Thursday, July 2, 2020
Hosea 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: LET GOD TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING
Family pain is often the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early, and because it involves people who should’ve been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them.
All this time you’ve been operating on faulty data. You’re stupid. . .slow. . .dumb like your daddy. Decades later these voices of defeat still echo in your subconscious. But they don’t have to! “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” These are the words of Romans 12:2. And 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “let God replace your childish thinking with mature truth.” You are not who they said you were. You are God’s child!
Hosea 9
Starved for God
Don’t waste your life in wild orgies, Israel.
Don’t party away your life with the heathen.
You walk away from your God at the drop of a hat
and like a whore sell yourself promiscuously
at every sex-and-religion party on the street.
All that party food won’t fill you up.
You’ll end up hungrier than ever.
At this rate you’ll not last long in God’s land:
Some of you are going to end up bankrupt in Egypt.
Some of you will be disillusioned in Assyria.
As refugees in Egypt and Assyria,
you won’t have much chance to worship God—
Sentenced to rations of bread and water,
and your souls polluted by the spirit-dirty air.
You’ll be starved for God,
exiled from God’s own country.
Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days?
Will you miss festival worship of God?
Be warned! When you escape from the frying pan of disaster,
you’ll fall into the fire of Egypt.
Egypt will give you a fine funeral!
What use will all your god-inspired silver be then
as you eke out a living in a field of weeds?
7-9 Time’s up. Doom’s at the doorstep.
It’s payday!
Did Israel bluster, “The prophet is crazy!
The ‘man of the Spirit’ is nuts!”?
Think again. Because of your great guilt,
you’re in big trouble.
The prophet is looking out for Ephraim,
working under God’s orders.
But everyone is trying to trip him up.
He’s hated right in God’s house, of all places.
The people are going from bad to worse,
rivaling that ancient and unspeakable crime at Gibeah.
God’s keeping track of their guilt.
He’ll make them pay for their sins.
They Took to Sin Like a Pig to Filth
10-13 “Long ago when I came upon Israel,
it was like finding grapes out in the desert.
When I found your ancestors, it was like finding
a fig tree bearing fruit for the first time.
But when they arrived at Baal-peor, that pagan shrine,
they took to sin like a pig to filth,
wallowing in the mud with their newfound friends.
Ephraim is fickle and scattered, like a flock of blackbirds,
their beauty dissipated in confusion and clamor,
Frenetic and noisy, frigid and barren,
and nothing to show for it—neither conception nor childbirth.
Even if they did give birth, I’d declare them
unfit parents and take away their children!
Yes indeed—a black day for them
when I turn my back and walk off!
I see Ephraim letting his children run wild.
He might just as well take them and kill them outright!”
14 Give it to them, God! But what?
Give them a dried-up womb and shriveled breasts.
15-16 “All their evil came out into the open
at the pagan shrine at Gilgal. Oh, how I hated them there!
Because of their evil practices,
I’ll kick them off my land.
I’m wasting no more love on them.
Their leaders are a bunch of rebellious adolescents.
Ephraim is hit hard—
roots withered, no more fruit.
Even if by some miracle they had children,
the dear babies wouldn’t live—I’d make sure of that!”
17 My God has washed his hands of them.
They wouldn’t listen.
They’re doomed to be wanderers,
vagabonds among the godless nations.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 11:19–26
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Insight
Barnabas, whose real name was Joses (or Joseph), was a wealthy Levite from the island of Cyprus (Acts 4:36–37). Barnabas lived up to his name, which means “Son of Encouragement.” It was through him that Saul (Paul) was accepted and trusted by the Jerusalem Christians (Acts 9:26–30), thereby opening up Paul’s extensive preaching ministry. In today’s passage, Barnabas was sent to Antioch to encourage the gentile believers (v. 22). He then encouraged Paul to come teach these new believers. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians (v. 26). Barnabas also encouraged John Mark, a young man deemed a failure by Paul (Acts 13:13; 15:36–39), and played a critical role in restoring him to effective ministry (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11).
Talking Bananas
[Barnabas] encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Acts 11:23
Never give up. Be the reason someone smiles. You’re amazing. It isn’t where you came from—it’s where you’re going that counts. Some schoolchildren in Virginia Beach, Virginia, found these messages and more written on bananas in their lunchroom. Cafeteria manager Stacey Truman took the time to write the encouraging notes on the fruit, which the kids dubbed “talking bananas.”
This caring outreach reminds me of Barnabas’ heart for the “spiritual youngsters” in the ancient city of Antioch (Acts 11:22–24). Barnabas was famous for his ability to inspire people. Known as a good man, full of faith and the Holy Spirit, he prompted the new believers to “remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (v. 23). I imagine he spent time with those he wanted to help, saying things like: Keep praying. Trust the Lord. Stay close to God when life is hard.
New believers, like children, need loads of encouragement. They’re full of potential. They’re discovering what they’re good at. They may not fully realize what God wants to do in and through them, and often the enemy works overtime to prevent their faith from flourishing.
Those of us who’ve walked with Jesus for a while understand how hard living for Jesus can be. May all of us be able to give and receive encouragement as God’s Spirit guides us and reminds us of spiritual truth. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How has God encouraged you in the past? How might God want to work through you to inspire someone?
Heavenly Father, give me someone to encourage today. Show me what to say and how to meet this person’s needs so that You’ll be glorified.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 02, 2020
The Conditions of Discipleship
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33
If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
Bible in a Year: Job 22-24; Acts 11
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 02, 2020
Time is Slipping Away - #8734
I heard a while back about a novelty company that made a lot of money on people having birthdays that they might not be real excited about. You know, like those milestone birthdays: 40, 50, 60. I'll stop there. Of course, if you're sad about how many birthdays this is, consider the alternative. That means you've stopped having birthdays, and that's not good. This company actually produces a whole line of birthday products called "Over the Hill." Maybe you've seen them. There are these black balloons with these words on them, black banners, cards; all kinds of dark little reminders that tap into the very things you don't want this birthday to mean. A friend of mine was facing the classic Baby Boomer crossroads of turning 60 and was talking about it to an older man that he knew. And that man said something that made me laugh several times since then. He said, "Hey, how can I be over the hill when I've never even made it to the top yet?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Time is Slipping Away."
After I stopped laughing, I realized that's how a lot of folks feel about their life. Where did it go? How can it be flying so fast? Especially when there's so much I thought I would have or do by now and I haven't. Job said it this way in the Bible, "My days are swifter than a runner" (Job 9:25).
I remember telling the quarterback of our high school's freshman football team, "Hey, Chris, you're going to blink your eyes and suddenly you'll be a senior playing your last games." He smiled, "Yeah, whatever." One day in the senior locker room, he reminded me of what I had told him when he was just starting high school. He said, "Where did it all go so fast? Wasn't I a freshman just yesterday?" I well know the feeling.
Our word for today from the Word of God, James 4:13-14 put our little journey on this planet into perspective. The Bible says, "Now listen you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
And at that point, now I'm... this is me talking, "It's all about eternity." A friend of mine was at a class reunion where he was talking with a classmate who had become a very successful physician. As the conversation turned somehow to talking about God, the doctor just said very candidly, "Frankly, I'm nervous about eternity."
You know what? We should be, if we're not ready for the God we're going to meet on the other side. Actually, the Bible tells us that we couldn't be more "unready" to meet God. Isaiah 59:2 says, "Your sins have separated you from your God." The Bible makes it clear that we're all in deep trouble with God because as it says, "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). We've been so busy pursuing the elusive goal of happiness and success that we have forgotten eternity.
And waiting to get ready for it is just foolhardy. As the Bible says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1). How many funerals have we been to of people who thought they had more time; maybe lots more time, and suddenly it was over.
We're not ready for eternity unless every sin of our life has been erased from God's book. And there's only one person who can do that: the person who died to pay for that sin, and that is Jesus. In the words of the Bible, He "made peace (with God) through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). The choice is simple. Either we put our trust in Jesus and His death for our sins, or we pay that death penalty ourselves - forever. Jesus came to give us heaven. Once you come to His cross and put your total trust in what He did there for you, death is no longer the end, it's just the beginning! All death can do, then, is take you to heaven if you belong to Jesus.
If you don't belong to Him, if you're not sure you do, don't risk another day without Him. The Bible says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" (Hebrews 4:7). I urge you as soon as you possibly can today to say, "Jesus, you died for my sins so I don't have to. You're my hope. I'm Yours."
Listen, our website is there to help you cross that line. And I'd encourage you to go there today. It's ANewStory.com.
The days, the years really do fly faster than we ever dreamed; each bringing us closer to our last day. There's just such peace in knowing you're ready for eternity whenever it comes.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Romans 15:1-13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD WANTS YOUR WHOLE HEART
God gives us more by going deeper than we ask. He not only wants your whole heart—He wants your heart whole. Why? Hurt people hurt people. Think about it. Why do you fly off the handle? Why do you avoid conflict? Why do you seek to please everyone? Might your tendencies have something to do with an unhealed hurt in your heart? God wants to help you for your sake.
Your family history has some sad chapters. But your history doesn’t have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now. You don’t have to give your kids what your ancestors gave you. Talk to God about the scandals and scoundrels. Invite Him to relive the betrayal with you. The process may take a long time. It may take a lifetime. Difficult for certain…but let God do His work!
Romans 15:1-13
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:
Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I’ll sing to your name!
And this one:
Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
And again:
People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!
And Isaiah’s word:
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 37:2–4, 17–24
This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Footnotes:
Genesis 37:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Footnotes:
Genesis 37:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32.
Insight
When Joseph's story began, he was just seventeen years old (Genesis 37:2), and when he entered into Pharaoh’s service he was thirty (41:46). During the thirteen intervening years, he spent perhaps ten or so in slavery (first as a laborer and then as a household manager) before spending another two to three in prison. Later, following seven years of plenty (41:53), there are two of famine (45:6) before Joseph’s brothers arrive and they reconcile. Imagine—twenty-two years from slavery to reconciliation!
The Favorite
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
My husband’s brother lives about 1,200 miles away in the mountains of Colorado. Despite the distance, Gerrits has always been a beloved family member because of his great sense of humor and kind heart. As long as I can remember, however, his siblings have good-naturedly joked about his favored status in their mother’s eyes. Several years ago, they even presented him with a T-shirt sporting the words, “I’m Mom’s Favorite.” While we all enjoyed the silliness of our siblings, true favoritism is no joking matter.
In Genesis 37, we read about Jacob who gave his son Joseph an ornate coat—an indication to his other children that Joseph was special (v. 3). Without a hint of subtlety, the coat’s message shouted: “Joseph is my favorite son.”
Displaying favoritism can be crippling in a family. Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, had favored him over her son Esau, leading to conflict between the two brothers (25:28). The dysfunction was perpetuated when Jacob favored his wife Rachel (Joseph’s mother) over his wife Leah, creating discord and heartache (29:30–31). No doubt this pattern was the unhealthy basis for Joseph’s brothers to despise their younger brother, even plotting his murder (37:18).
When it comes to our relationships, we may sometimes find it tricky to be objective. But our goal must be to treat everyone without favoritism and to love every person in our life as our Father loves us (John 13:34). By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
When have you struggled with showing favoritism? How is God helping you to treat everyone equally?
Loving God, as I interact with others help me to avoid showing unhealthy preferences. Help me to see others as You do and to treat everyone fairly and without favoritism.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
The Inevitable Penalty
You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]…you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
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: Job 20-21; Acts 10:24-48
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Why the Kids Are Safe - #8733
Mothers are never really off duty - even at the beach...especially at the beach. My wife was reminiscing one day about those summer days when she would take the three little Hutchcrafts, plus two little friends, to a lake near us. And they would run into the water and frolic like children. And is mother just lying on the beach, catching rays or going for refreshments? Nope! She is sitting on the beach, counting to five about fifty times. That's five, as in five little heads in the water. Good news! There were always as many kids in the station wagon leaving the lake as there had been coming to the lake! That's the goal. Our kids played without fear, and they could. They were safe because someone who loved them was always watching them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why the Kids Are Safe."
You're probably all grown up now. But you still need to know there's someone watching over you. And someone is.
That brings us to our word for today from the Word of God in the 121st Psalm. See if you can pick out the idea that is repeated five times in eight short verses here. Okay? You don't have to be a seminary professor to figure this out. "My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you...The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going from now and forevermore."
OK, a pretty airtight contract, huh? And did you get the words? Of course you did. Your Lord is constantly watching over you. There's no doubt about it. Your Lord is like my wife there at the beach, constantly keeping an eye on the children she loved, and ready to respond if harm might come to them. Now God's watching over you like that financially. He's watching over you medically...physically. He's watching over you relationally and emotionally. So, no matter how it may look right now, you are safe!
When a category five tornado tore through Rock Creek, Alabama, some of God's children experienced a dramatic example of what it means to have your Heavenly Father watching over you. Sixty people were inside the Open Door Church that Wednesday night, practicing for their Easter program. They actually huddled in a hallway while outside the twister cleared the parking lot of cars, dumped them in a ravine 300 yards away. The two-story church collapsed in on itself, but two supporting walls held firm - the ones that held up the hallway. The only injuries were a few broken bones. One nurse said, "I felt like God's hand just went in that hallway and He just protected us."
That's the same Heavenly Father who is looking out for you. Now you might say, "But Christians sometimes don't survive. God doesn't rescue them." That's right. In the last chapter of Scripture that Paul wrote before his execution, he said, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:18). In other words, the Lord will rescue you every time except one time - your time to come home to Him.
Isn't it great to know that your safety and security has nothing to do with your situation or your surroundings? Your safety depends on one thing and one thing alone - the watch care of your Father in heaven! So if you are where God wants you to be, you're just as safe as you would be on a battlefield when you're in your living room. You're as secure on an operating table as you are in your backyard because your Lord is watching over you both places.
Sure, like Nehemiah said; he said, "I prayed to the God of heaven and I posted a guard." You take common sense precautions, but ultimately it is your Heavenly Father that is your safety.
So, why waste time worrying about your welfare and stressing over the outcome? Our kids could splash around without any fear for their safety because they knew they had a mother who was always watching over them. You've got better than that. You have an all-powerful Heavenly Father!
God gives us more by going deeper than we ask. He not only wants your whole heart—He wants your heart whole. Why? Hurt people hurt people. Think about it. Why do you fly off the handle? Why do you avoid conflict? Why do you seek to please everyone? Might your tendencies have something to do with an unhealed hurt in your heart? God wants to help you for your sake.
Your family history has some sad chapters. But your history doesn’t have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now. You don’t have to give your kids what your ancestors gave you. Talk to God about the scandals and scoundrels. Invite Him to relive the betrayal with you. The process may take a long time. It may take a lifetime. Difficult for certain…but let God do His work!
Romans 15:1-13
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:
Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I’ll sing to your name!
And this one:
Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
And again:
People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!
And Isaiah’s word:
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse,
breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 37:2–4, 17–24
This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Footnotes:
Genesis 37:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Footnotes:
Genesis 37:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32.
Insight
When Joseph's story began, he was just seventeen years old (Genesis 37:2), and when he entered into Pharaoh’s service he was thirty (41:46). During the thirteen intervening years, he spent perhaps ten or so in slavery (first as a laborer and then as a household manager) before spending another two to three in prison. Later, following seven years of plenty (41:53), there are two of famine (45:6) before Joseph’s brothers arrive and they reconcile. Imagine—twenty-two years from slavery to reconciliation!
The Favorite
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
My husband’s brother lives about 1,200 miles away in the mountains of Colorado. Despite the distance, Gerrits has always been a beloved family member because of his great sense of humor and kind heart. As long as I can remember, however, his siblings have good-naturedly joked about his favored status in their mother’s eyes. Several years ago, they even presented him with a T-shirt sporting the words, “I’m Mom’s Favorite.” While we all enjoyed the silliness of our siblings, true favoritism is no joking matter.
In Genesis 37, we read about Jacob who gave his son Joseph an ornate coat—an indication to his other children that Joseph was special (v. 3). Without a hint of subtlety, the coat’s message shouted: “Joseph is my favorite son.”
Displaying favoritism can be crippling in a family. Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, had favored him over her son Esau, leading to conflict between the two brothers (25:28). The dysfunction was perpetuated when Jacob favored his wife Rachel (Joseph’s mother) over his wife Leah, creating discord and heartache (29:30–31). No doubt this pattern was the unhealthy basis for Joseph’s brothers to despise their younger brother, even plotting his murder (37:18).
When it comes to our relationships, we may sometimes find it tricky to be objective. But our goal must be to treat everyone without favoritism and to love every person in our life as our Father loves us (John 13:34). By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
When have you struggled with showing favoritism? How is God helping you to treat everyone equally?
Loving God, as I interact with others help me to avoid showing unhealthy preferences. Help me to see others as You do and to treat everyone fairly and without favoritism.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
The Inevitable Penalty
You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]…you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
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: Job 20-21; Acts 10:24-48
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Why the Kids Are Safe - #8733
Mothers are never really off duty - even at the beach...especially at the beach. My wife was reminiscing one day about those summer days when she would take the three little Hutchcrafts, plus two little friends, to a lake near us. And they would run into the water and frolic like children. And is mother just lying on the beach, catching rays or going for refreshments? Nope! She is sitting on the beach, counting to five about fifty times. That's five, as in five little heads in the water. Good news! There were always as many kids in the station wagon leaving the lake as there had been coming to the lake! That's the goal. Our kids played without fear, and they could. They were safe because someone who loved them was always watching them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why the Kids Are Safe."
You're probably all grown up now. But you still need to know there's someone watching over you. And someone is.
That brings us to our word for today from the Word of God in the 121st Psalm. See if you can pick out the idea that is repeated five times in eight short verses here. Okay? You don't have to be a seminary professor to figure this out. "My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you...The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going from now and forevermore."
OK, a pretty airtight contract, huh? And did you get the words? Of course you did. Your Lord is constantly watching over you. There's no doubt about it. Your Lord is like my wife there at the beach, constantly keeping an eye on the children she loved, and ready to respond if harm might come to them. Now God's watching over you like that financially. He's watching over you medically...physically. He's watching over you relationally and emotionally. So, no matter how it may look right now, you are safe!
When a category five tornado tore through Rock Creek, Alabama, some of God's children experienced a dramatic example of what it means to have your Heavenly Father watching over you. Sixty people were inside the Open Door Church that Wednesday night, practicing for their Easter program. They actually huddled in a hallway while outside the twister cleared the parking lot of cars, dumped them in a ravine 300 yards away. The two-story church collapsed in on itself, but two supporting walls held firm - the ones that held up the hallway. The only injuries were a few broken bones. One nurse said, "I felt like God's hand just went in that hallway and He just protected us."
That's the same Heavenly Father who is looking out for you. Now you might say, "But Christians sometimes don't survive. God doesn't rescue them." That's right. In the last chapter of Scripture that Paul wrote before his execution, he said, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:18). In other words, the Lord will rescue you every time except one time - your time to come home to Him.
Isn't it great to know that your safety and security has nothing to do with your situation or your surroundings? Your safety depends on one thing and one thing alone - the watch care of your Father in heaven! So if you are where God wants you to be, you're just as safe as you would be on a battlefield when you're in your living room. You're as secure on an operating table as you are in your backyard because your Lord is watching over you both places.
Sure, like Nehemiah said; he said, "I prayed to the God of heaven and I posted a guard." You take common sense precautions, but ultimately it is your Heavenly Father that is your safety.
So, why waste time worrying about your welfare and stressing over the outcome? Our kids could splash around without any fear for their safety because they knew they had a mother who was always watching over them. You've got better than that. You have an all-powerful Heavenly Father!
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Hosea 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FORGIVE YOUR ENEMIES
Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity!” The word “opportunity” in this verse means territory or ground. In other words, anger gives “ground” to the devil. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room. Believe me, he’ll move in and stink up the place! Gossip, slander, temper— anytime you see these, Satan has claimed a bunk. Don’t even give him the time of day. Tell him to pack his bags and hit the road.
Begin the process of forgiveness. Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them, too. If he thinks they’re worth forgiving, they are. Does that make forgiveness easy? No. Is it quick? It seldom is. Forgive your enemies? Well, you can try. Forgive them. You’ll get through this!
Hosea 8
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
“Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten their Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 32:5–11
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Insight
Psalm 32 is one of seven penitential psalms (also Psalms 6; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143), so-named because they contain confession of sins and a plea for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Many scholars believe David wrote Psalm 32 after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. For about a year afterward, he refused to repent of his sins of covetousness, adultery, deceit, bearing false testimony, and murder. Then the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 11–12).
In Psalm 32 David speaks of the heavy burden of guilt he experienced when he denied his sins (vv. 3–4) and the joy of receiving God’s forgiveness when he confessed and repented (v. 5) and became receptive to God’s rule in his life (vv. 7–11). David contrasts the blessedness of repentance (vv. 1–2) with the anguish of refusing to confess his sin (vv. 3–5).
Navigating Life’s Rapids
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8
“Everybody on the left, give me three strong forward strokes!” our whitewater raft guide shouted. Those on the left dug in, pulling our raft away from a churning vortex. For several hours, we’d learned the importance of listening to our guide’s instructions. His steady voice enabled six people with little rafting experience to work together to plot the safest course down a raging river.
Life has its share of whitewater rapids, doesn’t it? One moment, it’s smooth sailing. Then, in a flash, we’re paddling like mad to avoid suddenly swirling whirlpools. Those tense moments make us keenly aware of our need for a skilled guide, a trusted voice to help us navigate turbulent times.
In Psalm 32, God promises to be that voice: “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go” (v. 8). Backing up, we see that confessing our sins (v. 5) and prayerfully seeking Him (v. 6) play a role in hearing Him too. Still, I take comfort in the fact that God promises, “I will counsel you with my loving eye on you” (v. 8), a reminder that His guidance flows from His love. Near the end of the chapter, the psalmist concludes, “The Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts him” (v. 10). And as we trust Him, we can rest in His promise to guide us through life’s rockiest passages. By: Adam R. Holz
Reflect & Pray
What circumstances in your life right now feel like whitewater rapids? How might you seek God’s guiding voice about how to respond?
Father, thank You for Your promise to be my Guide. Help me to seek You and listen to You as You direct the course of my life.
For help in navigating the storms of life, read discoveryseries.org/hp061.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Do It Now!
Agree with your adversary quickly… —Matthew 5:25
In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.
Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?
Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).
“Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Bible in a Year: Job 17-19; Acts 10:1-23
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Smaller Than it Looks - #8732
Skiing to the North Pole - now that's an adventure. Apparently, a documentary producer thought so, too. That's why I got to learn about that adventure a little was watching it on TV. Needless to say, Skier Man had many unpredictable and perilous moments as he encountered weather challenges, terrain challenges and, of course, some really big animals. Like the polar bear he suddenly came upon with her babies. Mama Bear wasn't too happy to see this strange creature coming in her direction and her little ones. No, Skier Man had to think fast, and he did. He raised his ski poles over his head; held them up over his head like some gigantic metal antlers. Even though the polar bear was much bigger and more powerful than he was, she backed off. Skier Man had succeeded in creating the illusion that he was bigger than the bear!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Smaller Than it Looks."
There have been times when I have believed that same kind of illusion the polar bear fell for; that a problem coming at me was much bigger than it really was. There are times we should stand and fight, and instead we run away from something that looks too big for us to face. It may be that you're facing a problem right now; it could be financial, medical, relational, parental, a family problem, a failure...something that looks so huge you're paralyzed; you're panicked.
God's got a word for you today from the Word of God in Nehemiah 4, beginning with verse 10. Nehemiah has been leading God's people in the amazing rebuilding of the walls and the gates of God's city, Jerusalem, surrounded all the time by enemies who are determined to stop that rebuilding. The problems are looking just about overwhelming as maybe yours look to you right now.
Here's what it says: "The people in Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble we cannot rebuild the wall.' Also, our enemies said, 'Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.' Then the Jews who lived near came and told us ten times over, 'Wherever they turn, they will attack (you).'" That's a pretty daunting list of problems right there. They're running out of strength, there's a huge pile of junk in the way, their enemy is threatening to attack and kill them, and they've got people telling them ten times over (Who needs that?) how much trouble they're in. Those people always seem to show up by the way.
But God's man Nehemiah has a message for them. And it's for you and me, too I think, as we cower before challenges that seem so massive. He says, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes." Yeah, the problems look big. But (He says) you've got a God who is so much bigger than they are. The problems aren't great and awesome; your Lord is great and awesome!
And as Nehemiah said moments later, "Our God will fight for us!" The issue isn't how big the problem is compared to you. It's how big the problem is compared to your God! The only thing that should ever overwhelm a child of God is the awesomeness of their Lord. If you're afraid, if you're defeated, it's probably because you've forgotten who's in charge here. It won't be what's looming in front of you that will decide the outcome for you. Your Lord's going to decide the outcome. You're His child!
That's why Isaiah could say, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3). This is no time to fear. This is no time to flee. It's time to fight! Because the God of heaven is fighting for you!
Monday, June 29, 2020
Hosea 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOOD HAPPENS
It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture. Evil. God. Good. Evil came to Job. It tempted him and tested him. Job struggled. But God countered. He spoke truth and declared sovereignty. Job, in the end, chose God. Satan’s prime target became came God’s star witness and good resulted.
Evil came to David and he committed adultery. Evil came to Daniel and he was dragged to a foreign land. Evil came to Nehemiah and the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. But God countered. Because He did, David wrote songs of grace, Daniel ruled in a foreign land, and Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem with Babylonian money. Good happened.
With Jesus, bad became good like night becomes day– regularly, reliably, refreshingly, and redemptively. Evil. God. Good. When God gets in the middle of life— evil becomes good!
Hosea 7
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the Lord his God
or search for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves,[f] appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,
but they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Kings 5:9–14
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Insight
The Jordan River, where Naaman was told to “wash [himself] seven times” (2 Kings 5:10), was the primary source of water in the ancient Near East and is the most well-known river in the Bible. The melting snow of Mt. Hermon in the north is the main water source for the river that winds for 156 miles through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and has no outlet. Joshua 3 records the parting of the waters of the Jordan so the Israelites could enter the land of Promise. Twice the waters of the river were parted in 2 Kings 2 when they were struck with the cloak of Elijah (vv. 8, 14). In the New Testament, John the Baptist baptized believers in Jesus and even Christ Himself in the Jordan (Matthew 3:6, 13–17).
Simply Ask
Before they call I will answer. Isaiah 65:24
Her doctor said her detached retinas couldn’t be repaired. But after living without sight for fifteen years—learning Braille, and using a cane and service dog—a Montana woman’s life changed when her husband asked another eye doctor a simple question: could she be helped? The answer was yes. As the doctor discovered, the woman had a common eye condition, cataracts, which the doctor removed from her right eye. When the eye patch came off the next day, her vision was 20/20. A second surgery for her left eye met with equal success.
A simple question also changed the life of Naaman, a powerful military man with leprosy. But Naaman raged arrogantly at the prophet Elisha’s instructions to “wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored” (2 Kings 5:10). Naaman’s servants, however, asked the military leader a simple question: “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?” (v. 13). Persuaded, Naaman washed “and his flesh was restored and became clean” (v. 14).
In our lives, sometimes we struggle with a problem because we won’t ask God. Will You help? Should I go? Will You lead? He doesn’t require complicated questions from us to help. “Before they call I will answer,” God promised His people (Isaiah 65:24). So today, simply ask Him. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How complex are your prayer requests? What life problem can you offer to God in a simple prayer?
Dear heavenly Father, when life feels complicated and difficult, thank You for Your promise to hear even my simple prayers.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 29, 2020
The Strictest Discipline
If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. —Matthew 5:30
Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.
When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.
The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L
Bible in a Year: Job 14-16; Acts 9:22-43
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 29, 2020
Crunch Time Promises - #8731
Somehow, children become very effective psychologists without ever taking a day of Psychology Class. They learn to push Mom and Dad's buttons really well. They learn to play Mom and Dad against each other to guilt trip their parents. (I wonder where they learn that, by the way?) They learn to pout - all kinds of methods of getting their way. Fortunately, most of us parents gradually develop some immunity to being manipulated by our kids. But I've got to tell you, there's one thing my kids would say to me that grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go and almost always worked. It was those times they just said, "But, Dad, you promised!" Man, those were convicting words. If I had promised, I just had to do everything within my power to keep my promise.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Crunch Time Promises."
Far more significant than any promises we might make to one another, even to our children, are the promises we've made to God. This very day, God is trying to get the attention of one of His children who's listening right now, and He's saying gently but firmly, "You promised." But you've either forgotten what you promised or you've been running from what you promised.
Today would be a good day to remember what you promised God, and to recommit yourself to what you promised maybe a long time ago. Listen to these stirring words from Psalm 66:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God. "I shall come in your house with burnt offerings; I shall pay You my vows which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress."
That's often when we make our promises to God, isn't it, when we're "in distress." Maybe you were in financial distress when you made God those promises, or you were facing a medical crisis or a family crisis. Maybe you promised God if He would spare your life, give you a mate or a child - meet a need only God could meet. God had your attention then, and you realized there were things that needed to be different in your life - a life, by the way, that His Son died to save.
And you made promises then: promises about your giving to His work, promises about a change in your priorities, or maybe about some sin you were going to abandon (remember?), promises about serving Him with your life, or about changing the way you were living. It was a crunch time promise, but it was a promise you meant, and it was a promise you needed to make wasn't it? But something happened. You've forgotten what you promised, but God didn't. You got past the pain and you disregarded your promise. God didn't.
And today, your Lord is coming to you with a very important reminder, and it is straight from heaven. Listen to Him: "My child, you promised." Frankly, until you give God what you said you'd give Him - what you should give Him - your life just isn't going to work as it should. The end of a lot of guilt, the end of a lot of frustration, the end of a lot of wasted years will come when you say to your Lord with the psalmist of old, "I shall pay You my vows which my mouth spoke when I was in distress." The Bible actually says, "It is better not to promise than to promise and not pay."
The return to the promise you've made but maybe not kept is the beginning of fulfilling God's destiny for your life and experiencing His peace and His joy and His pleasure. Because remember, you promised. And it was God you promised, and what you promised was right.
It's time to keep your promise to the One who has kept every one of His promises to you.
Hosea 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Suitcases of Guilt
Do you carry a load of guilt? So many do. If our spiritual baggage were visible, you know what you’d see? Suitcases of guilt, bulging with binges, blowups, and compromises. The kid with the baggy jeans and nose ring? He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother. But he can’t. So he tows them along. The woman in the business suit that looks like she could run for Senator? She can’t run at all. Not hauling that carpet bag wherever she goes. So what do we do?
In Psalm 23:3 David said it like this, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags, countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well?
From Traveling Light
Hosea 6
Israel Unrepentant
“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[d]
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 As at Adam,[e] they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 9:1–4, 10–18
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Insight
While Saul was on the way to Damascus, Jesus spoke to him from a heavenly light. Afterward he was blind for three days (Acts 9:8–9). We’re not told why or how Saul was blinded. It may have been a natural consequence of the light, or it may have been a supernatural occurrence. But it’s interesting that it was through Ananias that his sight was restored. While God caused the blindness, He chose to remove it through a person. Sometimes God works in unexpected ways.
Redemption’s Hope
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21
The man seemed beyond redemption. His crimes included eight shootings (killing six) and starting nearly 1,500 fires that terrorized New York City in the 1970s. He left letters at his crime scenes taunting the police, and he was eventually apprehended and given consecutive sentences of twenty-five years to life for each murder.
Yet God reached down to this man. Today he is a believer in Christ who spends time daily in the Scriptures, has expressed deep regret to his victims’ families, and continues to pray for them. Although imprisoned for more than four decades, this man who seemed beyond redemption finds hope in God and claims, “My freedom is found in one word: Jesus.”
Scripture tells of another unlikely conversion. Before he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1). Yet Paul’s heart and life were transformed by Jesus (vv. 17–18), and he became one of the most powerful witnesses for Him in history. The man who once plotted the death of Christians devoted his life to spreading the hope of the gospel.
Redemption is always a miraculous work of God. Some stories are more dramatic, but the underlying truth remains the same: None of us deserve His forgiveness, yet Jesus is a powerful Savior! He “[saves] completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25). By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
Do you know someone who seems like a “tough case” for redemption? Nothing is too hard for God! Bring that person before Him in prayer.
Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us so much You died to bring us into a relationship with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Held by the Grip of God
I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12
Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?
Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
Bible in a Year: Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21
Do you carry a load of guilt? So many do. If our spiritual baggage were visible, you know what you’d see? Suitcases of guilt, bulging with binges, blowups, and compromises. The kid with the baggy jeans and nose ring? He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother. But he can’t. So he tows them along. The woman in the business suit that looks like she could run for Senator? She can’t run at all. Not hauling that carpet bag wherever she goes. So what do we do?
In Psalm 23:3 David said it like this, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags, countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well?
From Traveling Light
Hosea 6
Israel Unrepentant
“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[d]
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 As at Adam,[e] they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 9:1–4, 10–18
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Insight
While Saul was on the way to Damascus, Jesus spoke to him from a heavenly light. Afterward he was blind for three days (Acts 9:8–9). We’re not told why or how Saul was blinded. It may have been a natural consequence of the light, or it may have been a supernatural occurrence. But it’s interesting that it was through Ananias that his sight was restored. While God caused the blindness, He chose to remove it through a person. Sometimes God works in unexpected ways.
Redemption’s Hope
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21
The man seemed beyond redemption. His crimes included eight shootings (killing six) and starting nearly 1,500 fires that terrorized New York City in the 1970s. He left letters at his crime scenes taunting the police, and he was eventually apprehended and given consecutive sentences of twenty-five years to life for each murder.
Yet God reached down to this man. Today he is a believer in Christ who spends time daily in the Scriptures, has expressed deep regret to his victims’ families, and continues to pray for them. Although imprisoned for more than four decades, this man who seemed beyond redemption finds hope in God and claims, “My freedom is found in one word: Jesus.”
Scripture tells of another unlikely conversion. Before he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1). Yet Paul’s heart and life were transformed by Jesus (vv. 17–18), and he became one of the most powerful witnesses for Him in history. The man who once plotted the death of Christians devoted his life to spreading the hope of the gospel.
Redemption is always a miraculous work of God. Some stories are more dramatic, but the underlying truth remains the same: None of us deserve His forgiveness, yet Jesus is a powerful Savior! He “[saves] completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25). By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
Do you know someone who seems like a “tough case” for redemption? Nothing is too hard for God! Bring that person before Him in prayer.
Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us so much You died to bring us into a relationship with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Held by the Grip of God
I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12
Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?
Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
Bible in a Year: Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Hosea 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Parents’ Number One Assignment
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
Straight teeth, straight A’s, or straight posture cannot hold a candle compared to placing a child on the straight spiritual path. The highest privilege and purpose you have as a parent is to lead your child in the way of Christ. The towering questions for Christian parents are these:
Do my kids know Christ?
Have they tasted His grace and found comfort at His cross?
Do they know their death is defeated and their hearts are empowered?
Parents, assignment number one is discipleship. Help your child walk in the way of the Master. What a phenomenal privilege is yours! Imagine the joy you will feel when you stand before Christ, flanked by your wife and children—when your child says, “Thanks, Dad. Thanks for telling me about Christ.”
From Dad Time
Hosea 5
They Wouldn’t Recognize God If They Saw Him
“Listen to this, priests!
Attention, people of Israel!
Royal family—all ears!
You’re in charge of justice around here.
But what have you done? Exploited people at Mizpah,
ripped them off on Tabor,
Victimized them at Shittim.
I’m going to punish the lot of you.
3-4 “I know you, Ephraim, inside and out.
Yes, Israel, I see right through you!
Ephraim, you’ve played your sex-and-religion games long enough.
All Israel is thoroughly polluted.
They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to.
Their evil life is a bad habit.
Every breath they take is a whore’s breath.
They wouldn’t recognize God if they saw me.
5-7 “Bloated by arrogance, big as a house,
they’re a public disgrace,
The lot of them—Israel, Ephraim, Judah—
lurching and weaving down their guilty streets.
When they decide to get their lives together
and go off looking for God once again,
They’ll find it’s too late.
I, God, will be long gone.
They’ve played fast and loose with me for too long,
filling the country with their bastard offspring.
A plague of locusts will
devastate their violated land.
8-9 “Blow the ram’s horn shofar in Gibeah,
the bugle in Ramah!
Signal the invasion of Sin City!
Scare the daylights out of Benjamin!
Ephraim will be left wasted,
a lifeless moonscape.
I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,
to the tribes of Israel.
10 “Israel’s rulers are crooks and thieves,
cheating the people of their land,
And I’m angry, good and angry.
Every inch of their bodies is going to feel my anger.
11-12 “Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized—
a taste of his own medicine!
He was so determined
to do it his own worthless way.
Therefore I’m pus to Ephraim,
dry rot in the house of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw he was sick
and Judah saw his pus-filled sores,
Ephraim went running to Assyria,
went for help to the big king.
But he can’t heal you.
He can’t cure your oozing sores.
14-15 “I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,
a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.
I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!
No one can stop me now.
I’ll drag them off.
No one can help them.
Then I’ll go back to where I came from
until they come to their senses.
When they finally hit rock bottom,
maybe they’ll come looking for me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Today's Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1–8, 13–14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Insight
In this, Paul’s last known letter, the apostle’s words are warm and personal despite his awareness that execution awaits him. After praising Timothy’s grandmother and mother, Paul mentions his protégé’s tears (2 Timothy 1:4). What would cause Timothy to weep? We don’t know for certain, but it’s likely that Timothy had been sorrowful at their previous parting. Such was the case when Paul said goodbye to another group of believers at Miletus (see Acts 20:37–38). Those believers in Jesus understood they wouldn’t see Paul again. Yet the apostle hoped to see Timothy again in this life. In his concluding remarks he wrote, “Do your best to come to me quickly” (2 Timothy 4:9)—a poignantly human longing from this aged prisoner.
Love Passed Down
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and . . . now lives in you. 2 Timothy 1:5
My daughter has become fascinated with Nancy Drew. In the last three weeks, she’s read at least a dozen of the novels featuring the girl sleuth. She comes by her love of detective stories honestly: I loved Nancy Drew too, and the blue-bound copies that my mom read in the 1960s still line a shelf in her house.
Seeing this affection passed down makes me wonder what else I’m passing down. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that when he thought of Timothy, he was reminded of the “sincere faith” that lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother. I hope that along with her love of mysteries, my daughter is also inheriting faith—that she will “serve” as her grandparents have, that she will pray, and that she will hold on “to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:1).
I also see hope here for those who don’t have parents or grandparents who know Jesus. Though Timothy’s father isn’t mentioned, Paul calls Timothy his “dear son” (v. 2). Those who don’t have families to pass down faith can still find parents and grandparents in the church—people who will help us figure out how to live a “holy life” (v. 9), and to embrace the gifts God has given us of “power, love and self-discipline” (v. 7). Truly, we all have a beautiful inheritance.
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you’ve learned from fathers or mothers in the faith? How are you working to pass down a legacy of faith to your children or those in your church?
Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me by grace through faith in Jesus. Help me to pass down to the next generation the gifts I’ve received and the truth of the gospel.
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you’ve learned from fathers or mothers in the faith? How are you working to pass down a legacy of faith to your children or those in your church?
Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me by grace through faith in Jesus. Help me to pass down to the next generation the gifts I’ve received and the truth of the gospel.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 27, 2020
The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance
"…I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord. —Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “…your life shall be as a prize to you…” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.
The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, “Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard— we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
Bible in a Year: Job 8-10; Acts 8:26-40
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
Straight teeth, straight A’s, or straight posture cannot hold a candle compared to placing a child on the straight spiritual path. The highest privilege and purpose you have as a parent is to lead your child in the way of Christ. The towering questions for Christian parents are these:
Do my kids know Christ?
Have they tasted His grace and found comfort at His cross?
Do they know their death is defeated and their hearts are empowered?
Parents, assignment number one is discipleship. Help your child walk in the way of the Master. What a phenomenal privilege is yours! Imagine the joy you will feel when you stand before Christ, flanked by your wife and children—when your child says, “Thanks, Dad. Thanks for telling me about Christ.”
From Dad Time
Hosea 5
They Wouldn’t Recognize God If They Saw Him
“Listen to this, priests!
Attention, people of Israel!
Royal family—all ears!
You’re in charge of justice around here.
But what have you done? Exploited people at Mizpah,
ripped them off on Tabor,
Victimized them at Shittim.
I’m going to punish the lot of you.
3-4 “I know you, Ephraim, inside and out.
Yes, Israel, I see right through you!
Ephraim, you’ve played your sex-and-religion games long enough.
All Israel is thoroughly polluted.
They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to.
Their evil life is a bad habit.
Every breath they take is a whore’s breath.
They wouldn’t recognize God if they saw me.
5-7 “Bloated by arrogance, big as a house,
they’re a public disgrace,
The lot of them—Israel, Ephraim, Judah—
lurching and weaving down their guilty streets.
When they decide to get their lives together
and go off looking for God once again,
They’ll find it’s too late.
I, God, will be long gone.
They’ve played fast and loose with me for too long,
filling the country with their bastard offspring.
A plague of locusts will
devastate their violated land.
8-9 “Blow the ram’s horn shofar in Gibeah,
the bugle in Ramah!
Signal the invasion of Sin City!
Scare the daylights out of Benjamin!
Ephraim will be left wasted,
a lifeless moonscape.
I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,
to the tribes of Israel.
10 “Israel’s rulers are crooks and thieves,
cheating the people of their land,
And I’m angry, good and angry.
Every inch of their bodies is going to feel my anger.
11-12 “Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized—
a taste of his own medicine!
He was so determined
to do it his own worthless way.
Therefore I’m pus to Ephraim,
dry rot in the house of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw he was sick
and Judah saw his pus-filled sores,
Ephraim went running to Assyria,
went for help to the big king.
But he can’t heal you.
He can’t cure your oozing sores.
14-15 “I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,
a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.
I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!
No one can stop me now.
I’ll drag them off.
No one can help them.
Then I’ll go back to where I came from
until they come to their senses.
When they finally hit rock bottom,
maybe they’ll come looking for me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Today's Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1–8, 13–14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Insight
In this, Paul’s last known letter, the apostle’s words are warm and personal despite his awareness that execution awaits him. After praising Timothy’s grandmother and mother, Paul mentions his protégé’s tears (2 Timothy 1:4). What would cause Timothy to weep? We don’t know for certain, but it’s likely that Timothy had been sorrowful at their previous parting. Such was the case when Paul said goodbye to another group of believers at Miletus (see Acts 20:37–38). Those believers in Jesus understood they wouldn’t see Paul again. Yet the apostle hoped to see Timothy again in this life. In his concluding remarks he wrote, “Do your best to come to me quickly” (2 Timothy 4:9)—a poignantly human longing from this aged prisoner.
Love Passed Down
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and . . . now lives in you. 2 Timothy 1:5
My daughter has become fascinated with Nancy Drew. In the last three weeks, she’s read at least a dozen of the novels featuring the girl sleuth. She comes by her love of detective stories honestly: I loved Nancy Drew too, and the blue-bound copies that my mom read in the 1960s still line a shelf in her house.
Seeing this affection passed down makes me wonder what else I’m passing down. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that when he thought of Timothy, he was reminded of the “sincere faith” that lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother. I hope that along with her love of mysteries, my daughter is also inheriting faith—that she will “serve” as her grandparents have, that she will pray, and that she will hold on “to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:1).
I also see hope here for those who don’t have parents or grandparents who know Jesus. Though Timothy’s father isn’t mentioned, Paul calls Timothy his “dear son” (v. 2). Those who don’t have families to pass down faith can still find parents and grandparents in the church—people who will help us figure out how to live a “holy life” (v. 9), and to embrace the gifts God has given us of “power, love and self-discipline” (v. 7). Truly, we all have a beautiful inheritance.
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you’ve learned from fathers or mothers in the faith? How are you working to pass down a legacy of faith to your children or those in your church?
Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me by grace through faith in Jesus. Help me to pass down to the next generation the gifts I’ve received and the truth of the gospel.
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you’ve learned from fathers or mothers in the faith? How are you working to pass down a legacy of faith to your children or those in your church?
Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me by grace through faith in Jesus. Help me to pass down to the next generation the gifts I’ve received and the truth of the gospel.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 27, 2020
The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance
"…I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord. —Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “…your life shall be as a prize to you…” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.
The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, “Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard— we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
Bible in a Year: Job 8-10; Acts 8:26-40
Friday, June 26, 2020
Romans 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: NO EASY SOLUTION
Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy. Not the pastor who feels his faith shaken by questions of suffering and fear.
We’d be foolish to think we’re invulnerable. But we’d be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness. I don’t have an easy solution or magic wand. I have found something—Someone—far better. God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good. Trust God. He will get you through this. God will make good out of this mess. That’s His job.
Romans 14
Cultivating Good Relationships
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:
“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”
So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Judges 5:19–21
“Kings came, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,
they took no plunder of silver.
20 From the heavens the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!
Insight
Today’s passage (Judges 5:19–21) is part of the Song of Deborah (vv. 1–31), sung by Deborah and Barak after they were victorious over the Canaanites (4:23–24). We first read of Deborah in Judges 4 and learn she was a prophetess, Lappidoth’s wife, and a judge (the only female judge in the book of Judges) who settled disputes among the Israelites (vv. 4–5). She served during a time when, once again, “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,” were oppressed, and cried out to God (vv. 1–3). In this case, Jabin, king of Canaan, had been oppressing the Israelites for twenty years. Deborah was holding court when she sent for Barak (son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali) and gave him God’s instructions to assemble an army to attack Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army. Barak agreed only on the condition that Deborah accompany him. She did, and the army was defeated.
Beat Again
March on, my soul; be strong! Judges 5:21
In 2012, Phillips, Craig and Dean released their song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.” It was inspired by the true story of a heart surgeon. After removing a patient’s heart to repair it, the surgeon returned it to the chest and began gently massaging it back to life. But the heart wouldn’t restart. More intense measures followed, but the heart still wouldn’t beat. Finally, the surgeon knelt next to the unconscious patient and spoke to her: “Miss Johnson,” he said, “this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly. Your heart has been repaired. Now tell your heart to beat again.” Her heart began to beat.
The idea that we could tell our physical heart to do something might seem strange, but it has spiritual parallels. “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” the psalmist says to himself. “Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5). “Return to your rest, my soul,” says another, “for the Lord has been good to you” (116:7). After beating Israel’s enemies in war, Deborah, a judge, revealed that she too had spoken to her heart during battle. “March on, my soul,” she told it, “be strong!” (Judges 5:21), because the Lord had promised victory (4:6–7).
Our capable Surgeon has mended our heart (Psalm 103:3). So when fear, depression, or condemnation come, perhaps we too should address our souls and say: March on! Be strong! Feeble heart, beat again.
By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
What was your first response to the surgeon’s words to the patient? What words from Scripture do you need to speak to your soul today?
Master Physician, thank You for being with me in every trial and battle. Because of Your promised presence, I will direct my soul to act bravely.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 26, 2020
Drawing on the Grace of God— Now
We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. —2 Corinthians 6:1
The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians 6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.
“…in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors…” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.
“…having nothing….” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “…and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (2 Corinthians 6:10).
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: Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 26, 2020
The Incredible Power of a Woman - #8730
I don't think women have any idea of the power they have over a man. Listen, I've seen a 250-pound he-man reduced to quivering jelly by a little 95-pound blonde. Most guys can relate to the trauma of trying to work up the courage just to call a girl for a simple date. I can remember looking at the phone for 45 minutes, rehearsing all these impressive lines and the macho tone I was going to use. But it didn't matter how long I thought about it, when I finally heard that little voice on the other end of the phone say, "Hello," my reply would come back with this pitiful, "Hello-oo-ooh."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Incredible Power of a Woman."
OK, the secret's out - if it ever was a secret. A woman has incredible power to make a man feel very big inside - or very small. And her own happiness may depend on how she uses that tremendous God-given power.
In our word for today from the Word of God, He addresses this power of a woman to work either the construction crew or the demolitions crew. In Proverbs 14:1, God says, "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands." In that treasured Proverbs 31 description of the woman God is impressed with, it says, "the heart of her husband trusts in her...she does him good and not evil all the days of her life...her husband is known in the gates...her children rise up and bless her...her husband also, and he praises her."
Now, this is a woman who clearly builds up her man, and the implication is that he is highly regarded in the community largely because of the kind of woman she is. I get that. I've often told people that heaven will show that most of whatever contribution I've been able to make is because of the wonderful woman He allowed me to be married to. And it tells us in Proverbs 31, that this woman receives back the highest praise and respect from her husband, her children, the people who know them, and from God Himself.
Sadly, Proverbs also talks about a woman who tears down her house with her own hands. I don't think any woman means to do that, but in her frustration, she focuses on what the man in her life is doing wrong much more than what he's doing right. Maybe she doesn't understand how her criticism and her attacks wither his confidence and emotionally emasculate him. And in trying to nag and push him to take the leadership he should be taking, she may actually be causing him to doubt himself more and to actually retreat from leading.
And the more dominating and controlling and nagging and critical she becomes, the less the chances he will ever have the confidence to be the leader he ought to be and that she needs for him to be; the family needs for him to be.
Now, often in this program, let me tell you, I spend a lot of time talking about a man's responsibilities to a woman. In case you're only listening today, you need to know that's a frequent theme. But today we're looking at what the Bible says about that awesome power that a woman has to build up or tear down the man she loves.
The secret is that, well, inside most of us men is a pretty insecure little boy who can blossom or wither, depending in part on the godly wisdom of a woman who loves him. That woman, in the life of any man, has incredible power to make him or to break him.
Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy. Not the pastor who feels his faith shaken by questions of suffering and fear.
We’d be foolish to think we’re invulnerable. But we’d be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness. I don’t have an easy solution or magic wand. I have found something—Someone—far better. God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good. Trust God. He will get you through this. God will make good out of this mess. That’s His job.
Romans 14
Cultivating Good Relationships
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:
“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”
So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, June 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Judges 5:19–21
“Kings came, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,
they took no plunder of silver.
20 From the heavens the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!
Insight
Today’s passage (Judges 5:19–21) is part of the Song of Deborah (vv. 1–31), sung by Deborah and Barak after they were victorious over the Canaanites (4:23–24). We first read of Deborah in Judges 4 and learn she was a prophetess, Lappidoth’s wife, and a judge (the only female judge in the book of Judges) who settled disputes among the Israelites (vv. 4–5). She served during a time when, once again, “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,” were oppressed, and cried out to God (vv. 1–3). In this case, Jabin, king of Canaan, had been oppressing the Israelites for twenty years. Deborah was holding court when she sent for Barak (son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali) and gave him God’s instructions to assemble an army to attack Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army. Barak agreed only on the condition that Deborah accompany him. She did, and the army was defeated.
Beat Again
March on, my soul; be strong! Judges 5:21
In 2012, Phillips, Craig and Dean released their song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.” It was inspired by the true story of a heart surgeon. After removing a patient’s heart to repair it, the surgeon returned it to the chest and began gently massaging it back to life. But the heart wouldn’t restart. More intense measures followed, but the heart still wouldn’t beat. Finally, the surgeon knelt next to the unconscious patient and spoke to her: “Miss Johnson,” he said, “this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly. Your heart has been repaired. Now tell your heart to beat again.” Her heart began to beat.
The idea that we could tell our physical heart to do something might seem strange, but it has spiritual parallels. “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” the psalmist says to himself. “Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5). “Return to your rest, my soul,” says another, “for the Lord has been good to you” (116:7). After beating Israel’s enemies in war, Deborah, a judge, revealed that she too had spoken to her heart during battle. “March on, my soul,” she told it, “be strong!” (Judges 5:21), because the Lord had promised victory (4:6–7).
Our capable Surgeon has mended our heart (Psalm 103:3). So when fear, depression, or condemnation come, perhaps we too should address our souls and say: March on! Be strong! Feeble heart, beat again.
By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
What was your first response to the surgeon’s words to the patient? What words from Scripture do you need to speak to your soul today?
Master Physician, thank You for being with me in every trial and battle. Because of Your promised presence, I will direct my soul to act bravely.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 26, 2020
Drawing on the Grace of God— Now
We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. —2 Corinthians 6:1
The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians 6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.
“…in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors…” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.
“…having nothing….” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “…and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (2 Corinthians 6:10).
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: Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 26, 2020
The Incredible Power of a Woman - #8730
I don't think women have any idea of the power they have over a man. Listen, I've seen a 250-pound he-man reduced to quivering jelly by a little 95-pound blonde. Most guys can relate to the trauma of trying to work up the courage just to call a girl for a simple date. I can remember looking at the phone for 45 minutes, rehearsing all these impressive lines and the macho tone I was going to use. But it didn't matter how long I thought about it, when I finally heard that little voice on the other end of the phone say, "Hello," my reply would come back with this pitiful, "Hello-oo-ooh."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Incredible Power of a Woman."
OK, the secret's out - if it ever was a secret. A woman has incredible power to make a man feel very big inside - or very small. And her own happiness may depend on how she uses that tremendous God-given power.
In our word for today from the Word of God, He addresses this power of a woman to work either the construction crew or the demolitions crew. In Proverbs 14:1, God says, "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands." In that treasured Proverbs 31 description of the woman God is impressed with, it says, "the heart of her husband trusts in her...she does him good and not evil all the days of her life...her husband is known in the gates...her children rise up and bless her...her husband also, and he praises her."
Now, this is a woman who clearly builds up her man, and the implication is that he is highly regarded in the community largely because of the kind of woman she is. I get that. I've often told people that heaven will show that most of whatever contribution I've been able to make is because of the wonderful woman He allowed me to be married to. And it tells us in Proverbs 31, that this woman receives back the highest praise and respect from her husband, her children, the people who know them, and from God Himself.
Sadly, Proverbs also talks about a woman who tears down her house with her own hands. I don't think any woman means to do that, but in her frustration, she focuses on what the man in her life is doing wrong much more than what he's doing right. Maybe she doesn't understand how her criticism and her attacks wither his confidence and emotionally emasculate him. And in trying to nag and push him to take the leadership he should be taking, she may actually be causing him to doubt himself more and to actually retreat from leading.
And the more dominating and controlling and nagging and critical she becomes, the less the chances he will ever have the confidence to be the leader he ought to be and that she needs for him to be; the family needs for him to be.
Now, often in this program, let me tell you, I spend a lot of time talking about a man's responsibilities to a woman. In case you're only listening today, you need to know that's a frequent theme. But today we're looking at what the Bible says about that awesome power that a woman has to build up or tear down the man she loves.
The secret is that, well, inside most of us men is a pretty insecure little boy who can blossom or wither, depending in part on the godly wisdom of a woman who loves him. That woman, in the life of any man, has incredible power to make him or to break him.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Hosea 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FAMILY REUNION
You sleep alone in a double bed. You walk the hallways of a silent house. You catch yourself calling out his name or reaching for her hand. Good-bye is the challenge of your life! To get through this is to get through this raging loneliness. Just the separation has exhausted your spirit and you feel quarantined, isolated.
May I give you some hope? If heaven’s throne room has a calendar, one day is circled in red. The Bible says, “The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then the rest of us who are still alive will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Oh what a day that will be with one huge family reunion! Remember… you will get through this!
Hosea 4
No One Is Faithful
Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
4-10 “But don’t look for someone to blame.
No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
for a life of rutting with whores.
They Make a Picnic Out of Religion
11-14 “Wine and whiskey
leave my people in a stupor.
They ask questions of a dead tree,
expect answers from a sturdy walking stick.
Drunk on sex, they can’t find their way home.
They’ve replaced their God with their genitals.
They worship on the tops of mountains,
make a picnic out of religion.
Under the oaks and elms on the hills
they stretch out and take it easy.
Before you know it, your daughters are whores
and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.
But I’m not going after your whoring daughters
or the adulterous wives of your sons.
It’s the men who pick up the whores that I’m after,
the men who worship at the holy whorehouses—
a stupid people, ruined by whores!
15-19 “You’ve ruined your own life, Israel—
but don’t drag Judah down with you!
Don’t go to the sex shrine at Gilgal,
don’t go to that sin city Bethel,
Don’t go around saying ‘God bless you’ and not mean it,
taking God’s name in vain.
Israel is stubborn as a mule.
How can God lead him like a lamb to open pasture?
Ephraim is addicted to idols.
Let him go.
When the beer runs out,
it’s sex, sex, and more sex.
Bold and sordid debauchery—
how they love it!
The whirlwind has them in its clutches.
Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 13:18–23
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Insight
Unlike the teachers of the law, Jesus taught with wisdom and authority (Mark 1:22; 6:2; Luke 4:32) and often used parables (Mark 4:2). Mark tells us that “[Jesus] did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything” (4:34).
Matthew 13 contains eight parables (sower, weeds, mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, pearls, net, and prophet without honor). Verses 10–17 explain that Jesus spoke in parables to separate His genuine followers from those who were not.
Deep-Rooted Faith
The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. Matthew 13:23
The Holy Oak stood next to Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in New Jersey for more than six hundred years until it had to be removed. At its prime, the twisting branches spanned high and wide. Cool breezes rustled its green leaves and acorns. The sun peeked through wind-blown gaps, creating dancing glimmers of light in the shade below its canopy. But beneath the ground’s surface lay its true magnificence—its root system. An oak’s main root grows vertically, securing a reliable supply of nourishment. From that taproot, a mass of roots spreads horizontally to supply the tree with a lifetime of moisture and nutrients. This intricate root system often grows more massive than the tree it supports and serves as a lifeline and an anchor for stabilizing the trunk.
Like the mighty oak, most of our life-giving growth occurs beneath the surface. When Jesus explained the parable of the sower to His disciples, He emphasized the importance of being firmly planted in a personal relationship with the Father. As we grow in the knowledge of God as revealed through the Scriptures, our faith roots are sustained by His Spirit. God helps His followers thrive through ever-changing circumstances, trials, persecution, and worry (Matthew 13:18–23).
Our loving Father nourishes our hearts with His Word. As His Spirit transforms our character, He makes sure the fruit of our deep-rooted faith becomes evident to people around us. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
What can you do this week to ensure your heart will be good soil nourished by God’s Word? What fruit of deep-rooted faith have you seen become evident in your life over the last year?
Loving Father, please change me from the inside out and anchor me in faith rooted deep in the unchanging Scriptures.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow
…what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." —John 12:27-28
As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Bible in a Year: Job 3-4; Acts 7:44-60
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 25, 2020
You Can't Make It Go Away - #8729
Why is it so hard to get us guys to go to the doctor? Or especially to the dentist? Oh, wait! "I think I want to make an appointment to see my dentist. How soon can I go see him again?" No, that doesn't happen. If you're a dentist listening, this is my problem; it is not your problem. You're doing a very valuable service, and I've paid a price for putting off those appointments. But it's amazing how we tend to avoid appointments that may be unpleasant. We'll put them off as long as we can. Right? And in most cases you can do what I do. You can put it off, you can cancel, even meetings you don't want to have. That is in most cases.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Can't Make It Go Away."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Hebrews 9:27. It's about an appointment. "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." When you hear that word destiny, you know it's a sure thing. And the Bible is saying here that we have, that you have an appointment with God. Now, we do everything we can to try to run from that reality. "No, I don't want to think about an appointment with God."
For example, there's one idea out there today. It's actually a re-packaging of an old idea. We hear a lot, for example, about reincarnation. Some people believe in that, and there are some very big celebrities have written about it and TV specials about it. That's not new. The business of when you die you quickly get reborn into another life and keep going around on earth; nothing about that that's new. It's just another way to escape the day of reckoning through an endless cycle of starting over and over again; never any judgment there.
But the Bible flies right in the face of that and says, "We die once, and after that the judgment." God's the only one who knows what's on the other side. Everybody else is guessing, and if we're smart, we'll take what God says. And so, you and I will have to account for a life that was lived outside of His plans - a life He gave us. In fact, in Romans 3, we know in advance what the verdict will be because verses 19 and 20 tell us, "No one will be declared righteous by observing the law at all. Every mouth will be silenced and the whole world accountable to God." Wow!
See, if you're hoping to pay off sin with some good things you do, and you think that that will work at your appointment with God, it's not going to work. The payment has already been made. The only question God will ask you is not, "What did you do with church?" But, "What did you do with My Son who died for you?"
When a prairie fire would come the way of some of the Native Americans in the early west, they would burn the area around their village to protect their village. You say, "Well, that's strange." No. See, they believed that the fire cannot go where the fire has already been. The fire of God's judgment for you and me was already poured out on His Son.
You trust His Son, and you are ready for your appointment with God. Don't try to deny it; don't try to postpone it; don't try to cancel it. You can't run from it. You and I will stand before God at His appointed time, and all that will matter is what we did with Jesus. Be ready. Someone today - this very day - will keep their appointment. And of course no one thinks it's going to be them.
That's why the Bible says, "Prepare to meet your God." We prepare for everything else in life, and we're so totally not ready to meet God. The only way to be ready is to know that every sin you've ever done has been forgiven. And the only way to have every sin forgiven is to give your life to the One who gave His life to forgive them. It took pain and it took an eternal death penalty so you could have every sin wiped out from your record in heaven.
It could happen for you today. God could take His eraser and erase it all if you'd give yourself to His Son and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." You want to know more about how to do that; how to get this settled, go to our website today - ANewStory.com.
I hope you're ready for your appointment, because you know you've settled your relationship with your Savior. You've got to be ready for it because you can't make it go away.
You sleep alone in a double bed. You walk the hallways of a silent house. You catch yourself calling out his name or reaching for her hand. Good-bye is the challenge of your life! To get through this is to get through this raging loneliness. Just the separation has exhausted your spirit and you feel quarantined, isolated.
May I give you some hope? If heaven’s throne room has a calendar, one day is circled in red. The Bible says, “The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then the rest of us who are still alive will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Oh what a day that will be with one huge family reunion! Remember… you will get through this!
Hosea 4
No One Is Faithful
Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
4-10 “But don’t look for someone to blame.
No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
for a life of rutting with whores.
They Make a Picnic Out of Religion
11-14 “Wine and whiskey
leave my people in a stupor.
They ask questions of a dead tree,
expect answers from a sturdy walking stick.
Drunk on sex, they can’t find their way home.
They’ve replaced their God with their genitals.
They worship on the tops of mountains,
make a picnic out of religion.
Under the oaks and elms on the hills
they stretch out and take it easy.
Before you know it, your daughters are whores
and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.
But I’m not going after your whoring daughters
or the adulterous wives of your sons.
It’s the men who pick up the whores that I’m after,
the men who worship at the holy whorehouses—
a stupid people, ruined by whores!
15-19 “You’ve ruined your own life, Israel—
but don’t drag Judah down with you!
Don’t go to the sex shrine at Gilgal,
don’t go to that sin city Bethel,
Don’t go around saying ‘God bless you’ and not mean it,
taking God’s name in vain.
Israel is stubborn as a mule.
How can God lead him like a lamb to open pasture?
Ephraim is addicted to idols.
Let him go.
When the beer runs out,
it’s sex, sex, and more sex.
Bold and sordid debauchery—
how they love it!
The whirlwind has them in its clutches.
Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 13:18–23
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Insight
Unlike the teachers of the law, Jesus taught with wisdom and authority (Mark 1:22; 6:2; Luke 4:32) and often used parables (Mark 4:2). Mark tells us that “[Jesus] did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything” (4:34).
Matthew 13 contains eight parables (sower, weeds, mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, pearls, net, and prophet without honor). Verses 10–17 explain that Jesus spoke in parables to separate His genuine followers from those who were not.
Deep-Rooted Faith
The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. Matthew 13:23
The Holy Oak stood next to Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in New Jersey for more than six hundred years until it had to be removed. At its prime, the twisting branches spanned high and wide. Cool breezes rustled its green leaves and acorns. The sun peeked through wind-blown gaps, creating dancing glimmers of light in the shade below its canopy. But beneath the ground’s surface lay its true magnificence—its root system. An oak’s main root grows vertically, securing a reliable supply of nourishment. From that taproot, a mass of roots spreads horizontally to supply the tree with a lifetime of moisture and nutrients. This intricate root system often grows more massive than the tree it supports and serves as a lifeline and an anchor for stabilizing the trunk.
Like the mighty oak, most of our life-giving growth occurs beneath the surface. When Jesus explained the parable of the sower to His disciples, He emphasized the importance of being firmly planted in a personal relationship with the Father. As we grow in the knowledge of God as revealed through the Scriptures, our faith roots are sustained by His Spirit. God helps His followers thrive through ever-changing circumstances, trials, persecution, and worry (Matthew 13:18–23).
Our loving Father nourishes our hearts with His Word. As His Spirit transforms our character, He makes sure the fruit of our deep-rooted faith becomes evident to people around us. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
What can you do this week to ensure your heart will be good soil nourished by God’s Word? What fruit of deep-rooted faith have you seen become evident in your life over the last year?
Loving Father, please change me from the inside out and anchor me in faith rooted deep in the unchanging Scriptures.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow
…what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." —John 12:27-28
As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Bible in a Year: Job 3-4; Acts 7:44-60
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 25, 2020
You Can't Make It Go Away - #8729
Why is it so hard to get us guys to go to the doctor? Or especially to the dentist? Oh, wait! "I think I want to make an appointment to see my dentist. How soon can I go see him again?" No, that doesn't happen. If you're a dentist listening, this is my problem; it is not your problem. You're doing a very valuable service, and I've paid a price for putting off those appointments. But it's amazing how we tend to avoid appointments that may be unpleasant. We'll put them off as long as we can. Right? And in most cases you can do what I do. You can put it off, you can cancel, even meetings you don't want to have. That is in most cases.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Can't Make It Go Away."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Hebrews 9:27. It's about an appointment. "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." When you hear that word destiny, you know it's a sure thing. And the Bible is saying here that we have, that you have an appointment with God. Now, we do everything we can to try to run from that reality. "No, I don't want to think about an appointment with God."
For example, there's one idea out there today. It's actually a re-packaging of an old idea. We hear a lot, for example, about reincarnation. Some people believe in that, and there are some very big celebrities have written about it and TV specials about it. That's not new. The business of when you die you quickly get reborn into another life and keep going around on earth; nothing about that that's new. It's just another way to escape the day of reckoning through an endless cycle of starting over and over again; never any judgment there.
But the Bible flies right in the face of that and says, "We die once, and after that the judgment." God's the only one who knows what's on the other side. Everybody else is guessing, and if we're smart, we'll take what God says. And so, you and I will have to account for a life that was lived outside of His plans - a life He gave us. In fact, in Romans 3, we know in advance what the verdict will be because verses 19 and 20 tell us, "No one will be declared righteous by observing the law at all. Every mouth will be silenced and the whole world accountable to God." Wow!
See, if you're hoping to pay off sin with some good things you do, and you think that that will work at your appointment with God, it's not going to work. The payment has already been made. The only question God will ask you is not, "What did you do with church?" But, "What did you do with My Son who died for you?"
When a prairie fire would come the way of some of the Native Americans in the early west, they would burn the area around their village to protect their village. You say, "Well, that's strange." No. See, they believed that the fire cannot go where the fire has already been. The fire of God's judgment for you and me was already poured out on His Son.
You trust His Son, and you are ready for your appointment with God. Don't try to deny it; don't try to postpone it; don't try to cancel it. You can't run from it. You and I will stand before God at His appointed time, and all that will matter is what we did with Jesus. Be ready. Someone today - this very day - will keep their appointment. And of course no one thinks it's going to be them.
That's why the Bible says, "Prepare to meet your God." We prepare for everything else in life, and we're so totally not ready to meet God. The only way to be ready is to know that every sin you've ever done has been forgiven. And the only way to have every sin forgiven is to give your life to the One who gave His life to forgive them. It took pain and it took an eternal death penalty so you could have every sin wiped out from your record in heaven.
It could happen for you today. God could take His eraser and erase it all if you'd give yourself to His Son and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." You want to know more about how to do that; how to get this settled, go to our website today - ANewStory.com.
I hope you're ready for your appointment, because you know you've settled your relationship with your Savior. You've got to be ready for it because you can't make it go away.
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