeps us from telling people close to us about our Jesus. I still experience that. But in those moments of fear and holding back this life-saving message, we can experience the wonder of what God promised to a reluctant, inadequate Moses. He said, "I will be with you...Now, go; I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say" (Exodus 3:11, 4:12).
You know, so often I have failed to deliver the message of Jesus because I was afraid of what might happen to me if I told them. That's wrong! Isn't the greater fear what will happen to them if I don't tell them?
The lepers in the book of 2 Kings, who had found all this food at an enemy camp
at a time when all the people in the city were dying of starvation, after stuffing themselves made this realization. They said, and I quote, "This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves...We're not doing right" (2 Kings 7:9). And I'm thinking, "Man, could that be us?"
Hey, the King will go with me. The King will give me the words to say. He's the hand, I'm just His glove.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
2 Corinthians 11:1-15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: JESUS BECAME FLESH
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (The MSG).
Let’s begin where the earthly ministry of Jesus began— in the womb of Mary. The God of the universe, for a time, kicked against the wall of that womb. He was born in the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the feed trough of a cow. He didn’t have to, did he? Jesus could have become a voice— a voice in the air. He could have become a message— a message in the night. Jesus could have become a light— a light in the night. But he became flesh. Why?
Jesus came to be near you. Any concerns you might have about his power and love were removed from the discussion the moment he became flesh and entered the world. What a beginning. What an entrance. And what a moment.
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I’m afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.
4-6 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot “apostles,” why can’t you put up with simple me? I’m as good as they are. It’s true that I don’t have their voice, haven’t mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I’m talking about. We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.
7-12 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God’s Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn’t be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it’s a point of honor with me, and I’m not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It’s not that I don’t love you; God knows I do. I’m just trying to keep things open and honest between us.
12-15 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 9:11–17
but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God,x and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.y Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Insight
Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand suggests Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place to mourn the death of John the Baptist (14:12–13). But when the crowds followed Him, “he had compassion on them” (v. 14). This demonstrates His self-giving character. He placed His own desires aside to meet the needs of those who came to Him. He said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). Imagine how that sounded to them. Jesus wasn’t unaware of their situation; He knew they didn’t have enough food for everyone. Jesus knows what we have and what it will take to accomplish what He’s asking us to do. When we give what we have to Him, He uses it in ways that only He can.
Broken to Be Shared
You give them something to eat. Luke 9:13
We met every Thursday after he lost his wife in a car accident. Sometimes he came with questions to which no answers exist; sometimes he came with memories he wanted to relive. Over time, he accepted that even though the accident was a result of the brokenness in our world, God could work in the midst of it. A few years later, he taught a class at our church about grief and how to lament well. Soon, he became our go-to guide for people experiencing loss. Sometimes it’s when we don’t feel like we have anything to offer that God takes our “not enough” and makes it “more than enough.”
Jesus told His disciples to give the people something to eat. They’d protested that there was nothing to give; Jesus multiplied their meager supplies and then turned back to the disciples and gave them the bread, as if to say, “I meant it: You give them something to eat!” (Luke 9:13–16). Christ will do the miraculous, but He often chooses to involve us.
Jesus says to us, “Place who you are and what you have in My hands. Your broken life. Your story. Your frailty and your failure, your pain and your suffering. Put it in My hands. You’ll be surprised what I can do with it.” Jesus knows that out of our emptiness, He can bring fullness. Out of our weakness, He can reveal His strength. By: Glenn Packiam
Reflect & Pray
What brokenness have you experienced? What would it look like to offer that experience to Jesus and ask Him to bring life to others from it?
Dear Jesus, take my “not enough” and make it “more than enough.” Take my pain, my failure, and my frailty, and make it something more.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Being an Example of His Message
Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2
We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.
There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8).
Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 11-13; Mark 12:1-27
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Hiding Our Scars - #8652
Mine's in my shoulder, from replacement surgery. Our grandson, well, his is in his chest from heart surgery. Country singer, Carrie Underwood's was on her face from a bad fall and 40 stitches a while back. But most of ours are deep inside, where no one can see them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "Hiding Our Scars."
Yep! Our scars. For Carrie Underwood, being such a public figure, having scars on her face was an understandable cause for concern. She couldn't be sure what she would look like when she healed. Her first public appearance came some four months later at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Her song: "Cry Pretty." She confessed to being "super nervous." She said, "I felt like I'd never been on stage before." The audience gave her a rousing ovation.
As I read about her anxiety over people's reaction to her scar, it struck a chord in me. I kept thinking, "Hey, we all have scars - emotional scars. And we don't want anybody to see them." Our scars might be the result of a fall - I mean an embarrassing failure or a major mistake. Some of us are scarred by rejection, betrayal, abuse, mistreatmen, divorce, or grief. Major life wounds leave major life scars.
We're not sure how people will react if we open up about the wounds. So, all too often, we stuff the hurt, we stuff the pain, we stuff the anger. But just like a beach ball pushed under the water, what we stuff will surface one way or another. And the more we push it under, the higher it's going to go when it goes. Years of hidden wounds and scars pile up into a building volcano of anger, resentment, self-pity, fear, distrust, depression - continually spilling out on those closest to us.
When my Karen, the love of my life, was suddenly gone on that awful day, I knew a lot of people would be watching how I responded. Because I'm in ministry, I would be expected to "be strong," proclaiming all the Christian "talking points," the things they affirm when they lose someone. And let there be no confusion here - my hope in Christ has been the anchor that holds in the most devastating storm of my life.
But, purely by God's grace, I made the choice to be as honest about the hurt as I was about the hope. To be real. To let the scar on my heart be seen and known. I had no idea the effect that would have. It seemed to give many people permission to talk about their hurts. To get beyond the rhetoric to the real. I'm seeing how an open heart opens hearts, including opening hearts to my Jesus.
So maybe we need to be more afraid of hiding our scars than sharing them. In most cases, letting our wounds be known allows people to offer comfort, encouragement, love, all of which bring healing to our hurt. And which can help other people unload the burden they've carried alone far too long.
Jesus famously said, "The truth will set you free" (John 8:32). And there is a sense of release in allowing yourself to be known and understood. Often the first step to healing a broken relationship is to share that hidden wound that has turned your heart cold. Not blaming, just reaching out for healing.
Jesus calls us to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill
the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). But we can't carry a burden that we don't know. I'm asking Jesus to make me a man people can feel safe with. Because our world is starved for people who will not condemn, who we know will love us with the mask off and with all the ugly out in the open.
My Jesus is like that. Not "I love you if..." or "I love you until..." Just His unconditional "I love you." Period. He knows about scars. They're the only thing from earth He took back to heaven with Him; from the nails in His hands and feet - the forever evidence of how endlessly He loves us.
He waits to come into your heart and begin to forgive your sin and heal the wounds of your past, and help you be somebody who can help heal the wounds of others. If you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours" it starts right there.
Our website's a place where many people have begun their relationship with Jesus. CanI encourage you to go there today? It's ANewStory.com.
Listen to the words of our Lord, "I will not forget you! See, I have you engraved on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:15-16). He really is our one safe place.
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (The MSG).
Let’s begin where the earthly ministry of Jesus began— in the womb of Mary. The God of the universe, for a time, kicked against the wall of that womb. He was born in the poverty of a peasant and spent his first night in the feed trough of a cow. He didn’t have to, did he? Jesus could have become a voice— a voice in the air. He could have become a message— a message in the night. Jesus could have become a light— a light in the night. But he became flesh. Why?
Jesus came to be near you. Any concerns you might have about his power and love were removed from the discussion the moment he became flesh and entered the world. What a beginning. What an entrance. And what a moment.
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I’m afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.
4-6 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot “apostles,” why can’t you put up with simple me? I’m as good as they are. It’s true that I don’t have their voice, haven’t mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I’m talking about. We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.
7-12 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God’s Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn’t be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it’s a point of honor with me, and I’m not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It’s not that I don’t love you; God knows I do. I’m just trying to keep things open and honest between us.
12-15 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 9:11–17
but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God,x and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.y Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Insight
Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand suggests Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place to mourn the death of John the Baptist (14:12–13). But when the crowds followed Him, “he had compassion on them” (v. 14). This demonstrates His self-giving character. He placed His own desires aside to meet the needs of those who came to Him. He said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). Imagine how that sounded to them. Jesus wasn’t unaware of their situation; He knew they didn’t have enough food for everyone. Jesus knows what we have and what it will take to accomplish what He’s asking us to do. When we give what we have to Him, He uses it in ways that only He can.
Broken to Be Shared
You give them something to eat. Luke 9:13
We met every Thursday after he lost his wife in a car accident. Sometimes he came with questions to which no answers exist; sometimes he came with memories he wanted to relive. Over time, he accepted that even though the accident was a result of the brokenness in our world, God could work in the midst of it. A few years later, he taught a class at our church about grief and how to lament well. Soon, he became our go-to guide for people experiencing loss. Sometimes it’s when we don’t feel like we have anything to offer that God takes our “not enough” and makes it “more than enough.”
Jesus told His disciples to give the people something to eat. They’d protested that there was nothing to give; Jesus multiplied their meager supplies and then turned back to the disciples and gave them the bread, as if to say, “I meant it: You give them something to eat!” (Luke 9:13–16). Christ will do the miraculous, but He often chooses to involve us.
Jesus says to us, “Place who you are and what you have in My hands. Your broken life. Your story. Your frailty and your failure, your pain and your suffering. Put it in My hands. You’ll be surprised what I can do with it.” Jesus knows that out of our emptiness, He can bring fullness. Out of our weakness, He can reveal His strength. By: Glenn Packiam
Reflect & Pray
What brokenness have you experienced? What would it look like to offer that experience to Jesus and ask Him to bring life to others from it?
Dear Jesus, take my “not enough” and make it “more than enough.” Take my pain, my failure, and my frailty, and make it something more.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Being an Example of His Message
Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2
We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.
There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8).
Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 11-13; Mark 12:1-27
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Hiding Our Scars - #8652
Mine's in my shoulder, from replacement surgery. Our grandson, well, his is in his chest from heart surgery. Country singer, Carrie Underwood's was on her face from a bad fall and 40 stitches a while back. But most of ours are deep inside, where no one can see them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "Hiding Our Scars."
Yep! Our scars. For Carrie Underwood, being such a public figure, having scars on her face was an understandable cause for concern. She couldn't be sure what she would look like when she healed. Her first public appearance came some four months later at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Her song: "Cry Pretty." She confessed to being "super nervous." She said, "I felt like I'd never been on stage before." The audience gave her a rousing ovation.
As I read about her anxiety over people's reaction to her scar, it struck a chord in me. I kept thinking, "Hey, we all have scars - emotional scars. And we don't want anybody to see them." Our scars might be the result of a fall - I mean an embarrassing failure or a major mistake. Some of us are scarred by rejection, betrayal, abuse, mistreatmen, divorce, or grief. Major life wounds leave major life scars.
We're not sure how people will react if we open up about the wounds. So, all too often, we stuff the hurt, we stuff the pain, we stuff the anger. But just like a beach ball pushed under the water, what we stuff will surface one way or another. And the more we push it under, the higher it's going to go when it goes. Years of hidden wounds and scars pile up into a building volcano of anger, resentment, self-pity, fear, distrust, depression - continually spilling out on those closest to us.
When my Karen, the love of my life, was suddenly gone on that awful day, I knew a lot of people would be watching how I responded. Because I'm in ministry, I would be expected to "be strong," proclaiming all the Christian "talking points," the things they affirm when they lose someone. And let there be no confusion here - my hope in Christ has been the anchor that holds in the most devastating storm of my life.
But, purely by God's grace, I made the choice to be as honest about the hurt as I was about the hope. To be real. To let the scar on my heart be seen and known. I had no idea the effect that would have. It seemed to give many people permission to talk about their hurts. To get beyond the rhetoric to the real. I'm seeing how an open heart opens hearts, including opening hearts to my Jesus.
So maybe we need to be more afraid of hiding our scars than sharing them. In most cases, letting our wounds be known allows people to offer comfort, encouragement, love, all of which bring healing to our hurt. And which can help other people unload the burden they've carried alone far too long.
Jesus famously said, "The truth will set you free" (John 8:32). And there is a sense of release in allowing yourself to be known and understood. Often the first step to healing a broken relationship is to share that hidden wound that has turned your heart cold. Not blaming, just reaching out for healing.
Jesus calls us to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill
the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). But we can't carry a burden that we don't know. I'm asking Jesus to make me a man people can feel safe with. Because our world is starved for people who will not condemn, who we know will love us with the mask off and with all the ugly out in the open.
My Jesus is like that. Not "I love you if..." or "I love you until..." Just His unconditional "I love you." Period. He knows about scars. They're the only thing from earth He took back to heaven with Him; from the nails in His hands and feet - the forever evidence of how endlessly He loves us.
He waits to come into your heart and begin to forgive your sin and heal the wounds of your past, and help you be somebody who can help heal the wounds of others. If you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours" it starts right there.
Our website's a place where many people have begun their relationship with Jesus. CanI encourage you to go there today? It's ANewStory.com.
Listen to the words of our Lord, "I will not forget you! See, I have you engraved on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:15-16). He really is our one safe place.
Monday, March 9, 2020
2 Chronicles 26 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: LET’S TALK ABOUT JESUS
Jesus: J-E-S-U-S. Five letters. Six hours. One cross. Three nails. We live because of Jesus. We Live because he lives; hope because he works; and matter because he matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus—not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, our Redeemer who will sweep into heaven anyone who gives him the nod.
Timid Jesus? Not on your life. Timid Jesus happens only on Christmas and Easter. The real Jesus claims every tick of the clock. Timid Jesus winks at sin. The real Jesus nukes it. Timid Jesus is a lucky charm crucifix on a necklace. Jesus is a tiger in your heart. Do you know this Jesus? Let’s talk about Jesus.
2 Chronicles 26
The people of Judah then took Uzziah, who was only sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. The first thing he did after his father was dead and buried was to recover Elath for Judah and rebuild it.
3-5 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He behaved well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. He was a loyal seeker of God. He was well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before God, and for as long as Zechariah lived, Uzziah lived a godly life. And God prospered him.
6-8 He ventured out and fought the Philistines, breaking into the fortress cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He also built settlements around Ashdod and other Philistine areas. God helped him in his wars with the Philistines, the Arabs in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. The Ammonites also paid tribute. Uzziah became famous, his reputation extending all the way to Egypt. He became quite powerful.
9-10 Uzziah constructed defense towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner of the wall. He also built towers and dug cisterns out in the country. He had herds of cattle down in the foothills and out on the plains, had farmers and vinedressers at work in the hills and fields—he loved growing things.
11-15 On the military side, Uzziah had a well-prepared army ready to fight. They were organized by companies under the direction of Jeiel the secretary, Maaseiah the field captain, and Hananiah of the general staff. The roster of family leaders over the fighting men accounted for 2,600. Under them were reinforcement troops numbering 307,000, with 500 of them on constant alert—a strong royal defense against any attack. Uzziah had them well-armed with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingshots. He also installed the latest in military technology on the towers and corners of Jerusalem for shooting arrows and hurling stones. He became well known for all this—a famous king. Everything seemed to go his way.
16-18 But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!”
19-21 But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that God then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God. His son Jotham, who managed the royal palace, took over the government of the country.
22-23 The rest of the history of Uzziah, from start to finish, was written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. When Uzziah died, they buried him with his ancestors in a field next to the royal cemetery. His skin disease disqualified him from burial in the royal cemetery. His son Jotham became the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 121:5–8
he Lord watches overe you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sunf will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harmg—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Insight
Psalm 121 is one of the “songs of ascent” (Psalms 120–134). Three times a year, at the great feasts of Unleavened Bread (Passover), Firstfruits (Pentecost), and Ingathering (Tabernacles), the Jewish people were to gather together for worship (Exodus 23:15–17). The songs of ascent were to be sung by the pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem. As one of these songs, Psalm 121 is a song for the journey and speaks about seeking God’s help amid the dangers that could be encountered along the way. These dangers might include slipping (v. 3) and sunstroke or lunacy (moon madness, v. 6). During a dangerous journey, rather than looking to the high places where false gods were worshiped, God’s people were encouraged to look to God for help—“the Maker of heaven and earth” (v. 2).
Watched by God
The Lord watches over you. Psalm 121:5
Our little grandson waved goodbye, then turned back with a question. “Grandma, why do you stand on the porch and watch until we leave?” I smiled at him, finding his question “cute” because he’s so young. Seeing his concern, however, I tried to give a good answer. “Well, it’s a courtesy,” I told him. “If you’re my guest, watching until you leave shows I care.” He weighed my answer, but still looked perplexed. So, I told him the simple truth. “I watch,” I said, “because I love you. When I see your car drive away, I know you’re safely heading home.” He smiled, giving me a tender hug. Finally, he understood.
His childlike understanding reminded me what all of us should remember—that our heavenly Father is constantly watching over each of us, His precious children. As Psalm 121 says, “The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand” (v. 5).
What assurance for Israel’s pilgrims as they climbed dangerous roads to Jerusalem to worship. “The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm—he will watch over your life” (vv. 6–7). Likewise, as we each climb our life’s road, sometimes facing spiritual threat or harm, “The Lord will watch over [our] coming and going.” Why? His love. When? “Now and forevermore” (v. 8). By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What “mountain” are you climbing today? What assurance do you find in knowing God is watching over you?
Our loving Father, as we travel the road of life, thank You for watching over us, keeping us safe.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 09, 2020
Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?
Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67
What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.
“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.
Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.
In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 09, 2020
Your High-Paying Construction Job - #8651
I've got a lot of friends who live on some pretty isolated Indian reservations in the United States. And, frankly, there just aren't many jobs there. But recently, a couple of them have suddenly found themselves making some pretty big money on a construction job. One of my Native friends said, "Man, this is a great job! They're building a road, and I got hired, and it's great money!" Actually, when you're working construction, it usually does mean some pretty decent pay.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your High-Paying Construction Job."
If you're a follower of Jesus, you already have a construction job. Yep! He's assigned every one of us to work on His building crew, and it's really rewarding. Except it's not a road or a structure He's hired us to build. It's people - the people you're with day after day in your personal world.
Our divine Contractor's instructions are in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 4:29. The Lord says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." God is trying to build the people around you, and He wants you on His construction crew. And your primary tool in building people up is what comes out of your mouth.
For some of us, the problem is that first thing we need to do is resign from the demolitions crew! Our mouth may actually be tearing people down. People who are close to us, and it's tearing them down more than it's building them up. And according to the next verse, that literally "grieves the Holy Spirit of God." Why? Because you've been tearing down someone that He's trying to build, with your sarcasm, your criticism, your focus on what they're doing wrong, the names you call them, or the wounds that you inflict when you're angry or when you're frustrated with them.
God says, "Don't let any of that kind of junk come out of that mouth of yours!" Instead, dedicate yourself to using your mouth as something that builds people, not tears them down. So, how do you do that? Well, by always praising the good you see in someone and by always looking for something to praise. You're in the construction business when you share something encouraging from God's Word that can lighten their burden that day, or when you consistently thank people and don't take them for granted, when you say the nice things now that people usually say at a person's funeral - when they can't hear them anymore!
And when you're in the construction business with Jesus, it really does pay well. People look forward to being with you. Because your own attitude becomes much more positive as you look for the positive in other people, and then your own joy increases. Working relationships have less friction, your family has less friction, and your church has less friction. People trust you. They open up to you because they feel safe with you. They feel you care about them. They feel like you believe in them. And, most important of all, you have the blessing of Almighty God on your life.
Jesus is still hiring people. There's a want ad out there for His construction crew, and the rewards of being in the construction business with Jesus are tremendous. Won't you help Jesus build the people that He's placed under your influence where you are?
His mission is pretty simple. It's expressed in just a few words in Hebrews 3:13. Let's see how you're doing. "Encourage one another daily."
Jesus: J-E-S-U-S. Five letters. Six hours. One cross. Three nails. We live because of Jesus. We Live because he lives; hope because he works; and matter because he matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus—not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, our Redeemer who will sweep into heaven anyone who gives him the nod.
Timid Jesus? Not on your life. Timid Jesus happens only on Christmas and Easter. The real Jesus claims every tick of the clock. Timid Jesus winks at sin. The real Jesus nukes it. Timid Jesus is a lucky charm crucifix on a necklace. Jesus is a tiger in your heart. Do you know this Jesus? Let’s talk about Jesus.
2 Chronicles 26
The people of Judah then took Uzziah, who was only sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. The first thing he did after his father was dead and buried was to recover Elath for Judah and rebuild it.
3-5 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He behaved well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. He was a loyal seeker of God. He was well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before God, and for as long as Zechariah lived, Uzziah lived a godly life. And God prospered him.
6-8 He ventured out and fought the Philistines, breaking into the fortress cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He also built settlements around Ashdod and other Philistine areas. God helped him in his wars with the Philistines, the Arabs in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. The Ammonites also paid tribute. Uzziah became famous, his reputation extending all the way to Egypt. He became quite powerful.
9-10 Uzziah constructed defense towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner of the wall. He also built towers and dug cisterns out in the country. He had herds of cattle down in the foothills and out on the plains, had farmers and vinedressers at work in the hills and fields—he loved growing things.
11-15 On the military side, Uzziah had a well-prepared army ready to fight. They were organized by companies under the direction of Jeiel the secretary, Maaseiah the field captain, and Hananiah of the general staff. The roster of family leaders over the fighting men accounted for 2,600. Under them were reinforcement troops numbering 307,000, with 500 of them on constant alert—a strong royal defense against any attack. Uzziah had them well-armed with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingshots. He also installed the latest in military technology on the towers and corners of Jerusalem for shooting arrows and hurling stones. He became well known for all this—a famous king. Everything seemed to go his way.
16-18 But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!”
19-21 But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that God then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God. His son Jotham, who managed the royal palace, took over the government of the country.
22-23 The rest of the history of Uzziah, from start to finish, was written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. When Uzziah died, they buried him with his ancestors in a field next to the royal cemetery. His skin disease disqualified him from burial in the royal cemetery. His son Jotham became the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 121:5–8
he Lord watches overe you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sunf will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harmg—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Insight
Psalm 121 is one of the “songs of ascent” (Psalms 120–134). Three times a year, at the great feasts of Unleavened Bread (Passover), Firstfruits (Pentecost), and Ingathering (Tabernacles), the Jewish people were to gather together for worship (Exodus 23:15–17). The songs of ascent were to be sung by the pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem. As one of these songs, Psalm 121 is a song for the journey and speaks about seeking God’s help amid the dangers that could be encountered along the way. These dangers might include slipping (v. 3) and sunstroke or lunacy (moon madness, v. 6). During a dangerous journey, rather than looking to the high places where false gods were worshiped, God’s people were encouraged to look to God for help—“the Maker of heaven and earth” (v. 2).
Watched by God
The Lord watches over you. Psalm 121:5
Our little grandson waved goodbye, then turned back with a question. “Grandma, why do you stand on the porch and watch until we leave?” I smiled at him, finding his question “cute” because he’s so young. Seeing his concern, however, I tried to give a good answer. “Well, it’s a courtesy,” I told him. “If you’re my guest, watching until you leave shows I care.” He weighed my answer, but still looked perplexed. So, I told him the simple truth. “I watch,” I said, “because I love you. When I see your car drive away, I know you’re safely heading home.” He smiled, giving me a tender hug. Finally, he understood.
His childlike understanding reminded me what all of us should remember—that our heavenly Father is constantly watching over each of us, His precious children. As Psalm 121 says, “The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand” (v. 5).
What assurance for Israel’s pilgrims as they climbed dangerous roads to Jerusalem to worship. “The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm—he will watch over your life” (vv. 6–7). Likewise, as we each climb our life’s road, sometimes facing spiritual threat or harm, “The Lord will watch over [our] coming and going.” Why? His love. When? “Now and forevermore” (v. 8). By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What “mountain” are you climbing today? What assurance do you find in knowing God is watching over you?
Our loving Father, as we travel the road of life, thank You for watching over us, keeping us safe.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 09, 2020
Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?
Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67
What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.
“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.
Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.
In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 09, 2020
Your High-Paying Construction Job - #8651
I've got a lot of friends who live on some pretty isolated Indian reservations in the United States. And, frankly, there just aren't many jobs there. But recently, a couple of them have suddenly found themselves making some pretty big money on a construction job. One of my Native friends said, "Man, this is a great job! They're building a road, and I got hired, and it's great money!" Actually, when you're working construction, it usually does mean some pretty decent pay.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your High-Paying Construction Job."
If you're a follower of Jesus, you already have a construction job. Yep! He's assigned every one of us to work on His building crew, and it's really rewarding. Except it's not a road or a structure He's hired us to build. It's people - the people you're with day after day in your personal world.
Our divine Contractor's instructions are in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 4:29. The Lord says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." God is trying to build the people around you, and He wants you on His construction crew. And your primary tool in building people up is what comes out of your mouth.
For some of us, the problem is that first thing we need to do is resign from the demolitions crew! Our mouth may actually be tearing people down. People who are close to us, and it's tearing them down more than it's building them up. And according to the next verse, that literally "grieves the Holy Spirit of God." Why? Because you've been tearing down someone that He's trying to build, with your sarcasm, your criticism, your focus on what they're doing wrong, the names you call them, or the wounds that you inflict when you're angry or when you're frustrated with them.
God says, "Don't let any of that kind of junk come out of that mouth of yours!" Instead, dedicate yourself to using your mouth as something that builds people, not tears them down. So, how do you do that? Well, by always praising the good you see in someone and by always looking for something to praise. You're in the construction business when you share something encouraging from God's Word that can lighten their burden that day, or when you consistently thank people and don't take them for granted, when you say the nice things now that people usually say at a person's funeral - when they can't hear them anymore!
And when you're in the construction business with Jesus, it really does pay well. People look forward to being with you. Because your own attitude becomes much more positive as you look for the positive in other people, and then your own joy increases. Working relationships have less friction, your family has less friction, and your church has less friction. People trust you. They open up to you because they feel safe with you. They feel you care about them. They feel like you believe in them. And, most important of all, you have the blessing of Almighty God on your life.
Jesus is still hiring people. There's a want ad out there for His construction crew, and the rewards of being in the construction business with Jesus are tremendous. Won't you help Jesus build the people that He's placed under your influence where you are?
His mission is pretty simple. It's expressed in just a few words in Hebrews 3:13. Let's see how you're doing. "Encourage one another daily."
Sunday, March 8, 2020
2 Chronicles 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Never Gives Up
God’s people often forget their God, but God never forgets them. When Joseph was dropped into a pit by his own brothers, God didn’t give up. When Moses said, “Here am I, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up. When the delivered Israelites wanted Egyptian slavery instead of milk and honey, God did not give up. When Aaron was making a false god at the very moment Moses was with the true God, God did not give up.
And when human hands fastened the divine hands of Jesus to a cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God, the God who never gives up on his people, who held them steady. He held them to the cross where, with holy blood, the divine hand wrote these words, “God would give up His only son before He’d ever give up on you!” (John 3:16)
from Six Hours One Frid
2 Chronicles 25
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. He lived well before God, doing the right thing for the most part. But he wasn’t wholeheartedly devoted to God. When he had the affairs of the kingdom well in hand, he executed the palace guard who had assassinated his father the king. But he didn’t kill the sons of the assassins—he was mindful of what God commanded in The Revelation of Moses, that parents shouldn’t be executed for their childrens’ sins, nor children for their parents’. We each pay personally for our sins.
5-6 Amaziah organized Judah and sorted out Judah and Benjamin by families and by military units. Men twenty years and older had to register—they ended up with 300,000 judged capable of military service. In addition he hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel in the north at a cost of about four and a half tons of silver.
7-8 A holy man showed up and said, “No, O King—don’t let those northern Israelite soldiers into your army; God is not on their side, nor with any of the Ephraimites. Instead, you go by yourself and be strong. God and God only has the power to help or hurt your cause.”
9 But Amaziah said to the holy man, “But what about all this money—these tons of silver I have already paid out to hire these men?”
“God’s help is worth far more to you than that,” said the holy man.
10 So Amaziah fired the soldiers he had hired from the north and sent them home. They were very angry at losing their jobs and went home seething.
11-12 But Amaziah was optimistic. He led his troops into the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand men of Seir. They took another ten thousand as prisoners, led them to the top of the Rock, and pushed them off a cliff. They all died in the fall, smashed on the rocks.
13 But the troops Amaziah had dismissed from his army, angry over their lost opportunity for plunder, rampaged through the towns of Judah all the way from Samaria to Beth Horon, killing three thousand people and taking much plunder.
14-15 On his return from the destruction of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back the gods of the men of Seir and installed them as his own gods, worshiping them and burning incense to them. That ignited God’s anger; a fiery blast of God’s wrath put into words by a God-sent prophet: “What is this? Why on earth would you pray to inferior gods who couldn’t so much as help their own people from you—gods weaker than Amaziah?”
16 Amaziah interrupted him, “Did I ask for your opinion? Shut up or get thrown out!”
The prophet quit speaking, but not before he got in one last word: “I have it on good authority: God has made up his mind to throw you out because of what you’ve done, and because you wouldn’t listen to me.”
17 One day Amaziah sent envoys to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, challenging him to a fight: “Come and meet with me, I dare you. Let’s have it out face-to-face!”
18-19 Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah, “One day a thistle in Lebanon sent word to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But then a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it. Just because you’ve defeated Edom in battle, you now think you’re a big shot. Go ahead and be proud, but stay home. Why press your luck? Why bring defeat on yourself and Judah?”
20-22 Amaziah wouldn’t take no for an answer—God had already decided to let Jehoash defeat him because he had defected to the gods of Edom. So Jehoash king of Israel came on ahead and confronted Amaziah king of Judah. They met at Beth Shemesh, a town of Judah. Judah was thoroughly beaten by Israel—all the soldiers straggled home in defeat.
23-24 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. But Jehoash didn’t stop at that; he went on to attack Jerusalem. He demolished the Wall of Jerusalem all the way from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a stretch of about six hundred feet. He looted the gold, silver, and furnishings—anything he found that was worth taking—from both the palace and The Temple of God—and, for good measure, he took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
25-26 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah continued as king fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. The rest of the life and times of Amaziah from start to finish is written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27-28 During those last days, after Amaziah had defected from God, they cooked up a plot against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he had to flee to Lachish. But they tracked him down in Lachish and killed him there. They brought him back on horseback and buried him in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Mark 11:15–18
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’c?m But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’d”n
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him,o because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
Insight
A common literary technique Mark uses is what is sometimes called a “Markan sandwich.” In this technique, Mark interrupts one story (A) with another story (B) before returning to the first story (A), allowing both to inform how we interpret the meaning of each individually. Mark 11 offers a classic example of this “sandwich” technique. This chapter tells of Jesus cursing a fruitless fig tree (vv. 13–14), then shifts to Jesus driving out the temple’s sellers of merchandise (vv. 15–18), before returning to the fig tree (vv. 20–21). Jesus’ curse of the fig tree, withering it down to the roots (Mark 11:20) seems to symbolize His condemnation of the corrupt temple leadership that rejected Him. It’s likely He had Jeremiah 8:13 in mind: “There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.”
To learn more about Jesus’ ministry, visit bit.ly/2lzTtAq.
Pure Worship
My house will be called a house of prayer. Mark 11:17
Jose pastored a church known for its programs and theatrical productions. They were well done, yet he worried the church’s busyness had slipped into a business. Was the church growing for the right reasons or because of its activities? Jose wanted to find out, so he canceled all extra church events for one year. His congregation would focus on being a living temple where people worshiped God.
Jose’s decision seems extreme, until you notice what Jesus did when He entered the temple’s outer courts. The holy space that should have been full of simple prayers had become a flurry of worship business. “Get your doves here! Lily white, as God requires!” Jesus overturned the merchant’s tables and stopped those who bought their merchandise. Furious at what they were doing, He quoted Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7: “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Mark 11:17). The court of the gentiles, the place for outsiders to worship God, had been turned into a mundane marketplace for making money.
There’s nothing wrong with business or staying busy. But that’s not the point of church. We’re the living temple of God, and our main task is to worship Jesus. We likely won’t need to flip over any tables as Jesus did, but He may be calling us to do something equally drastic. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
Why do you attend church and meet with believers? What expectations of yours might you need to let the Spirit change?
Father, show us where our expectations of worship fail to please You. Help us see that it’s all about You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 08, 2020
The Surrendered Life
I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20
To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.
Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18
God’s people often forget their God, but God never forgets them. When Joseph was dropped into a pit by his own brothers, God didn’t give up. When Moses said, “Here am I, send Aaron,” God didn’t give up. When the delivered Israelites wanted Egyptian slavery instead of milk and honey, God did not give up. When Aaron was making a false god at the very moment Moses was with the true God, God did not give up.
And when human hands fastened the divine hands of Jesus to a cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God, the God who never gives up on his people, who held them steady. He held them to the cross where, with holy blood, the divine hand wrote these words, “God would give up His only son before He’d ever give up on you!” (John 3:16)
from Six Hours One Frid
2 Chronicles 25
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. He lived well before God, doing the right thing for the most part. But he wasn’t wholeheartedly devoted to God. When he had the affairs of the kingdom well in hand, he executed the palace guard who had assassinated his father the king. But he didn’t kill the sons of the assassins—he was mindful of what God commanded in The Revelation of Moses, that parents shouldn’t be executed for their childrens’ sins, nor children for their parents’. We each pay personally for our sins.
5-6 Amaziah organized Judah and sorted out Judah and Benjamin by families and by military units. Men twenty years and older had to register—they ended up with 300,000 judged capable of military service. In addition he hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel in the north at a cost of about four and a half tons of silver.
7-8 A holy man showed up and said, “No, O King—don’t let those northern Israelite soldiers into your army; God is not on their side, nor with any of the Ephraimites. Instead, you go by yourself and be strong. God and God only has the power to help or hurt your cause.”
9 But Amaziah said to the holy man, “But what about all this money—these tons of silver I have already paid out to hire these men?”
“God’s help is worth far more to you than that,” said the holy man.
10 So Amaziah fired the soldiers he had hired from the north and sent them home. They were very angry at losing their jobs and went home seething.
11-12 But Amaziah was optimistic. He led his troops into the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand men of Seir. They took another ten thousand as prisoners, led them to the top of the Rock, and pushed them off a cliff. They all died in the fall, smashed on the rocks.
13 But the troops Amaziah had dismissed from his army, angry over their lost opportunity for plunder, rampaged through the towns of Judah all the way from Samaria to Beth Horon, killing three thousand people and taking much plunder.
14-15 On his return from the destruction of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back the gods of the men of Seir and installed them as his own gods, worshiping them and burning incense to them. That ignited God’s anger; a fiery blast of God’s wrath put into words by a God-sent prophet: “What is this? Why on earth would you pray to inferior gods who couldn’t so much as help their own people from you—gods weaker than Amaziah?”
16 Amaziah interrupted him, “Did I ask for your opinion? Shut up or get thrown out!”
The prophet quit speaking, but not before he got in one last word: “I have it on good authority: God has made up his mind to throw you out because of what you’ve done, and because you wouldn’t listen to me.”
17 One day Amaziah sent envoys to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, challenging him to a fight: “Come and meet with me, I dare you. Let’s have it out face-to-face!”
18-19 Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah, “One day a thistle in Lebanon sent word to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But then a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it. Just because you’ve defeated Edom in battle, you now think you’re a big shot. Go ahead and be proud, but stay home. Why press your luck? Why bring defeat on yourself and Judah?”
20-22 Amaziah wouldn’t take no for an answer—God had already decided to let Jehoash defeat him because he had defected to the gods of Edom. So Jehoash king of Israel came on ahead and confronted Amaziah king of Judah. They met at Beth Shemesh, a town of Judah. Judah was thoroughly beaten by Israel—all the soldiers straggled home in defeat.
23-24 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. But Jehoash didn’t stop at that; he went on to attack Jerusalem. He demolished the Wall of Jerusalem all the way from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a stretch of about six hundred feet. He looted the gold, silver, and furnishings—anything he found that was worth taking—from both the palace and The Temple of God—and, for good measure, he took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
25-26 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah continued as king fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. The rest of the life and times of Amaziah from start to finish is written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27-28 During those last days, after Amaziah had defected from God, they cooked up a plot against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he had to flee to Lachish. But they tracked him down in Lachish and killed him there. They brought him back on horseback and buried him in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Mark 11:15–18
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’c?m But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’d”n
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him,o because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
Insight
A common literary technique Mark uses is what is sometimes called a “Markan sandwich.” In this technique, Mark interrupts one story (A) with another story (B) before returning to the first story (A), allowing both to inform how we interpret the meaning of each individually. Mark 11 offers a classic example of this “sandwich” technique. This chapter tells of Jesus cursing a fruitless fig tree (vv. 13–14), then shifts to Jesus driving out the temple’s sellers of merchandise (vv. 15–18), before returning to the fig tree (vv. 20–21). Jesus’ curse of the fig tree, withering it down to the roots (Mark 11:20) seems to symbolize His condemnation of the corrupt temple leadership that rejected Him. It’s likely He had Jeremiah 8:13 in mind: “There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.”
To learn more about Jesus’ ministry, visit bit.ly/2lzTtAq.
Pure Worship
My house will be called a house of prayer. Mark 11:17
Jose pastored a church known for its programs and theatrical productions. They were well done, yet he worried the church’s busyness had slipped into a business. Was the church growing for the right reasons or because of its activities? Jose wanted to find out, so he canceled all extra church events for one year. His congregation would focus on being a living temple where people worshiped God.
Jose’s decision seems extreme, until you notice what Jesus did when He entered the temple’s outer courts. The holy space that should have been full of simple prayers had become a flurry of worship business. “Get your doves here! Lily white, as God requires!” Jesus overturned the merchant’s tables and stopped those who bought their merchandise. Furious at what they were doing, He quoted Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7: “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Mark 11:17). The court of the gentiles, the place for outsiders to worship God, had been turned into a mundane marketplace for making money.
There’s nothing wrong with business or staying busy. But that’s not the point of church. We’re the living temple of God, and our main task is to worship Jesus. We likely won’t need to flip over any tables as Jesus did, but He may be calling us to do something equally drastic. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
Why do you attend church and meet with believers? What expectations of yours might you need to let the Spirit change?
Father, show us where our expectations of worship fail to please You. Help us see that it’s all about You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 08, 2020
The Surrendered Life
I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20
To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.
Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18
Saturday, March 7, 2020
2 Chronicles 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God as Heart Surgeon
Grace is God as heart surgeon! Grace is God cracking open your chest, removing your heart, poisoned as it is with pride and pain, and replacing it with his own.
God's dream isn't just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Grace lives because Jesus does, works because he works, and matters because he matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus-not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod. Grace won't be stage-managed. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don't get grace. But it can sure get us.
If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need! Make certain it happens to you!
From GRACE
2 Chronicles 24
Joash was seven years old when he became king; he was king for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Gazelle (Zibiah). She was from Beersheba.
2-3 Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased God throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. Jehoiada picked out two wives for him; he had a family of both sons and daughters.
4-6 The time came when Joash determined to renovate The Temple of God. He got the priests and Levites together and said, “Circulate through the towns of Judah every year and collect money from the people to repair The Temple of your God. You are in charge of carrying this out.” But the Levites dragged their feet and didn’t do anything.
7 Then the king called in Jehoiada the chief priest and said, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax Moses, servant of God and the congregation, set for the upkeep of the place of worship? You can see how bad things are—wicked Queen Athaliah and her sons let The Temple of God go to ruin and took all its sacred artifacts for use in Baal worship.”
8-9 Following the king’s orders, they made a chest and placed it at the entrance to The Temple of God. Then they sent out a tax notice throughout Judah and Jerusalem: “Pay the tax that Moses the servant of God set when Israel was in the wilderness.”
10 The people and their leaders were glad to do it and cheerfully brought their money until the chest was full.
11-14 Whenever the Levites brought the chest in for a royal audit and found it to be full, the king’s secretary and the official of the chief priest would empty the chest and put it back in its place. Day after day they did this and collected a lot of money. The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the managers of The Temple project; they in turn paid the masons and carpenters for the repair work on The Temple of God. The construction workers kept at their jobs steadily until the restoration was complete—the house of God as good as new! When they had finished the work, they returned the surplus money to the king and Jehoiada, who used the money for making sacred vessels for Temple worship, vessels for the daily worship, for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, bowls, and other gold and silver liturgical artifacts.
14-16 Whole-Burnt-Offerings were made regularly in The Temple of God throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. He died at a ripe old age—130 years old! They buried him in the royal cemetery because he had such a distinguished life of service to Israel and God and God’s Temple.
17-19 But after the death of Jehoiada things fell apart. The leaders of Judah made a formal presentation to the king and he went along with them. Things went from bad to worse; they deserted The Temple of God and took up with the cult of sex goddesses. An angry cloud hovered over Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. God sent prophets to straighten them out, warning of judgment. But nobody paid attention.
20 Then the Spirit of God moved Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest to speak up: “God’s word: Why have you deliberately walked away from God’s commandments? You can’t live this way! If you walk out on God, he’ll walk out on you.”
21-22 But they worked out a plot against Zechariah, and with the complicity of the king—he actually gave the order!—they murdered him, pelting him with rocks, right in the court of The Temple of God. That’s the thanks King Joash showed the loyal Jehoiada, the priest who had made him king. He murdered Jehoiada’s son. Zechariah’s last words were, “Look, God! Make them pay for this!”
23-24 A year or so later Aramean troops attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, massacred the leaders, and shipped all their plunder back to the king in Damascus. The Aramean army was quite small, but God used them to wipe out Joash’s large army—their punishment for deserting God, the God of their ancestors. Arameans implemented God’s judgment against Joash.
25-27 They left Joash badly wounded and his own servants finished him off—it was a palace conspiracy, avenging the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. They killed him in his bed. Afterward they buried him in the City of David, but he was not honored with a grave in the royal cemetery. The temple conspirators were Zabad, whose mother was Shimeath from Ammon, and Jehozabad, whose mother was Shimrith from Moab. The story of his sons, the many sermons preached to Joash, and the account of his repairs on The Temple of God can be found contained in the commentary on the royal history.
Amaziah, Joash’s son, was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 12:20–27
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.c
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ,d and each one of you is a part of it.e
Insight
In Paul’s first New Testament letter to the Corinthians, he describes two ways his readers have been overlooking the body of Christ. First, they were ignoring the significance of sharing bread and wine in remembrance of His shed blood and broken body (1 Corinthians 11:29). In the process, they were also failing to live for the good of one another. Paul went on to explain that by the Holy Spirit they had been gifted to work together, just as members of our human bodies help and depend on each other (12:12–27). Paul sees his readers as members of the body of Christ brought together to share the heart of love He describes in chapter 13.
More than Meets the Eye
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27
Attend any rodeo with riding and roping competition and you’ll see them—competitors with four fingers on one hand and a nub where their thumb should be. It’s a common injury in the sport—a thumb gets caught between a rope on one end and a decent-sized steer pulling on the other, and the thumb is usually the loser. It’s not a career-ending injury, but the absence of a thumb changes things. Without using your thumb, try to brush your teeth or button a shirt or comb your hair or tie your shoes or even eat. That little overlooked member of your body plays a significant role.
The apostle Paul indicates a similar scenario in the church. Those often less visible and frequently less vocal members sometimes experience an “I don’t need you” response from the others (1 Corinthians 12:21). Usually this is unspoken, but there are times when it’s said aloud.
God calls us to have equal concern and respect for one another (v. 25). Each and every one of us is a part of Christ’s body (v. 27), regardless of the gifting we’ve received, and we need each other. Some of us are eyes and ears, so to speak, and some of us are thumbs. But each of us plays a vital role in the body of Christ, sometimes more than meets the eye. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
If you’re an “eye,” what’s one way you could encourage a “thumb”? And if you think you’re a lesser member, why not memorize 1 Corinthians 12:27, an important scriptural truth.
Father, forgive us for our failure to remember that each of us is a member of the body of Christ. We’re the members, and You and You alone are the Head.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 07, 2020
The Source of Abundant Joy
In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. —Romans 8:37
Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.
Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).
The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52
Grace is God as heart surgeon! Grace is God cracking open your chest, removing your heart, poisoned as it is with pride and pain, and replacing it with his own.
God's dream isn't just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Grace lives because Jesus does, works because he works, and matters because he matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus-not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod. Grace won't be stage-managed. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don't get grace. But it can sure get us.
If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need! Make certain it happens to you!
From GRACE
2 Chronicles 24
Joash was seven years old when he became king; he was king for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Gazelle (Zibiah). She was from Beersheba.
2-3 Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased God throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. Jehoiada picked out two wives for him; he had a family of both sons and daughters.
4-6 The time came when Joash determined to renovate The Temple of God. He got the priests and Levites together and said, “Circulate through the towns of Judah every year and collect money from the people to repair The Temple of your God. You are in charge of carrying this out.” But the Levites dragged their feet and didn’t do anything.
7 Then the king called in Jehoiada the chief priest and said, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax Moses, servant of God and the congregation, set for the upkeep of the place of worship? You can see how bad things are—wicked Queen Athaliah and her sons let The Temple of God go to ruin and took all its sacred artifacts for use in Baal worship.”
8-9 Following the king’s orders, they made a chest and placed it at the entrance to The Temple of God. Then they sent out a tax notice throughout Judah and Jerusalem: “Pay the tax that Moses the servant of God set when Israel was in the wilderness.”
10 The people and their leaders were glad to do it and cheerfully brought their money until the chest was full.
11-14 Whenever the Levites brought the chest in for a royal audit and found it to be full, the king’s secretary and the official of the chief priest would empty the chest and put it back in its place. Day after day they did this and collected a lot of money. The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the managers of The Temple project; they in turn paid the masons and carpenters for the repair work on The Temple of God. The construction workers kept at their jobs steadily until the restoration was complete—the house of God as good as new! When they had finished the work, they returned the surplus money to the king and Jehoiada, who used the money for making sacred vessels for Temple worship, vessels for the daily worship, for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, bowls, and other gold and silver liturgical artifacts.
14-16 Whole-Burnt-Offerings were made regularly in The Temple of God throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. He died at a ripe old age—130 years old! They buried him in the royal cemetery because he had such a distinguished life of service to Israel and God and God’s Temple.
17-19 But after the death of Jehoiada things fell apart. The leaders of Judah made a formal presentation to the king and he went along with them. Things went from bad to worse; they deserted The Temple of God and took up with the cult of sex goddesses. An angry cloud hovered over Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. God sent prophets to straighten them out, warning of judgment. But nobody paid attention.
20 Then the Spirit of God moved Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest to speak up: “God’s word: Why have you deliberately walked away from God’s commandments? You can’t live this way! If you walk out on God, he’ll walk out on you.”
21-22 But they worked out a plot against Zechariah, and with the complicity of the king—he actually gave the order!—they murdered him, pelting him with rocks, right in the court of The Temple of God. That’s the thanks King Joash showed the loyal Jehoiada, the priest who had made him king. He murdered Jehoiada’s son. Zechariah’s last words were, “Look, God! Make them pay for this!”
23-24 A year or so later Aramean troops attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, massacred the leaders, and shipped all their plunder back to the king in Damascus. The Aramean army was quite small, but God used them to wipe out Joash’s large army—their punishment for deserting God, the God of their ancestors. Arameans implemented God’s judgment against Joash.
25-27 They left Joash badly wounded and his own servants finished him off—it was a palace conspiracy, avenging the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. They killed him in his bed. Afterward they buried him in the City of David, but he was not honored with a grave in the royal cemetery. The temple conspirators were Zabad, whose mother was Shimeath from Ammon, and Jehozabad, whose mother was Shimrith from Moab. The story of his sons, the many sermons preached to Joash, and the account of his repairs on The Temple of God can be found contained in the commentary on the royal history.
Amaziah, Joash’s son, was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 12:20–27
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.c
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ,d and each one of you is a part of it.e
Insight
In Paul’s first New Testament letter to the Corinthians, he describes two ways his readers have been overlooking the body of Christ. First, they were ignoring the significance of sharing bread and wine in remembrance of His shed blood and broken body (1 Corinthians 11:29). In the process, they were also failing to live for the good of one another. Paul went on to explain that by the Holy Spirit they had been gifted to work together, just as members of our human bodies help and depend on each other (12:12–27). Paul sees his readers as members of the body of Christ brought together to share the heart of love He describes in chapter 13.
More than Meets the Eye
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27
Attend any rodeo with riding and roping competition and you’ll see them—competitors with four fingers on one hand and a nub where their thumb should be. It’s a common injury in the sport—a thumb gets caught between a rope on one end and a decent-sized steer pulling on the other, and the thumb is usually the loser. It’s not a career-ending injury, but the absence of a thumb changes things. Without using your thumb, try to brush your teeth or button a shirt or comb your hair or tie your shoes or even eat. That little overlooked member of your body plays a significant role.
The apostle Paul indicates a similar scenario in the church. Those often less visible and frequently less vocal members sometimes experience an “I don’t need you” response from the others (1 Corinthians 12:21). Usually this is unspoken, but there are times when it’s said aloud.
God calls us to have equal concern and respect for one another (v. 25). Each and every one of us is a part of Christ’s body (v. 27), regardless of the gifting we’ve received, and we need each other. Some of us are eyes and ears, so to speak, and some of us are thumbs. But each of us plays a vital role in the body of Christ, sometimes more than meets the eye. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
If you’re an “eye,” what’s one way you could encourage a “thumb”? And if you think you’re a lesser member, why not memorize 1 Corinthians 12:27, an important scriptural truth.
Father, forgive us for our failure to remember that each of us is a member of the body of Christ. We’re the members, and You and You alone are the Head.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 07, 2020
The Source of Abundant Joy
In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. —Romans 8:37
Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.
Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).
The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52
Friday, March 6, 2020
2 Corinthians 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE REAL JESUS
The Jesus of many people is small enough to be contained in an aquarium that fits on the cabinet. He never causes trouble or demands attention. If you want a goldfish bowl of Jesus, steer clear of the real Jesus Christ. He changes everything!
No, Jesus doesn’t make you sexy, skinny, or clever. Jesus doesn’t change what you see in the mirror. He changes how you see what you see. He will not be silenced, packaged, or predicted. He is the pastor who chased people out of church. He is the prophet who had a soft spot for crooks and whores. He is the king who washed the grime off the feet of his betrayer. He turned a bread basket into a buffet and a dead friend into a living one. And most of all, he transformed the tomb into a womb out of which life was born life ….your life.
2 Corinthians 10
And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words.
3-6 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
7-8 You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can’t see the forest for the trees. If you’re looking for a clear example of someone on Christ’s side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I’m not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, after all, not tearing you down.
9-11 And what’s this talk about me bullying you with my letters? “His letters are brawny and potent, but in person he’s a weakling and mumbles when he talks.” Such talk won’t survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do when present. We’re the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.
12 We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
13-14 We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?
15-18 We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. “If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.” What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 4:9–11
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Insight
Along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is classified as one of the Wisdom books of Scripture. Wisdom books, which emphasize the supreme value of fearing God (Ecclesiastes 8:13; 12:13), help the reader to navigate the good and not-so-good—the bitter and sweet of this life—from God’s perspective and to trust Him. Given Wisdom literature’s goal—to help its readers to “live skillfully”—it shouldn’t surprise us to find numerous occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes of the word better or the phrase better than. The comparative value of wisdom is stressed in passages such as “Wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness” (2:13); “Wisdom is better than strength” (9:16); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (9:18). We also see this emphasis in Proverbs: “For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold” (3:14).
Two Are Better
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9
In the 1997 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, two women fought to stay on their feet as they hobbled toward the finish line. Exhausted, the runners persevered on wobbly legs, until Sian Welch bumped into Wendy Ingraham. They both dropped to the ground. Struggling to stand, they stumbled forward, only to fall again about twenty meters from the finish line. When Ingraham began to crawl, the crowd applauded. When her competitor followed suit, they cheered louder. Ingraham crossed the finish line in fourth place, and she slumped into the outstretched arms of her supporters. Then she turned and reached out to her fallen sister. Welch lunged her body forward, stretching her weary arm toward Ingraham’s hand and across the finish line. As she completed the race in fifth place, the crowd roared their approval.
This pair’s completion of the 140-mile swimming, biking, and running race inspired many. But the image of the weary competitors persevering together remains ingrained in my mind, affirming the life-empowering truth in Ecclesiastes 4:9–11.
There’s no shame in admitting we require assistance in life (v. 9), especially since we can’t honestly deny our needs or hide them from our all-knowing God. At one time or another, we’ll all fall, whether physically or emotionally. Knowing we’re not alone can comfort us as we persevere. As our loving Father helps us, He empowers us to reach out to others in need, affirming they too aren’t alone. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How has someone helped you? How can you encourage others this week?
All-powerful God, thank You for reassuring us of Your constant presence as You help us and give us opportunities to reach out and help others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 06, 2020
Taking the Next Step
…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. —2 Corinthians 6:4
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 06, 2020
Hurting But Passed By - #8650
Our friend Steve has been involved with horses most of his life. He's even owned a couple of champions. But one day at the barn, in one moment of carelessness, Steve allowed himself to get in what horse lovers know as the "kill zone" - that area behind a horse where they can kick you with those potentially deadly hooves. In one life-changing moment, Steve was kicked in the leg, shattered his bones. Even though he was in excruciating pain, he did manage to drag himself to the highway near his house where he pulled himself up and started waving for help. Car after car just drove right on past this seriously injured man - even his friends and neighbors. They didn't know he was hurting. They thought he was just waving "Hi!" Really?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hurting But Passed By."
A broken man...and no one knew his need. No one stopped for him. That might be part of the story of your life; a waving world, speeding past all that hurt that you carry inside. Everybody's in a hurry to get where they're going. Meanwhile, you suffer with that brokenness inside you in a world that doesn't know, or doesn't seem to care.
There's someone who does know, and there's someone who does care. Someone who has been broken, too - more broken than any of us could possibly be. It's the One the Bible calls the "man of sorrows" - Jesus Christ. Why can you trust Him? Because, as the Bible says, He was "familiar with suffering...He was despised...He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3-4). This is the man who told His followers to remember the sacrifice He was about to make for them on the cross with bread that was broken - a symbol of what would happen to the body of the very Son of God.
Jesus understands broken. When He was here, He always stopped for the hurting people that everyone else just drove on by. In Isaiah 61:1, our word for today from the Word of God, He announces what He wants to do for each of us - and for you. He said: "The Lord has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."
But He came to do so much more than just relieve your pain. He came here to deal with the human cancer that causes our pain. Our brokenness is ultimately the result of a broken relationship with the very Creator, who gave us our life, who planned our life to have a cosmic purpose. But we all thought we could run it better. Instead of having God at the center of our life, we've just pushed Him to the margins, trying to placate Him with a little religion.
But sin is really serious stuff. It walls us off from God, from His love, and it brings us under the eternal judgment of the God we were made to live for. But God really loves you - enough to sacrifice the most precious thing He had to heal your broken relationship with Him. He allowed the body of His only Son to be broken on the cross for you as He died your death penalty for your sin.
Jesus wants to fix what's broken between you and God so He can forgive you, enter your life, and fix what sin has broken inside you. The problem hasn't been that He wouldn't stop for you. You haven't stopped for Him. He's been waiting for you to open up to His love for a long time. And one more time, He's giving you the chance to experience His healing - His forgiving touch. But you've got to open the door. You've got to tell Him, "Jesus, I want to be Yours starting right now. I'm ready to turn from living my way. I'm putting all my hope in what You did on that cross for me, and the fact that you are alive because you walked out of your grave."
Listen, there's some really wonderful information I'd love for you to have right now to help you be sure you belong to Him. It's at our website ANewStory.com. I urge you to check it out as soon as you can today.
Jesus, the only Son God had, was broken so you don't have to be. Would you let Him into the life that He died for, and today let the healing begin.
The Jesus of many people is small enough to be contained in an aquarium that fits on the cabinet. He never causes trouble or demands attention. If you want a goldfish bowl of Jesus, steer clear of the real Jesus Christ. He changes everything!
No, Jesus doesn’t make you sexy, skinny, or clever. Jesus doesn’t change what you see in the mirror. He changes how you see what you see. He will not be silenced, packaged, or predicted. He is the pastor who chased people out of church. He is the prophet who had a soft spot for crooks and whores. He is the king who washed the grime off the feet of his betrayer. He turned a bread basket into a buffet and a dead friend into a living one. And most of all, he transformed the tomb into a womb out of which life was born life ….your life.
2 Corinthians 10
And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words.
3-6 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
7-8 You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can’t see the forest for the trees. If you’re looking for a clear example of someone on Christ’s side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I’m not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, after all, not tearing you down.
9-11 And what’s this talk about me bullying you with my letters? “His letters are brawny and potent, but in person he’s a weakling and mumbles when he talks.” Such talk won’t survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do when present. We’re the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.
12 We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
13-14 We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?
15-18 We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. “If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.” What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 06, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 4:9–11
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Insight
Along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is classified as one of the Wisdom books of Scripture. Wisdom books, which emphasize the supreme value of fearing God (Ecclesiastes 8:13; 12:13), help the reader to navigate the good and not-so-good—the bitter and sweet of this life—from God’s perspective and to trust Him. Given Wisdom literature’s goal—to help its readers to “live skillfully”—it shouldn’t surprise us to find numerous occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes of the word better or the phrase better than. The comparative value of wisdom is stressed in passages such as “Wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness” (2:13); “Wisdom is better than strength” (9:16); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (9:18). We also see this emphasis in Proverbs: “For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold” (3:14).
Two Are Better
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9
In the 1997 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, two women fought to stay on their feet as they hobbled toward the finish line. Exhausted, the runners persevered on wobbly legs, until Sian Welch bumped into Wendy Ingraham. They both dropped to the ground. Struggling to stand, they stumbled forward, only to fall again about twenty meters from the finish line. When Ingraham began to crawl, the crowd applauded. When her competitor followed suit, they cheered louder. Ingraham crossed the finish line in fourth place, and she slumped into the outstretched arms of her supporters. Then she turned and reached out to her fallen sister. Welch lunged her body forward, stretching her weary arm toward Ingraham’s hand and across the finish line. As she completed the race in fifth place, the crowd roared their approval.
This pair’s completion of the 140-mile swimming, biking, and running race inspired many. But the image of the weary competitors persevering together remains ingrained in my mind, affirming the life-empowering truth in Ecclesiastes 4:9–11.
There’s no shame in admitting we require assistance in life (v. 9), especially since we can’t honestly deny our needs or hide them from our all-knowing God. At one time or another, we’ll all fall, whether physically or emotionally. Knowing we’re not alone can comfort us as we persevere. As our loving Father helps us, He empowers us to reach out to others in need, affirming they too aren’t alone. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How has someone helped you? How can you encourage others this week?
All-powerful God, thank You for reassuring us of Your constant presence as You help us and give us opportunities to reach out and help others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 06, 2020
Taking the Next Step
…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. —2 Corinthians 6:4
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 06, 2020
Hurting But Passed By - #8650
Our friend Steve has been involved with horses most of his life. He's even owned a couple of champions. But one day at the barn, in one moment of carelessness, Steve allowed himself to get in what horse lovers know as the "kill zone" - that area behind a horse where they can kick you with those potentially deadly hooves. In one life-changing moment, Steve was kicked in the leg, shattered his bones. Even though he was in excruciating pain, he did manage to drag himself to the highway near his house where he pulled himself up and started waving for help. Car after car just drove right on past this seriously injured man - even his friends and neighbors. They didn't know he was hurting. They thought he was just waving "Hi!" Really?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hurting But Passed By."
A broken man...and no one knew his need. No one stopped for him. That might be part of the story of your life; a waving world, speeding past all that hurt that you carry inside. Everybody's in a hurry to get where they're going. Meanwhile, you suffer with that brokenness inside you in a world that doesn't know, or doesn't seem to care.
There's someone who does know, and there's someone who does care. Someone who has been broken, too - more broken than any of us could possibly be. It's the One the Bible calls the "man of sorrows" - Jesus Christ. Why can you trust Him? Because, as the Bible says, He was "familiar with suffering...He was despised...He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3-4). This is the man who told His followers to remember the sacrifice He was about to make for them on the cross with bread that was broken - a symbol of what would happen to the body of the very Son of God.
Jesus understands broken. When He was here, He always stopped for the hurting people that everyone else just drove on by. In Isaiah 61:1, our word for today from the Word of God, He announces what He wants to do for each of us - and for you. He said: "The Lord has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."
But He came to do so much more than just relieve your pain. He came here to deal with the human cancer that causes our pain. Our brokenness is ultimately the result of a broken relationship with the very Creator, who gave us our life, who planned our life to have a cosmic purpose. But we all thought we could run it better. Instead of having God at the center of our life, we've just pushed Him to the margins, trying to placate Him with a little religion.
But sin is really serious stuff. It walls us off from God, from His love, and it brings us under the eternal judgment of the God we were made to live for. But God really loves you - enough to sacrifice the most precious thing He had to heal your broken relationship with Him. He allowed the body of His only Son to be broken on the cross for you as He died your death penalty for your sin.
Jesus wants to fix what's broken between you and God so He can forgive you, enter your life, and fix what sin has broken inside you. The problem hasn't been that He wouldn't stop for you. You haven't stopped for Him. He's been waiting for you to open up to His love for a long time. And one more time, He's giving you the chance to experience His healing - His forgiving touch. But you've got to open the door. You've got to tell Him, "Jesus, I want to be Yours starting right now. I'm ready to turn from living my way. I'm putting all my hope in what You did on that cross for me, and the fact that you are alive because you walked out of your grave."
Listen, there's some really wonderful information I'd love for you to have right now to help you be sure you belong to Him. It's at our website ANewStory.com. I urge you to check it out as soon as you can today.
Jesus, the only Son God had, was broken so you don't have to be. Would you let Him into the life that He died for, and today let the healing begin.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Joel 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: JUST JESUS
Is Peter speaking to us when he urges, “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it” (1 Peter 2:11)?
We know our Father’s name, and he has claimed us, but he has yet to come for us. So here we are. Caught between what is and what will be. No longer orphans but not yet home. What do we do in the meantime? Indeed, it can be just that—a mean time. Time made mean with disease, deceit, death, and debt. How do we live in the meantime? How do we keep our hearts headed home?
“Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect” (Hebrews 12:2). Look to Jesus. Ponder his life. Consider his ways. Meditate on his words. Jesus….just Jesus.
Joel 3
“In those days, yes, at that very time
when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem,
I’ll assemble all the godless nations.
I’ll lead them down into Judgment Valley
And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all
because of their treatment of my own people Israel.
They scattered my people all over the pagan world
and grabbed my land for themselves.
They threw dice for my people
and used them for barter.
They would trade a boy for a whore,
sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.
4-8 “As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia,
why should I bother with you?
Are you trying to get back at me
for something I did to you?
If you are, forget it.
I’ll see to it that it boomerangs on you.
You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold,
carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples.
You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem
into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places.
But I’m going to reverse your crime.
I’m going to free those slaves.
I’ll have done to you what you did to them:
I’ll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors,
And they’ll sell them to the far-off Sabeans.”
God’s Verdict.
9-11 Announce this to the godless nations:
Prepare for battle!
Soldiers at attention!
Present arms! Advance!
Turn your shovels into swords,
turn your hoes into spears.
Let the weak one throw out his chest
and say, “I’m tough, I’m a fighter.”
Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on!
Get your act together.
Prepare to be
shattered by God!
12 Let the pagan nations set out
for Judgment Valley.
There I’ll take my place at the bench
and judge all the surrounding nations.
13 “Swing the sickle—
the harvest is ready.
Stomp on the grapes—
the winepress is full.
The wine vats are full,
overflowing with vintage evil.
14 “Mass confusion, mob uproar—
in Decision Valley!
God’s Judgment Day has arrived
in Decision Valley.
15-17 “The sky turns black,
sun and moon go dark, stars burn out.
God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem.
Earth and sky quake in terror.
But God is a safe hiding place,
a granite safe house for the children of Israel.
Then you’ll know for sure
that I’m your God,
Living in Zion,
my sacred mountain.
Jerusalem will be a sacred city,
posted: ‘no trespassing.’
18-21 “What a day!
Wine streaming off the mountains,
Milk rivering out of the hills,
water flowing everywhere in Judah,
A fountain pouring out of God’s Sanctuary,
watering all the parks and gardens!
But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot,
Edom turned into barren badlands,
All because of brutalities to the Judean people,
the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents.
Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people,
Jerusalem inhabited forever.
The sins I haven’t already forgiven, I’ll forgive.”
God has moved into Zion for good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Acts 16:6–10
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygiaz and Galatia,a having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.b 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesusc would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.d 9 During the night Paul had a visione of a man of Macedoniaf standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, weg got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospelh to them.
Insight
In Paul’s vision in Acts 16:9–10, the man from Macedonia isn’t identified. However, we learn something about him in verse 9. The word translated “help” (boetheo) means “come to the aid of” and indicates the need for assistance, showing the man needed someone to physically come to him. It seems to refer to someone who doesn’t know the gospel or even how he can be helped.
It’s interesting to note there’s a pronoun shift from they (vv. 6–9) to we in verse 10: “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia.” Most scholars believe this indicates that Luke (the author of Acts) had now joined the group.
For further study, read The Book of Acts at discoveryseries.org/q0418.
Plans Disrupted
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21
Jane’s plans to become a speech therapist ended when an internship revealed the job was too emotionally challenging for her. Then she was given the opportunity to write for a magazine. She’d never seen herself as an author, but years later she found herself advocating for needy families through her writing. “Looking back, I can see why God changed my plans,” she says. “He had a bigger plan for me.”
The Bible has many stories of disrupted plans. On his second missionary journey, Paul had sought to bring the gospel into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus stopped him (Acts 16:6–7). This must have seemed mystifying: Why was Jesus disrupting plans that were in line with a God-given mission? The answer came in a dream one night: Macedonia needed him even more. There, Paul would plant the first church in Europe. Solomon also observed, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).
It’s sensible to make plans. A well-known adage goes, “Fail to plan, and you plan to fail.” But God may disrupt our plans with His own. Our challenge is to listen and obey, knowing we can trust God. If we submit to His will, we’ll find ourselves fitting into His purpose for our lives.
As we continue to make plans, we can add a new twist: Plan to listen. Listen to God’s plan. By: Leslie Koh
Reflect & Pray
How can you submit your plans to God today? How can you listen to His plans?
All-knowing God, give me the faith to listen to You when my plans are disrupted, knowing that You have a greater purpose for my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Is He Really My Lord?
…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24
Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L
Bible in a Year: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Fear Goes Viral - #8649
North Dakota's a long way from Wuhan, China. But our friend Wes has been seeing more and more customers wearing masks in the local Walmart. He says he's going to start telling them "to calm down." Then, thinking of how fear can spook the stock market, he said, "Then I'm going to thank them for destroying my 401(k)."
Well that may not be the best response but it is a reflection of the increasing fear that a whole lot of people are feeling right now. I mean, you think about the impact of this one virus - cities shut down and economies slowing down. Travel cancellations. Wall Street in freefall. Major events being cancelled.
Some are calling it a pandemic, which means it's everywhere. But beyond any medical pandemic there is another pandemic. Fear.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fear Goes Viral."
You know as bad as the Coronavirus scare is, this anxiety thing is even bigger than that. I was with some mission leaders from around the world recently and they basically summed up what's going on in the world this way - "The nations are being shaken." And they are.
So many peoples. So many places. And now we've got this ominous cloud of Coronavirus hanging over us. So many unknowns. So many disturbing possibilities. And, so much fear.
Now, Precautions are good but panic and paralysis...no, they're not. But we feel vulnerable - and it's more than a feeling. We really are vulnerable. You think, for example, what happens when we have an extended power outage. Or with the pervasive dependence we have on technology, what happens if there's a cyber meltdown or attack? There's a lot to fear. Or maybe not.
The most repeated command in the world's best-selling book, the Bible, is this... "Do not be afraid."
Really? Do not be afraid? With runaway viruses...metastasized terror threats...and political storm clouds...financial storm clouds and mass shootings...and then even our personal crises like getting bad news from the doctor.
Is it reasonable to ask us to "not be afraid"? Well, not if our security is something vulnerable. Something we could lose.
The Bible says in Psalm 11, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Well that's a fascinating question because our foundations are shaking right now. And then it goes on to say this, "The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord is on His heavenly throne" (Psalm 11:3-4). In other words, when everything's out of control, God is still ultimately in control. So He says in our word for today form the Word of God in Isaiah 43 beginning with verse 1, "Do not fear…when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…for I am the Lord your God…I love you".
I've been in several life-threatening situations on airlines, I've heard a doctor say my wife was "Code Blue." Thinking I would lose the love of my life that day. In many situations like that, God has come along with this supernatural peace.
Because my Anchor held. Here's how it's described in Romans 8, "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". That's my anchor. It's a Relationship that's disease-proof, it's disaster-proof, it's death-proof. I don't deserve this love but I can't lose it. It was proven when Jesus died on the cross to absorb the death penalty for me, for you, rejecting God's rule of our life. And then, He was resurrected three days later and He validated His power to beat even death. Let me tell you, that's an anchor that holds.
And as for our loved ones. The Bible says, "I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12). This relationship is life's one anchor that holds.
Several years ago there were monster tornadoes in Oklahoma and I read about this mother and daughter who barely got the door on their safe room closed in
time. A couple hours later they went out to find their neighborhood gone - their house gone. They lost a lot that day. But they were okay because they had one place that could survive the storm.
Millions of people have found that in Jesus. I'm one of them. And you can be.
You want to know how to get started in that relationship with Him? Go to our website - ANewStory.com. Because Jesus, in this world, is your one safe place.
Is Peter speaking to us when he urges, “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it” (1 Peter 2:11)?
We know our Father’s name, and he has claimed us, but he has yet to come for us. So here we are. Caught between what is and what will be. No longer orphans but not yet home. What do we do in the meantime? Indeed, it can be just that—a mean time. Time made mean with disease, deceit, death, and debt. How do we live in the meantime? How do we keep our hearts headed home?
“Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect” (Hebrews 12:2). Look to Jesus. Ponder his life. Consider his ways. Meditate on his words. Jesus….just Jesus.
Joel 3
“In those days, yes, at that very time
when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem,
I’ll assemble all the godless nations.
I’ll lead them down into Judgment Valley
And put them all on trial, and judge them one and all
because of their treatment of my own people Israel.
They scattered my people all over the pagan world
and grabbed my land for themselves.
They threw dice for my people
and used them for barter.
They would trade a boy for a whore,
sell a girl for a bottle of wine when they wanted a drink.
4-8 “As for you, Tyre and Sidon and Philistia,
why should I bother with you?
Are you trying to get back at me
for something I did to you?
If you are, forget it.
I’ll see to it that it boomerangs on you.
You robbed me, cleaned me out of silver and gold,
carted off everything valuable to furnish your own temples.
You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem
into slavery to the Greeks in faraway places.
But I’m going to reverse your crime.
I’m going to free those slaves.
I’ll have done to you what you did to them:
I’ll sell your children as slaves to your neighbors,
And they’ll sell them to the far-off Sabeans.”
God’s Verdict.
9-11 Announce this to the godless nations:
Prepare for battle!
Soldiers at attention!
Present arms! Advance!
Turn your shovels into swords,
turn your hoes into spears.
Let the weak one throw out his chest
and say, “I’m tough, I’m a fighter.”
Hurry up, pagans! Wherever you are, get a move on!
Get your act together.
Prepare to be
shattered by God!
12 Let the pagan nations set out
for Judgment Valley.
There I’ll take my place at the bench
and judge all the surrounding nations.
13 “Swing the sickle—
the harvest is ready.
Stomp on the grapes—
the winepress is full.
The wine vats are full,
overflowing with vintage evil.
14 “Mass confusion, mob uproar—
in Decision Valley!
God’s Judgment Day has arrived
in Decision Valley.
15-17 “The sky turns black,
sun and moon go dark, stars burn out.
God roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem.
Earth and sky quake in terror.
But God is a safe hiding place,
a granite safe house for the children of Israel.
Then you’ll know for sure
that I’m your God,
Living in Zion,
my sacred mountain.
Jerusalem will be a sacred city,
posted: ‘no trespassing.’
18-21 “What a day!
Wine streaming off the mountains,
Milk rivering out of the hills,
water flowing everywhere in Judah,
A fountain pouring out of God’s Sanctuary,
watering all the parks and gardens!
But Egypt will be reduced to weeds in a vacant lot,
Edom turned into barren badlands,
All because of brutalities to the Judean people,
the atrocities and murders of helpless innocents.
Meanwhile, Judah will be filled with people,
Jerusalem inhabited forever.
The sins I haven’t already forgiven, I’ll forgive.”
God has moved into Zion for good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Acts 16:6–10
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygiaz and Galatia,a having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.b 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesusc would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.d 9 During the night Paul had a visione of a man of Macedoniaf standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, weg got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospelh to them.
Insight
In Paul’s vision in Acts 16:9–10, the man from Macedonia isn’t identified. However, we learn something about him in verse 9. The word translated “help” (boetheo) means “come to the aid of” and indicates the need for assistance, showing the man needed someone to physically come to him. It seems to refer to someone who doesn’t know the gospel or even how he can be helped.
It’s interesting to note there’s a pronoun shift from they (vv. 6–9) to we in verse 10: “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia.” Most scholars believe this indicates that Luke (the author of Acts) had now joined the group.
For further study, read The Book of Acts at discoveryseries.org/q0418.
Plans Disrupted
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21
Jane’s plans to become a speech therapist ended when an internship revealed the job was too emotionally challenging for her. Then she was given the opportunity to write for a magazine. She’d never seen herself as an author, but years later she found herself advocating for needy families through her writing. “Looking back, I can see why God changed my plans,” she says. “He had a bigger plan for me.”
The Bible has many stories of disrupted plans. On his second missionary journey, Paul had sought to bring the gospel into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus stopped him (Acts 16:6–7). This must have seemed mystifying: Why was Jesus disrupting plans that were in line with a God-given mission? The answer came in a dream one night: Macedonia needed him even more. There, Paul would plant the first church in Europe. Solomon also observed, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).
It’s sensible to make plans. A well-known adage goes, “Fail to plan, and you plan to fail.” But God may disrupt our plans with His own. Our challenge is to listen and obey, knowing we can trust God. If we submit to His will, we’ll find ourselves fitting into His purpose for our lives.
As we continue to make plans, we can add a new twist: Plan to listen. Listen to God’s plan. By: Leslie Koh
Reflect & Pray
How can you submit your plans to God today? How can you listen to His plans?
All-knowing God, give me the faith to listen to You when my plans are disrupted, knowing that You have a greater purpose for my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Is He Really My Lord?
…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24
Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L
Bible in a Year: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Fear Goes Viral - #8649
North Dakota's a long way from Wuhan, China. But our friend Wes has been seeing more and more customers wearing masks in the local Walmart. He says he's going to start telling them "to calm down." Then, thinking of how fear can spook the stock market, he said, "Then I'm going to thank them for destroying my 401(k)."
Well that may not be the best response but it is a reflection of the increasing fear that a whole lot of people are feeling right now. I mean, you think about the impact of this one virus - cities shut down and economies slowing down. Travel cancellations. Wall Street in freefall. Major events being cancelled.
Some are calling it a pandemic, which means it's everywhere. But beyond any medical pandemic there is another pandemic. Fear.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fear Goes Viral."
You know as bad as the Coronavirus scare is, this anxiety thing is even bigger than that. I was with some mission leaders from around the world recently and they basically summed up what's going on in the world this way - "The nations are being shaken." And they are.
So many peoples. So many places. And now we've got this ominous cloud of Coronavirus hanging over us. So many unknowns. So many disturbing possibilities. And, so much fear.
Now, Precautions are good but panic and paralysis...no, they're not. But we feel vulnerable - and it's more than a feeling. We really are vulnerable. You think, for example, what happens when we have an extended power outage. Or with the pervasive dependence we have on technology, what happens if there's a cyber meltdown or attack? There's a lot to fear. Or maybe not.
The most repeated command in the world's best-selling book, the Bible, is this... "Do not be afraid."
Really? Do not be afraid? With runaway viruses...metastasized terror threats...and political storm clouds...financial storm clouds and mass shootings...and then even our personal crises like getting bad news from the doctor.
Is it reasonable to ask us to "not be afraid"? Well, not if our security is something vulnerable. Something we could lose.
The Bible says in Psalm 11, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Well that's a fascinating question because our foundations are shaking right now. And then it goes on to say this, "The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord is on His heavenly throne" (Psalm 11:3-4). In other words, when everything's out of control, God is still ultimately in control. So He says in our word for today form the Word of God in Isaiah 43 beginning with verse 1, "Do not fear…when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…for I am the Lord your God…I love you".
I've been in several life-threatening situations on airlines, I've heard a doctor say my wife was "Code Blue." Thinking I would lose the love of my life that day. In many situations like that, God has come along with this supernatural peace.
Because my Anchor held. Here's how it's described in Romans 8, "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". That's my anchor. It's a Relationship that's disease-proof, it's disaster-proof, it's death-proof. I don't deserve this love but I can't lose it. It was proven when Jesus died on the cross to absorb the death penalty for me, for you, rejecting God's rule of our life. And then, He was resurrected three days later and He validated His power to beat even death. Let me tell you, that's an anchor that holds.
And as for our loved ones. The Bible says, "I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12). This relationship is life's one anchor that holds.
Several years ago there were monster tornadoes in Oklahoma and I read about this mother and daughter who barely got the door on their safe room closed in
time. A couple hours later they went out to find their neighborhood gone - their house gone. They lost a lot that day. But they were okay because they had one place that could survive the storm.
Millions of people have found that in Jesus. I'm one of them. And you can be.
You want to know how to get started in that relationship with Him? Go to our website - ANewStory.com. Because Jesus, in this world, is your one safe place.
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