Max Lucado Daily: NO EVIL IS BEYOND GOD’S REACH
See the cross on the hill? Can you hear the soldiers pound the nails? Jesus’ enemies smirk. “This time,” Satan whispers, “this time I will win.” For a sad Friday and a silent Saturday it appeared he had. What Satan intended as the ultimate evil God used for the ultimate good. God rolled the rock away, and Jesus walked out on Sunday morning. If you look closely, you can see Satan scampering from the cemetery with his forked tail between his legs. “Will I ever win?“ he grumbles. No, he won’t.
Do you believe no evil is beyond God’s reach? That He can redeem every pit, including one in which you find yourself? Trust God. He’ll get you through this. Will it be easy or quick? I hope so, but it seldom is. Yet God will make good out of this mess. That’s His job.
Micah 5
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[e] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,
6 who will rule[f] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with drawn sword.[g]
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.
7 The remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles as it goes,
and no one can rescue.
9 Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.
13 I will destroy your idols
and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[h]
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 3:1–14
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
Insight
The book of Ecclesiastes is a book for a postmodern world. The “Preacher,” whom many believe was Solomon, speaks of the frustrations and disappointments of life. Two key phrases in the book are “everything is meaningless” (1:1) and “under the sun” (v. 3). The phrase “everything is meaningless” speaks of life lived on human terms and according to the values of this world, which is described by the phrase “under the sun.” In the end, the Preacher says that the answer to this meaninglessness is to look beyond this world and “remember your Creator” (12:1), who is the only source of true meaning in this life.
To learn more about the book of Ecclesiastes, visit go.odb.org/Ecclesiastes.
Treasure the Moments
[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Su Dongpo (also known as Su Shi) was one of China’s greatest poets and essayists. While in exile and gazing upon a full moon, he wrote a poem to describe how much he missed his brother. “We rejoice and grieve, gather and leave, while the moon waxes and wanes. Since times of old, nothing remains perfect,” he writes. “May our loved ones live long, beholding this beautiful scene together though thousands of miles apart.”
His poem carries themes found in the book of Ecclesiastes. The author, known as the Teacher (1:1), observed that there’s “a time to weep and a time to laugh . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing” (3:4–5). By pairing two contrasting activities, the Teacher, like Su Dongpo, seems to suggest that all good things must inevitably come to an end.
As Su Dongpo saw the waxing and waning of the moon as another sign that nothing remains perfect, the Teacher also saw in creation God’s providential ordering of the world He’d made. God oversees the course of events, and “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (v. 11).
Life may be unpredictable and sometimes filled with painful separations, but we can take heart that everything takes place under God’s gaze. We can enjoy life and treasure the moments—the good and the bad—for our loving God is with us. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
What are some things you’re afraid to try because of life’s unpredictability? How can you lean on Jesus as you step forward in courage to forge new friendships and deepen relationships?
Thank You, loving Father, for watching over all seasons of my life. Help me to trust in You and enjoy the life You’ve given me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
My Life’s Spiritual Honor and Duty
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians… —Romans 1:14
Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.
I am not a superior person among other people— I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “…you are not your own…you were bought at a price…” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, “I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His.” That is the characteristic of a Christian’s life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! Biblical Ethics, 107 R
Bible in a Year: Psalms 13-15; Acts 19:21-41
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
The Name That Says It All - #8742
My parents didn't put much thought into what they named me. They decided on the way to the hospital when they saw "Ronnie's Used Car Lot" along the way. Come on! "So could I interest you in a little '95 Chevy with low mileage?" It was just driven by a little old lady...never mind. Well, my wife and I, and then our children, have put a little more thought into the names of our kids. Sometimes we pick names that reflect something about the child's heritage. We buy those books that tell you the meanings of thousands of names. We'd pick one that says something. You know? For example, our daughter's name means "consecrated to God," which she really is. Sometimes a person's name is more than just a name; it's actually a statement!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Name That Says It All."
There is no name in the world like this name - Jesus - as in Jesus, the Christ. If you know what that name means, you respond accordingly, it will change your life forever. It will change where you spend your eternity.
Mary and Joseph, Jesus' earthly parents, did not pick His name. God did. In Matthew 1:21, our word for today from the Word of God, the angel of the Lord is explaining to Joseph that his virgin fiancee is going to have a miracle baby, the Son of God, come to earth in a human form. And here are the angel's instructions to Joseph: "You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
The name of Jesus means something. It means "Jehovah saves." Or, to use a word we understand very well these days, "Jehovah Rescues." We see it over and over again on the news - rescue stories after a disaster. Of course, the ultimate example might be the World Trade Center on September 11, and the men who risked everything to bring out the people trapped alive there - the rescuers. God doesn't ever want us to forget who Jesus is and why He came to "save," to "rescue His people from their sins." Which clearly implies that we will die because of our sins unless there's a rescue.
There's no way to get yourself out of the rubble, out of the death penalty for hijacking the control of your life from your Creator and, as a result, repeatedly breaking His laws and putting bricks in the wall between Him and you. No amount of religion, no good deeds, no spirituality, no Christian activity is enough to dig you out. Your only hope is the one whose name is "Jehovah Rescues." And unless and until you abandon all other hopes and cling completely to God's Rescuer, Jesus, you are headed for hell's eternal punishment. But see, Jesus already took your punishment when He gave His life for you on the cross. What you have to do is reach out in faith and take for yourself what He did for you there.
So every time you speak Jesus' name, you speak why He came. It's what His life is all about - rescuing the dying. It's what our life should be all about if we belong to Him. Philippians 2 tells us that "at the name of (Jehovah Rescues) Jesus, every knee will bow." John 1:12 says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." To believe in His name is to believe that this One named "Jehovah Rescues" is your only hope.
Has there ever been a time when you've done that? There is no other kind of relationship with Jesus that will get you to heaven; not Jesus as your teacher, not Jesus as your religion, not Jesus as your example, not Jesus as your belief. But Jesus as your rescuer from your sin. If you've never really thrown your arms around God's rescuer and said, "Save me, Lord," don't wait another day to do that.
It would be my great joy to help you do that if I can. And that would be through our website ANewStory.com where many have found out how to begin a relationship with Him. I encourage you to go there today.
This could be the day of your rescue! This could be the day you trade death for life, because life has a name - one name. The name you need to call on - Jesus.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Micah 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD
Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is having an affair, not the businessman whose investments are embezzled by a crooked colleague, 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 that evil wins the day.
The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith. God recycles evil into righteousness. Joseph, saddled with family rejection, slavery, and imprisonment, emerged triumphant, a hero of his generation. Among his final words to his brothers are these: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture. Evil. God. Good. Trust God. No, really trust Him. God will make good out of this mess.
Micah 4
The Making of God’s People
ut when all is said and done,
God’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain.
Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
We’ll know how to live God’s way.”
True teaching will issue from Zion,
God’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
5 Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring God,
and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.
6-7 “On that great day,” God says,
“I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action,
as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.
8 “And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”
9-10 So why the doomsday hysterics?
You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
You are like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
God will give you new life again.
He’ll redeem you from your enemies.
11-12 But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
what God is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of God’s people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
13 On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 4:4–12
You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Footnotes:
James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
Insight
James’ emphasis on resisting temptation fits within his broader teaching regarding the behavior of believers in Jesus. For James, being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22 nkjv) is central to being a believer, which echoes Christ’s words that true faith is confirmed by obedience (Luke 6:49; 11:28).
In today’s text, James helps believers understand one way to live with integrity—through humility. James 4:6, a reference to Proverbs 3:34, fits within many Jewish wisdom texts emphasizing the relationship between humility and godly living. Humility allows us to submit naturally to God and His plan (v. 8). Submitting to God means we’re “friends” with Him, instead of the world (v. 4). When we’re friends with God, we naturally live according to His kingdom and values, not the world’s (3:15, 17). As we live and walk humbly with our God (see Micah 6:8), He lifts us up (James 4:10), draws near to us (v. 8), and makes the devil powerless.
Playing the Fool
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. James 4:6
My most humiliating experience ever was the day I addressed the faculty, students, and friends of a seminary on its fifty-year anniversary. I approached the lectern with my manuscript in hand and looked out on a vast crowd, but my eye fell on the distinguished professors seated in the front row, garbed in academic gowns and looking very serious. I immediately took leave of my senses. My mouth dried up and detached itself from my brain. I fumbled the first few sentences and then I began to improvise. Since I had no idea where I was in my lecture, I began frantically turning pages, while talking a line of nonsense that baffled everyone. Somehow I made it through, crept back to my chair, and stared at the floor. I wanted to die.
However, I learned that humiliation can be a good thing if it leads to humility, for this is the key that opens God’s heart. The Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6). He showers the humble with grace. God Himself said, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). As we humble ourselves before God, He lifts us up (James 4:10).
Humiliation and shame can bring us to God for His shaping. When we fall, we have fallen into His hands. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What was your most humiliating and embarrassing moment? What good thing did you see come from it?
Loving God, help me to accept humiliation if it in some way brings honor and glory to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ…” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R
Bible in a Year: Psalms 10-12; Acts 19:1-20
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
No Life Without the Source - #8740
For my wife, it was sort of a symbol of the day she was born - daffodils. Growing up in the South, she was always able to have some fresh-picked daffodils for her birthday. But then we got married and then we found ourselves living pretty much in the North, where daffodils don't grow that early in the year. So every year, as my honey's birthday approached, I had fun trying to find some florist that somehow had some daffodils for sale, and I did. And once again, my gal had daffodils for her birthday. But even though they were very beautiful, the sad secret is they didn't last long...just like most of the flowers in the florist shop. They started to die as soon as they got cut from their stem.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Life Without the Source."
Someone has said that you and I are living in a "cut-flower civilization." We look like we're alive, but we're really cut off from the source of our life. That would be the God who designed us, who wired us - who planned us. He is, as the Bible says, "The author of life" (Acts 3:15). As spiritual "cut flowers," it's not that we don't try to generate life on our own. But no matter who or what we try, that strange loneliness and emptiness keeps creeping back into our soul. What we don't realize is that our loneliness is cosmic loneliness. Our emptiness is cosmic emptiness. We are missing the God who made us.
The Bible describes our true spiritual condition in eight sobering words. They're found in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (That means sins or wrongdoings.) have separated you from your God." Think of that. Separated from God. In this life that means never finding the purpose of your life; never finding the love that can satisfy your heart.
At the end of this life, "separated from God" means an unspeakable eternity. In the single word the Bible uses, it means hell. God did not put up the wall that keeps us from Him-we did. Those "iniquities" are made up of every time we have done things the way we wanted to do it instead of God's way. And over a lifetime, it's impossible to add all those up. But each sin, each "me first" choice, has put another brick in the wall.
So, separated from the One our life came from, we're slowly dying inside. And every day is one day closer to the ultimate separation of an eternity away from God, of paying sin's horrific death penalty ourselves. But in spite of the way you and I have marginalized our Creator and ignored Him, He wasn't willing to let us be cut off from Him forever. Nope! To reconnect us to Him required the greatest act of love in the history of the human race. In the Bible's words, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). So Jesus came, and Jesus died, to remove the sin-wall that keeps us cut off from God. In fact, when He was dying on that cross, He was cut off from God the Father so you would never have to be.
That's why your decision about what you do with Jesus is the ultimate life-or-death decision you'll ever make. Because as the Bible makes very clear, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). Either you have the Son of God in your heart and you have life forever, or you don't have the Son of God in your heart and you will miss eternal life.
You "have the Son of God" when you open your heart to Him, trusting Him as your only hope of having your sins forgiven, of having that wall between you and God finally come down, of going to heaven when you die. It's all about Jesus and whether you say yes or no to Him. And you could say "yes" to Him today and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. I've run my life. That's wrong. You died for that. I am Yours beginning today."
That's the life you were made for. That's the God you were made for. We want to help you get that relationship with Him started. And that help is at our website ANewStory.com. Please, do not risk another day without Him.
Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is having an affair, not the businessman whose investments are embezzled by a crooked colleague, 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 that evil wins the day.
The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith. God recycles evil into righteousness. Joseph, saddled with family rejection, slavery, and imprisonment, emerged triumphant, a hero of his generation. Among his final words to his brothers are these: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture. Evil. God. Good. Trust God. No, really trust Him. God will make good out of this mess.
Micah 4
The Making of God’s People
ut when all is said and done,
God’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain.
Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
We’ll know how to live God’s way.”
True teaching will issue from Zion,
God’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
5 Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring God,
and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.
6-7 “On that great day,” God says,
“I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action,
as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.
8 “And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”
9-10 So why the doomsday hysterics?
You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
You are like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
God will give you new life again.
He’ll redeem you from your enemies.
11-12 But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
what God is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of God’s people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
13 On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 4:4–12
You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Footnotes:
James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
Insight
James’ emphasis on resisting temptation fits within his broader teaching regarding the behavior of believers in Jesus. For James, being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22 nkjv) is central to being a believer, which echoes Christ’s words that true faith is confirmed by obedience (Luke 6:49; 11:28).
In today’s text, James helps believers understand one way to live with integrity—through humility. James 4:6, a reference to Proverbs 3:34, fits within many Jewish wisdom texts emphasizing the relationship between humility and godly living. Humility allows us to submit naturally to God and His plan (v. 8). Submitting to God means we’re “friends” with Him, instead of the world (v. 4). When we’re friends with God, we naturally live according to His kingdom and values, not the world’s (3:15, 17). As we live and walk humbly with our God (see Micah 6:8), He lifts us up (James 4:10), draws near to us (v. 8), and makes the devil powerless.
Playing the Fool
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. James 4:6
My most humiliating experience ever was the day I addressed the faculty, students, and friends of a seminary on its fifty-year anniversary. I approached the lectern with my manuscript in hand and looked out on a vast crowd, but my eye fell on the distinguished professors seated in the front row, garbed in academic gowns and looking very serious. I immediately took leave of my senses. My mouth dried up and detached itself from my brain. I fumbled the first few sentences and then I began to improvise. Since I had no idea where I was in my lecture, I began frantically turning pages, while talking a line of nonsense that baffled everyone. Somehow I made it through, crept back to my chair, and stared at the floor. I wanted to die.
However, I learned that humiliation can be a good thing if it leads to humility, for this is the key that opens God’s heart. The Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6). He showers the humble with grace. God Himself said, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). As we humble ourselves before God, He lifts us up (James 4:10).
Humiliation and shame can bring us to God for His shaping. When we fall, we have fallen into His hands. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What was your most humiliating and embarrassing moment? What good thing did you see come from it?
Loving God, help me to accept humiliation if it in some way brings honor and glory to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Suffering Afflictions and Going the Second Mile
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. —Matthew 5:39
This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, it is because he is a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it is the very evidence of the Son of God in him if he does not hit back. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus— it is either in you or it is not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not, “Do your duty,” but is, in effect, “Do what is not your duty.” It is not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek, but Jesus said that if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say, “Oh well, I just can’t do any more, and I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood.” Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God, while in fact I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling “up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ…” (Colossians 1:24). A disciple realizes that it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor.
Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R
Bible in a Year: Psalms 10-12; Acts 19:1-20
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
No Life Without the Source - #8740
For my wife, it was sort of a symbol of the day she was born - daffodils. Growing up in the South, she was always able to have some fresh-picked daffodils for her birthday. But then we got married and then we found ourselves living pretty much in the North, where daffodils don't grow that early in the year. So every year, as my honey's birthday approached, I had fun trying to find some florist that somehow had some daffodils for sale, and I did. And once again, my gal had daffodils for her birthday. But even though they were very beautiful, the sad secret is they didn't last long...just like most of the flowers in the florist shop. They started to die as soon as they got cut from their stem.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Life Without the Source."
Someone has said that you and I are living in a "cut-flower civilization." We look like we're alive, but we're really cut off from the source of our life. That would be the God who designed us, who wired us - who planned us. He is, as the Bible says, "The author of life" (Acts 3:15). As spiritual "cut flowers," it's not that we don't try to generate life on our own. But no matter who or what we try, that strange loneliness and emptiness keeps creeping back into our soul. What we don't realize is that our loneliness is cosmic loneliness. Our emptiness is cosmic emptiness. We are missing the God who made us.
The Bible describes our true spiritual condition in eight sobering words. They're found in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (That means sins or wrongdoings.) have separated you from your God." Think of that. Separated from God. In this life that means never finding the purpose of your life; never finding the love that can satisfy your heart.
At the end of this life, "separated from God" means an unspeakable eternity. In the single word the Bible uses, it means hell. God did not put up the wall that keeps us from Him-we did. Those "iniquities" are made up of every time we have done things the way we wanted to do it instead of God's way. And over a lifetime, it's impossible to add all those up. But each sin, each "me first" choice, has put another brick in the wall.
So, separated from the One our life came from, we're slowly dying inside. And every day is one day closer to the ultimate separation of an eternity away from God, of paying sin's horrific death penalty ourselves. But in spite of the way you and I have marginalized our Creator and ignored Him, He wasn't willing to let us be cut off from Him forever. Nope! To reconnect us to Him required the greatest act of love in the history of the human race. In the Bible's words, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). So Jesus came, and Jesus died, to remove the sin-wall that keeps us cut off from God. In fact, when He was dying on that cross, He was cut off from God the Father so you would never have to be.
That's why your decision about what you do with Jesus is the ultimate life-or-death decision you'll ever make. Because as the Bible makes very clear, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). Either you have the Son of God in your heart and you have life forever, or you don't have the Son of God in your heart and you will miss eternal life.
You "have the Son of God" when you open your heart to Him, trusting Him as your only hope of having your sins forgiven, of having that wall between you and God finally come down, of going to heaven when you die. It's all about Jesus and whether you say yes or no to Him. And you could say "yes" to Him today and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. I've run my life. That's wrong. You died for that. I am Yours beginning today."
That's the life you were made for. That's the God you were made for. We want to help you get that relationship with Him started. And that help is at our website ANewStory.com. Please, do not risk another day without Him.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Acts 21:1-17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS WITH YOU
You can’t control the weather, you aren’t in charge of the economy, you can’t un-wreck the car. But you can map out a strategy. Remember, God is in this crisis. Ask God to give you two or three steps you can take today. Seek counsel from someone who’s faced a similar challenge. Ask friends to pray. Reach out to a support group. Most importantly, make a plan.
You’d prefer a miracle for your crisis? You’d rather see the bread multiplied or the stormy sea turned glassy calm in a finger snap? God may do this. Then again, He may say, “I’m with you. I can use this for good. Now let’s make a plan.” God’s sovereignty doesn’t negate our responsibility, it just empowers it. So don’t let the crisis paralyze you. Trust God to do what you can’t. Obey God, and do what you can.
Acts 21:1-17
On to Jerusalem
After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
15 After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem
17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 8:3–4; Revelation 21:22–25
Psalm 8:3–4 (NIV)
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[a]
Footnotes:
Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
Insight
Psalm 8:3–4 express King David’s amazement that the Creator of the cosmos would pay any mind to the human race. Much of the rest of the psalm, however, reviews what is remarkable about human beings. We’ve been created “a little lower than the angels,” powerful servants of God (v. 5; 104:4; Hebrews 1:7). We’ve been “crowned” by our Maker “with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). And He’s charged us from the beginning of human history with caring for this wonderful planet (Genesis 1:28). The psalmist notes that God made us “rulers over the works of [His] hands,” including every living creature on earth (Psalm 8:6–8). Ultimately, though, the glory isn’t ours at all. David rightfully begins and ends his psalm with this declaration of praise: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Look Up!
There will be no night there. Revelation 21:25
When filmmaker Wylie Overstreet showed strangers a live picture of the moon as seen through his powerful telescope, they were stunned at the up-close view, reacting with whispers and awe. To see such a glorious sight, Overstreet explained, “fills us with a sense of wonder that there’s something much bigger than ourselves.”
The psalmist David also marveled at God’s heavenly light. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3–4).
David’s humbling question puts our awe in perspective when we learn that, after God creates His new heaven and earth, we’ll no longer need the moon or the sun. Instead, said John the apostle, God’s shimmering glory will provide all necessary light. “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. . . . There will be no night there” (Revelation 21:23–25).
What an amazing thought! Yet we can experience His heavenly light now—simply by seeking Christ, the Light of the world. In Overstreet’s view, “We should look up more often.” As we do, may we see God. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What does God’s heavenly light teach you about Him? When you praise the glory of God, what do you experience?
Our wondrous God, I’m awed by Your holy glory, and I praise You for Your marvelous Light.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 13, 2020
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord… —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 7-9; Acts 18
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 13, 2020
Playing With All Your Heart - #8741
Our boys were blessed with some great football coaches when they were in high school. They worked their players hard. Let me tell you, they conditioned them well, and they produced champions. One lesson the coaches taught our team certainly went against their natural instincts. I mean, no one is real anxious to get injured. A player's natural tendency is to hold back a little when they're making a hit on another player, or when they're blocking, or when they're tackling so they won't get hurt. You know, you want to be careful so you're not injured. Well, the coaches tell you that's a mistake; that's the best way to get hurt is to play tentatively, play half-heartedly. Here's how they put it, "Either give it all you've got or don't play." Okay.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Playing With All Your Heart."
Our word for today from the Word of God is a verse that actually could be a life principle. It's a motto that you could repeat to yourself often at work, playing sports, studying, doing dirty work, listening to someone, trying to finish a difficult job. Here's the principle from God's Word. It's in Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."
The coach would like that. Whatever position you're playing in life, don't play tentatively. Throw yourself into it with everything you've got. In the words of Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." Whatever you do! If you asked our kids something that they heard over and over again growing up from their parents, they might very well tell you those four words that we tried to make a life motto, "with all your heart." Jim Elliott, the martyred missionary and actually one of my personal heroes, said it this way, "Wherever you are, be all there!"
If you have to do something anyway, why not do it with everything you've got? If you have to be somewhere, why not be all there? I saw a little slice of wisdom on a kitchen wall plaque. It said, "Lord, help me do with a smile the things I have to do anyway." That's good.
God's call to all of us who belong to Him is to be a 100-percenter in anything and everything we do. So when someone is talking with you, you listen with all your heart, as if they are the only person on earth and the only thing you have to do. When you work, you focus...you do it with all your heart. When it's time to pray, you pray with all your heart. You play with all your heart. You study with all your heart. You help out with all your heart.
That's the attitude of someone who knows that ultimately he or she is living a God-planned life. Now you might say, "Well, I don't like the situation I'm in." That shouldn't be what determines your attitude. You make every situation the best it can be when you tackle it like the Bible says, "with all your might," "with all your heart."
Remember, God said whatever you do, do it with all your heart. And not just the things you feel like doing. There's something actually very intoxicating, something magnetic about a person who enters into everything they do passionately and wholeheartedly. If you've ever known one of those kind of people, those "with all your heart" people, you know that kind of passion is a magnet that draws people.
Everything your hand finds to do, would you do it with intensity? In football, in everyday life, playing tentatively invites injury and it surely invites defeat. So like the coach says, "Either give it all you've got, or don't play!"
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Micah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Your Place at God’s Table
Angry. Sullen. Accusatory. Whiny. Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r. If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness. The dungeon calls you to enter. You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt. You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.
Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts. You can choose to go to the party. You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”
What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father! Your place at God’s table is permanent!
from He Still Moves Stones
Micah 3
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
3 who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ‘peace’
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
7 The seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God.”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
10 who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 13:1–9
Abram and Lot Separate
So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
Insight
Both Abram and Lot were wealthy, possessing flocks, herds, and herdsmen. The land that provided enough to support them before was no longer adequate. Apparently their time in Egypt had grown their holdings significantly so that the land could no longer support both of them. Abram, as the older man and leader of the entire party, had the right to choose, yet he deferred to Lot. Why?
Perhaps Abram was already acting in faith, as would mark the remainder of his life (see the story of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22). He was leaving the decision in God’s hands, trusting that what had been promised—that his descendants would receive the land—would be fulfilled. Knowing his descendants would receive the inheritance meant that he wouldn’t. Perhaps immediate possession wasn’t necessary from his perspective. He could wait in faith.
United in Separation
Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me . . . for we are close relatives. Genesis 13:8
Thrown into a project with his colleague Tim, Alvin faced a major challenge: he and Tim had very different ideas of how to go about it. While they respected each other’s opinions, their approaches were so different that conflict seemed imminent. Before conflict broke out, however, the two men agreed to discuss their differences with their boss, who put them on separate teams. It turned out to be a wise move. That day, Alvin learned this lesson: Being united doesn’t always mean doing things together.
Abraham must have realized this truth when he suggested that he and Lot go their separate ways in Bethel (Genesis 13:5–9). Seeing that there wasn’t enough space for both their flocks, Abraham wisely suggested parting company. But first, he stressed that they were “close relatives” (v. 8), reminding Lot of their relationship. Then, with the greatest humility, he let his nephew have the first choice (v. 9) even though he, Abraham, was the senior man. It was, as one pastor described it, a “harmonious separation.”
Being made uniquely by God, we may find that we sometimes work better separately to achieve the same goal. There’s a unity in diversity. May we never forget, however, that we’re still brothers and sisters in the family of God. We may do things differently, but we remain united in purpose. By: Leslie Koh
Reflect & Pray
How can humility help in a “harmonious separation”? How can you remain united in purpose even when you disagree with someone on a disputable matter? (Romans 14:1–10).
God, help me to work together with others in unity, and help me to discern when it’s best to serve separately.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, July 12, 2020
The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church
…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “…that I may know Him…” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 4-6; Acts 17:16-34
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Micah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Judgment is God's Job
There is power in revenge. Intoxicating power. Haven't we tasted it? Haven't we been tempted to get even? As we escort the offender into the courtroom, we announce, "He hurt me!" and jurors shake their heads in disgust. "He abandoned me!" we explain, and the chambers echo with our accusation. "Guilty!" the judge snarls as he slams the gavel. "Guilty!" the jury agrees. We delight in this moment of justice. We relish this pound of flesh.
I don't mean to be cocky, but why are you doing God's work for Him? "Vengeance" is Mine," God declared. "I will repay." Proverbs 20:22 says, "Don't say, 'I'll pay you back for the wrong you did.' Wait for the Lord, and He will make things right." Judgment is God's job. To assume otherwise is to assume God can't do it. God has not asked us to settle the score or get even. Ever!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Micah 2
Human Plans and God’s Plans
Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 5:7–14
He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[a] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Footnotes:
Revelation 5:10 Some manuscripts they reign
Insight
In Revelation 4–5 we’re given a dramatic scene that occurs in the throne room of God. As the scene unfolds, the elders and living creatures are worshiping Him. Yet in these two chapters we see two different roles of God that motivate worship. In 4:11, His role as Creator prompts the worship, as the people say, “for you created all things, and by your will they were created.” In 5:9, the Lamb is declared worthy because He’s our Savior who “[was] slain, and with [His] blood [He] purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” As Creator and Savior, God is worthy of all praise.
A Parade of Colors
With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9
For decades, London has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. In 1933, journalist Glyn Roberts wrote of England’s great capital, “I still think the parade of peoples and colours and tongues is just about the best thing in London.” That “parade” is still in evidence today with the blended smells, sounds, and sights of a global community. The beauty of diversity is part of the breathtaking appeal of one of the world’s greatest cities.
As with any city inhabited by human beings, however, London is not without its problems. Change brings challenges. Cultures sometimes clash. And that is one of the reasons no city built by human hands can compare to the wonder of our eternal home.
When the apostle John was transported into the presence of God, diversity was one of the elements of heavenly worship, as the redeemed sang, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9–10).
Imagine heaven: a parade of every people group in the world celebrating the wonder of being children of the living God—together! As believers in Jesus, may we celebrate that diversity today. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
What are the best things about the church being so diverse? What can make that diversity occasionally challenging?
Father, I thank You that no people group is excluded from Your great love. Teach us to truly love one another, as You have so generously loved us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 11, 2020
The Spiritually Vigorous Saint
…that I may know Him… —Philippians 3:10
A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing…that He had come from God and was going to God,…took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).
The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him…” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 1-3; Acts 17:1-15
There is power in revenge. Intoxicating power. Haven't we tasted it? Haven't we been tempted to get even? As we escort the offender into the courtroom, we announce, "He hurt me!" and jurors shake their heads in disgust. "He abandoned me!" we explain, and the chambers echo with our accusation. "Guilty!" the judge snarls as he slams the gavel. "Guilty!" the jury agrees. We delight in this moment of justice. We relish this pound of flesh.
I don't mean to be cocky, but why are you doing God's work for Him? "Vengeance" is Mine," God declared. "I will repay." Proverbs 20:22 says, "Don't say, 'I'll pay you back for the wrong you did.' Wait for the Lord, and He will make things right." Judgment is God's job. To assume otherwise is to assume God can't do it. God has not asked us to settle the score or get even. Ever!
From When God Whispers Your Name
Micah 2
Human Plans and God’s Plans
Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 5:7–14
He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[a] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Footnotes:
Revelation 5:10 Some manuscripts they reign
Insight
In Revelation 4–5 we’re given a dramatic scene that occurs in the throne room of God. As the scene unfolds, the elders and living creatures are worshiping Him. Yet in these two chapters we see two different roles of God that motivate worship. In 4:11, His role as Creator prompts the worship, as the people say, “for you created all things, and by your will they were created.” In 5:9, the Lamb is declared worthy because He’s our Savior who “[was] slain, and with [His] blood [He] purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” As Creator and Savior, God is worthy of all praise.
A Parade of Colors
With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9
For decades, London has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. In 1933, journalist Glyn Roberts wrote of England’s great capital, “I still think the parade of peoples and colours and tongues is just about the best thing in London.” That “parade” is still in evidence today with the blended smells, sounds, and sights of a global community. The beauty of diversity is part of the breathtaking appeal of one of the world’s greatest cities.
As with any city inhabited by human beings, however, London is not without its problems. Change brings challenges. Cultures sometimes clash. And that is one of the reasons no city built by human hands can compare to the wonder of our eternal home.
When the apostle John was transported into the presence of God, diversity was one of the elements of heavenly worship, as the redeemed sang, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9–10).
Imagine heaven: a parade of every people group in the world celebrating the wonder of being children of the living God—together! As believers in Jesus, may we celebrate that diversity today. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
What are the best things about the church being so diverse? What can make that diversity occasionally challenging?
Father, I thank You that no people group is excluded from Your great love. Teach us to truly love one another, as You have so generously loved us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 11, 2020
The Spiritually Vigorous Saint
…that I may know Him… —Philippians 3:10
A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing…that He had come from God and was going to God,…took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).
The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him…” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L
Bible in a Year: Psalms 1-3; Acts 17:1-15
Friday, July 10, 2020
Micah 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FIND GOD IN YOUR CRISIS
Calamities can leave us off balance and confused. Consider the crisis of Joseph’s generation as recorded in Genesis Chapter 47. “Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.” Joseph faced a calamity on a global scale. Joseph told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you.” Joseph began and ended his crisis with God.
God preceded the famine. God would outlive the famine. How would you describe your crisis? Do you recite your woes more naturally than you do heaven’s strength? You’re assuming God isn’t in the crisis. He is. Even a famine was fair game for God’s purpose!
Micah 1
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:22–34
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Insight
The jailer’s story in Acts 16:19–34 is intriguing. It’s possible he was a slave tasked with guarding the prison. According to Roman law, a jailer who let prisoners escape was to be executed (see 12:19). Evidently suicide was preferable to execution. But Paul stopped the jailer just in time (16:28). As a result, the guard asked about how he could be saved. He and his household placed their faith in God for salvation and were baptized (vv. 31–34).
Not Taking Advantage
Don’t harm yourself! We are all here! Acts 16:28
Several inmates were collecting roadside garbage to reduce their jail time when their supervisor, James, collapsed. They rushed to his aid and realized he was having a medical emergency. One inmate borrowed James’ phone to call for help. The sheriff’s department later thanked the inmates for helping get their supervisor prompt medical attention, especially because they could have instead neglected him—to his great detriment as he was having a stroke—or used the situation to their own advantage to escape.
The kindness of the inmates’ actions is not unlike those of Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned. After they’d been stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison, an earthquake struck so violently that it loosed their chains and shook the prison doors off their hinges (Acts 16:23–26). When the jailer awoke, he naturally assumed the prisoners had fled, so he prepared to take his own life (to preempt what would’ve been his punishment for their escape). When Paul shouted, “We are all here!” (v. 28) the jailer was so moved by their actions—uncharacteristic of prisoners—that he became curious about the God they worshiped, ultimately coming to believe in Him too (vv. 29–34).
The way we treat others reveals what we believe and value. When we choose to do good instead of harm, our actions might just prompt them to wonder about the God we know and love. By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
In what situation can you choose to not take advantage for your own gain? How might that decision benefit someone else?
Loving God, help me to make choices that will draw others to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 10, 2020
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… —Hebrews 10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “…to stir you up by reminding you…” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
Bible in a Year: Job 41-42; Acts 16:22-40
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 10, 2020
No Life Without the Source - #8740
For my wife, it was sort of a symbol of the day she was born - daffodils. Growing up in the South, she was always able to have some fresh-picked daffodils for her birthday. But then we got married and then we found ourselves living pretty much in the North, where daffodils don't grow that early in the year. So every year, as my honey's birthday approached, I had fun trying to find some florist that somehow had some daffodils for sale, and I did. And once again, my gal had daffodils for her birthday. But even though they were very beautiful, the sad secret is they didn't last long...just like most of the flowers in the florist shop. They started to die as soon as they got cut from their stem.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Life Without the Source."
Someone has said that you and I are living in a "cut-flower civilization." We look like we're alive, but we're really cut off from the source of our life. That would be the God who designed us, who wired us - who planned us. He is, as the Bible says, "The author of life" (Acts 3:15). As spiritual "cut flowers," it's not that we don't try to generate life on our own. But no matter who or what we try, that strange loneliness and emptiness keeps creeping back into our soul. What we don't realize is that our loneliness is cosmic loneliness. Our emptiness is cosmic emptiness. We are missing the God who made us.
The Bible describes our true spiritual condition in eight sobering words. They're found in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (That means sins or wrongdoings.) have separated you from your God." Think of that. Separated from God. In this life that means never finding the purpose of your life; never finding the love that can satisfy your heart.
At the end of this life, "separated from God" means an unspeakable eternity. In the single word the Bible uses, it means hell. God did not put up the wall that keeps us from Him-we did. Those "iniquities" are made up of every time we have done things the way we wanted to do it instead of God's way. And over a lifetime, it's impossible to add all those up. But each sin, each "me first" choice, has put another brick in the wall.
So, separated from the One our life came from, we're slowly dying inside. And every day is one day closer to the ultimate separation of an eternity away from God, of paying sin's horrific death penalty ourselves. But in spite of the way you and I have marginalized our Creator and ignored Him, He wasn't willing to let us be cut off from Him forever. Nope! To reconnect us to Him required the greatest act of love in the history of the human race. In the Bible's words, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). So Jesus came, and Jesus died, to remove the sin-wall that keeps us cut off from God. In fact, when He was dying on that cross, He was cut off from God the Father so you would never have to be.
That's why your decision about what you do with Jesus is the ultimate life-or-death decision you'll ever make. Because as the Bible makes very clear, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). Either you have the Son of God in your heart and you have life forever, or you don't have the Son of God in your heart and you will miss eternal life.
You "have the Son of God" when you open your heart to Him, trusting Him as your only hope of having your sins forgiven, of having that wall between you and God finally come down, of going to heaven when you die. It's all about Jesus and whether you say yes or no to Him. And you could say "yes" to Him today and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. I've run my life. That's wrong. You died for that. I am Yours beginning today."
That's the life you were made for. That's the God you were made for. We want to help you get that relationship with Him started. And that help is at our website ANewStory.com. Please, do not risk another day without Him.
Calamities can leave us off balance and confused. Consider the crisis of Joseph’s generation as recorded in Genesis Chapter 47. “Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.” Joseph faced a calamity on a global scale. Joseph told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you.” Joseph began and ended his crisis with God.
God preceded the famine. God would outlive the famine. How would you describe your crisis? Do you recite your woes more naturally than you do heaven’s strength? You’re assuming God isn’t in the crisis. He is. Even a famine was fair game for God’s purpose!
Micah 1
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, July 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:22–34
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Insight
The jailer’s story in Acts 16:19–34 is intriguing. It’s possible he was a slave tasked with guarding the prison. According to Roman law, a jailer who let prisoners escape was to be executed (see 12:19). Evidently suicide was preferable to execution. But Paul stopped the jailer just in time (16:28). As a result, the guard asked about how he could be saved. He and his household placed their faith in God for salvation and were baptized (vv. 31–34).
Not Taking Advantage
Don’t harm yourself! We are all here! Acts 16:28
Several inmates were collecting roadside garbage to reduce their jail time when their supervisor, James, collapsed. They rushed to his aid and realized he was having a medical emergency. One inmate borrowed James’ phone to call for help. The sheriff’s department later thanked the inmates for helping get their supervisor prompt medical attention, especially because they could have instead neglected him—to his great detriment as he was having a stroke—or used the situation to their own advantage to escape.
The kindness of the inmates’ actions is not unlike those of Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned. After they’d been stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison, an earthquake struck so violently that it loosed their chains and shook the prison doors off their hinges (Acts 16:23–26). When the jailer awoke, he naturally assumed the prisoners had fled, so he prepared to take his own life (to preempt what would’ve been his punishment for their escape). When Paul shouted, “We are all here!” (v. 28) the jailer was so moved by their actions—uncharacteristic of prisoners—that he became curious about the God they worshiped, ultimately coming to believe in Him too (vv. 29–34).
The way we treat others reveals what we believe and value. When we choose to do good instead of harm, our actions might just prompt them to wonder about the God we know and love. By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
In what situation can you choose to not take advantage for your own gain? How might that decision benefit someone else?
Loving God, help me to make choices that will draw others to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, July 10, 2020
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… —Hebrews 10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “…to stir you up by reminding you…” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
Bible in a Year: Job 41-42; Acts 16:22-40
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, July 10, 2020
No Life Without the Source - #8740
For my wife, it was sort of a symbol of the day she was born - daffodils. Growing up in the South, she was always able to have some fresh-picked daffodils for her birthday. But then we got married and then we found ourselves living pretty much in the North, where daffodils don't grow that early in the year. So every year, as my honey's birthday approached, I had fun trying to find some florist that somehow had some daffodils for sale, and I did. And once again, my gal had daffodils for her birthday. But even though they were very beautiful, the sad secret is they didn't last long...just like most of the flowers in the florist shop. They started to die as soon as they got cut from their stem.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Life Without the Source."
Someone has said that you and I are living in a "cut-flower civilization." We look like we're alive, but we're really cut off from the source of our life. That would be the God who designed us, who wired us - who planned us. He is, as the Bible says, "The author of life" (Acts 3:15). As spiritual "cut flowers," it's not that we don't try to generate life on our own. But no matter who or what we try, that strange loneliness and emptiness keeps creeping back into our soul. What we don't realize is that our loneliness is cosmic loneliness. Our emptiness is cosmic emptiness. We are missing the God who made us.
The Bible describes our true spiritual condition in eight sobering words. They're found in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (That means sins or wrongdoings.) have separated you from your God." Think of that. Separated from God. In this life that means never finding the purpose of your life; never finding the love that can satisfy your heart.
At the end of this life, "separated from God" means an unspeakable eternity. In the single word the Bible uses, it means hell. God did not put up the wall that keeps us from Him-we did. Those "iniquities" are made up of every time we have done things the way we wanted to do it instead of God's way. And over a lifetime, it's impossible to add all those up. But each sin, each "me first" choice, has put another brick in the wall.
So, separated from the One our life came from, we're slowly dying inside. And every day is one day closer to the ultimate separation of an eternity away from God, of paying sin's horrific death penalty ourselves. But in spite of the way you and I have marginalized our Creator and ignored Him, He wasn't willing to let us be cut off from Him forever. Nope! To reconnect us to Him required the greatest act of love in the history of the human race. In the Bible's words, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). So Jesus came, and Jesus died, to remove the sin-wall that keeps us cut off from God. In fact, when He was dying on that cross, He was cut off from God the Father so you would never have to be.
That's why your decision about what you do with Jesus is the ultimate life-or-death decision you'll ever make. Because as the Bible makes very clear, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). Either you have the Son of God in your heart and you have life forever, or you don't have the Son of God in your heart and you will miss eternal life.
You "have the Son of God" when you open your heart to Him, trusting Him as your only hope of having your sins forgiven, of having that wall between you and God finally come down, of going to heaven when you die. It's all about Jesus and whether you say yes or no to Him. And you could say "yes" to Him today and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. I've run my life. That's wrong. You died for that. I am Yours beginning today."
That's the life you were made for. That's the God you were made for. We want to help you get that relationship with Him started. And that help is at our website ANewStory.com. Please, do not risk another day without Him.
Thursday, July 9, 2020
Romans 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE PROMISED REUNION
The word goodbye. This word may be the challenge of your life. How does a person get through raging loneliness, strength-draining grief? The rest of the world has moved on; you ache to do the same. Take heart. God has served notice. All farewells are on the clock.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 begins, “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. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air. And there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. Reassure one another with these words” (The Message). Revelation 21:4 promises “He will wipe every tear from our eyes.” Isn’t this our hope? God has promised a restoration of all things, and that includes yours.
Romans 16
Be sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She’s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She’s helped many a person, including me.
3-5 Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.
Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.
6 Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!
7 Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.
8 Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.
9 Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.
10 Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.
Hello to the family of Aristobulus.
11 Hello to my cousin Herodion.
Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.
12 Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.
Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.
13 Hello to Rufus—a good choice by the Master!—and his mother. She has also been a dear mother to me.
14 Hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and also to all of their families.
15 Hello to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas—and all the followers of Jesus who live with them.
16 Holy embraces all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!
17-18 One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.
19-20 And so while there has never been any question about your honesty in these matters—I couldn’t be more proud of you!—I want you also to be smart, making sure every “good” thing is the real thing. Don’t be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt. Enjoy the best of Jesus!
21 And here are some more greetings from our end. Timothy, my partner in this work, Lucius, and my cousins Jason and Sosipater all said to tell you hello.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter at Paul’s dictation, send you my personal greetings.
23 Gaius, who is host here to both me and the whole church, wants to be remembered to you.
Erastus, the city treasurer, and our good friend Quartus send their greetings.
25-26 All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the very last letter.
27 All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 1:20–31
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[a]
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:31 Jer. 9:24
Insight
Writers of the New Testament were themselves students of Scripture, and their writings reflect knowledge of the Old Testament. Occasionally they preface their use of the Old Testament with words like “to fulfill” (Matthew 1:22) or “it is written” (1 Corinthians 1:19, 31). Paul bookends his teaching in 1 Corinthians 1:19–31 about the wisdom and power of God that are inherent in the preaching of the gospel with quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah. The section begins with a citation from Isaiah 29:14 and ends with words based on Jeremiah 9:24, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
The Foolish Way of New Life
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Some things just don’t make sense until you experience them. When I was pregnant with my first child, I read multiple books about childbirth and listened to dozens of women tell their stories of labor and delivery. But I still couldn’t really imagine what the experience would be like. What my body was going to do seemed impossible!
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that birth into God’s kingdom, the salvation that God offers us through Christ, seems equally incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it. It sounds like “foolishness” to say that salvation could come through a cross—a death marked by weakness, defeat, and humiliation. Yet this “foolishness” was the salvation that Paul preached!
It wasn’t what anyone could have imagined it would be like. Some people thought that salvation would come through a strong political leader or a miraculous sign. Others thought that their own academic or philosophical achievements would be their salvation (1 Corinthians 1:22). But God surprised everyone by bringing salvation in a way that would only make sense to those who believed, to those who experienced it.
God took something shameful and weak—death on a cross—and made it the foundation of wisdom and power. God does the unimaginable. He chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the wise (v. 27).
And His surprising, confounding ways are always the best ways. By: Amy Peterson
Reflect & Pray
How is God surprising you today? Why is it true that God’s ways are better than your ways?
God, with Isaiah I pray, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are Your ways higher than my ways.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Will You Examine Yourself?
Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord…" —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
“The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord!’ ” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”
We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” So Send I You, 1325 R
Bible in a Year: Job 38-40; Acts 16:1-21
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You - #8739
So you ate something your tummy didn't like. I love the phrase we say, "It didn't agree with me." Think about that. Now your stomach gets its revenge as it puts out an overdose of stomach acid. You experience the distress we call "heartburn" which has nothing to do with your heart, but...anyway. What's that miserable sufferer to do? Well, you know, maybe... well, there was a commercial years ago that said it was a Maalox moment...or we had the Alka Seltzer "tum-ta-tum-tum"...or Pepsid-AC, or I don't know - dozens of remedies out there. The idea is the same. You've got acid eating away your insides; you take a remedy that will neutralize the acid.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You."
There's no simple pill to take for the acid that does the most damage inside you. It's called bitterness...unforgiveness. It could be that you've been genuinely wronged. I mean, you have been deeply wounded. And the most natural thing in the world is for that wound to turn to bitterness toward the one who hurt you. It is the most natural thing, but also the most damaging thing. Someone listening today is being eaten up on the inside by bitter feelings, by smoldering anger.
But that acid of bitterness isn't hurting the person that hurt you. Now you're emotionally chained to that person, you think about them a lot. In fact, your bitterness may even be turning you hard on the inside. The acid may even be spilling on people who don't deserve it, people you love. God says in Hebrews 12:15 that a bitter root "grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
There's no pill that can neutralize the acid of bitterness. But there is a remedy. There's a picture of it in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 15, beginning in verse 23. The Israelites have traveled three days without finding water. Here's what it says, "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter" (in fact, Marah means "bitter"). "So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."
Bitter water. God's remedy? A tree. God used a tree to do what would otherwise be impossible - make sweet what had been bitter for so long. He wants to do the same inside you with a tree of wood. The tree where God forgave all that you had done against Him. It is the cross of Jesus.
God's word to us is to "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." You and I certainly weren't forgiven based on deserving it. Certainly, the people who nailed Jesus to that tree did not deserve to have Him say, "Father, forgive them." But He did. And at the foot of Jesus' cross - the Forgiving Place - you could find the grace to finally release that person who has hurt you so deeply.
You have to tell the Lord you can't forgive that person, but that you want Jesus to give you His forgiving grace. Tell the Lord you're tired of drinking the water of bitterness, that you want to leave those dark feelings toward that person at the foot of the cross - God's tree for bitterness. Ask Him for the ability to see the person who hurt you through His eyes. Release that person to God's justice. He'll make things right a whole lot better than you ever could. And commit right there at the cross where you have been forgiven that you will not treat that person as they have treated you; you will treat them as Jesus has treated you.
And, my friend, you will finally be on your way to emotional freedom and emotional healing. The acid of bitterness has done enough damage hasn't it? Jesus stands ready to neutralize that bitterness with a heavy dose of His forgiving love and grace. You'll find it at the cross where you were forgiven.
The word goodbye. This word may be the challenge of your life. How does a person get through raging loneliness, strength-draining grief? The rest of the world has moved on; you ache to do the same. Take heart. God has served notice. All farewells are on the clock.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 begins, “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. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air. And there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. Reassure one another with these words” (The Message). Revelation 21:4 promises “He will wipe every tear from our eyes.” Isn’t this our hope? God has promised a restoration of all things, and that includes yours.
Romans 16
Be sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She’s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She’s helped many a person, including me.
3-5 Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.
Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.
6 Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!
7 Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.
8 Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.
9 Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.
10 Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.
Hello to the family of Aristobulus.
11 Hello to my cousin Herodion.
Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.
12 Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.
Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.
13 Hello to Rufus—a good choice by the Master!—and his mother. She has also been a dear mother to me.
14 Hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and also to all of their families.
15 Hello to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas—and all the followers of Jesus who live with them.
16 Holy embraces all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!
17-18 One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.
19-20 And so while there has never been any question about your honesty in these matters—I couldn’t be more proud of you!—I want you also to be smart, making sure every “good” thing is the real thing. Don’t be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt. Enjoy the best of Jesus!
21 And here are some more greetings from our end. Timothy, my partner in this work, Lucius, and my cousins Jason and Sosipater all said to tell you hello.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter at Paul’s dictation, send you my personal greetings.
23 Gaius, who is host here to both me and the whole church, wants to be remembered to you.
Erastus, the city treasurer, and our good friend Quartus send their greetings.
25-26 All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the very last letter.
27 All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 1:20–31
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[a]
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:31 Jer. 9:24
Insight
Writers of the New Testament were themselves students of Scripture, and their writings reflect knowledge of the Old Testament. Occasionally they preface their use of the Old Testament with words like “to fulfill” (Matthew 1:22) or “it is written” (1 Corinthians 1:19, 31). Paul bookends his teaching in 1 Corinthians 1:19–31 about the wisdom and power of God that are inherent in the preaching of the gospel with quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah. The section begins with a citation from Isaiah 29:14 and ends with words based on Jeremiah 9:24, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
The Foolish Way of New Life
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Some things just don’t make sense until you experience them. When I was pregnant with my first child, I read multiple books about childbirth and listened to dozens of women tell their stories of labor and delivery. But I still couldn’t really imagine what the experience would be like. What my body was going to do seemed impossible!
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that birth into God’s kingdom, the salvation that God offers us through Christ, seems equally incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it. It sounds like “foolishness” to say that salvation could come through a cross—a death marked by weakness, defeat, and humiliation. Yet this “foolishness” was the salvation that Paul preached!
It wasn’t what anyone could have imagined it would be like. Some people thought that salvation would come through a strong political leader or a miraculous sign. Others thought that their own academic or philosophical achievements would be their salvation (1 Corinthians 1:22). But God surprised everyone by bringing salvation in a way that would only make sense to those who believed, to those who experienced it.
God took something shameful and weak—death on a cross—and made it the foundation of wisdom and power. God does the unimaginable. He chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the wise (v. 27).
And His surprising, confounding ways are always the best ways. By: Amy Peterson
Reflect & Pray
How is God surprising you today? Why is it true that God’s ways are better than your ways?
God, with Isaiah I pray, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are Your ways higher than my ways.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Will You Examine Yourself?
Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord…" —Joshua 24:19
Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?
“The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord!’ ” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”
We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” So Send I You, 1325 R
Bible in a Year: Job 38-40; Acts 16:1-21
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You - #8739
So you ate something your tummy didn't like. I love the phrase we say, "It didn't agree with me." Think about that. Now your stomach gets its revenge as it puts out an overdose of stomach acid. You experience the distress we call "heartburn" which has nothing to do with your heart, but...anyway. What's that miserable sufferer to do? Well, you know, maybe... well, there was a commercial years ago that said it was a Maalox moment...or we had the Alka Seltzer "tum-ta-tum-tum"...or Pepsid-AC, or I don't know - dozens of remedies out there. The idea is the same. You've got acid eating away your insides; you take a remedy that will neutralize the acid.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Attacking the Acid That's Attacking You."
There's no simple pill to take for the acid that does the most damage inside you. It's called bitterness...unforgiveness. It could be that you've been genuinely wronged. I mean, you have been deeply wounded. And the most natural thing in the world is for that wound to turn to bitterness toward the one who hurt you. It is the most natural thing, but also the most damaging thing. Someone listening today is being eaten up on the inside by bitter feelings, by smoldering anger.
But that acid of bitterness isn't hurting the person that hurt you. Now you're emotionally chained to that person, you think about them a lot. In fact, your bitterness may even be turning you hard on the inside. The acid may even be spilling on people who don't deserve it, people you love. God says in Hebrews 12:15 that a bitter root "grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
There's no pill that can neutralize the acid of bitterness. But there is a remedy. There's a picture of it in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 15, beginning in verse 23. The Israelites have traveled three days without finding water. Here's what it says, "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter" (in fact, Marah means "bitter"). "So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."
Bitter water. God's remedy? A tree. God used a tree to do what would otherwise be impossible - make sweet what had been bitter for so long. He wants to do the same inside you with a tree of wood. The tree where God forgave all that you had done against Him. It is the cross of Jesus.
God's word to us is to "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." You and I certainly weren't forgiven based on deserving it. Certainly, the people who nailed Jesus to that tree did not deserve to have Him say, "Father, forgive them." But He did. And at the foot of Jesus' cross - the Forgiving Place - you could find the grace to finally release that person who has hurt you so deeply.
You have to tell the Lord you can't forgive that person, but that you want Jesus to give you His forgiving grace. Tell the Lord you're tired of drinking the water of bitterness, that you want to leave those dark feelings toward that person at the foot of the cross - God's tree for bitterness. Ask Him for the ability to see the person who hurt you through His eyes. Release that person to God's justice. He'll make things right a whole lot better than you ever could. And commit right there at the cross where you have been forgiven that you will not treat that person as they have treated you; you will treat them as Jesus has treated you.
And, my friend, you will finally be on your way to emotional freedom and emotional healing. The acid of bitterness has done enough damage hasn't it? Jesus stands ready to neutralize that bitterness with a heavy dose of His forgiving love and grace. You'll find it at the cross where you were forgiven.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Hosea 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: KEEP FORGIVING
Colossians 3:13 says, “As Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Really, God? Begin the process of healing. How? Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Hate the wrong without hating wrongdoers. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Christ did for you. Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them too. If He thinks they are worth forgiving, they are.
Does that make forgiveness easy? No. Quick? Seldom. Painless? Forgiveness vacillates. It has fits and starts, good days and bad. Anger intermingled with love. Irregular mercy. We make progress only to make a wrong turn. Step forward and fall back. But it’s okay. As long as you’re trying to forgive, you’re forgiving. It’s when you no longer try that bitterness sets in. So keep trying. Keep forgiving.
Hosea 14
Come Back! Return to Your God!
O Israel, come back! Return to your God!
You’re down but you’re not out.
Prepare your confession
and come back to God.
Pray to him, “Take away our sin,
accept our confession.
Receive as restitution
our repentant prayers.
Assyria won’t save us;
horses won’t get us where we want to go.
We’ll never again say ‘our god’
to something we’ve made or made up.
You’re our last hope. Is it not true
that in you the orphan finds mercy?”
4-8 “I will heal their waywardness.
I will love them lavishly. My anger is played out.
I will make a fresh start with Israel.
He’ll burst into bloom like a crocus in the spring.
He’ll put down deep oak tree roots,
he’ll become a forest of oaks!
He’ll become splendid—like a giant sequoia,
his fragrance like a grove of cedars!
Those who live near him will be blessed by him,
be blessed and prosper like golden grain.
Everyone will be talking about them,
spreading their fame as the vintage children of God.
Ephraim is finished with gods that are no-gods.
From now on I’m the one who answers and satisfies him.
I am like a luxuriant fruit tree.
Everything you need is to be found in me.”
9 If you want to live well,
make sure you understand all of this.
If you know what’s good for you,
you’ll learn this inside and out.
God’s paths get you where you want to go.
Right-living people walk them easily;
wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 15:36–16:5
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Insight
Why does the detail about circumcision appear in Acts 16:3? To the Jewish people, the circumcision of all males was a symbol of their identification as God’s chosen people (see Genesis 17:9–14). It’s vital to note, however, that Paul didn’t have Timothy circumcised because of his identification as a believer in Jesus. Elsewhere Paul wrote, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). In this instance, Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he wouldn't offend the Jewish people residing in southern Galatia (now part of Turkey). Paul was displaying great cultural sensitivity so that the good news about Jesus could reach more people.
A Friend in Failure
Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them. Acts 15:38
On November 27, 1939, three treasure hunters accompanied by film crews dug through the asphalt outside of the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater in Southern California. They were looking for the Cahuenga Pass treasure, consisting of gold, diamonds, and pearls rumored to have been buried there seventy-five years earlier.
They never found it. After twenty-four days of digging, they struck a boulder and stopped. All they accomplished was a nine-foot-wide, forty-two-foot-deep hole in the ground. They walked away dejected.
To err is human—we all fail sometimes. Scripture tells us that young Mark walked away from Paul and Barnabas on a missionary trip “and had not continued with them in the work.” Because of this, “Paul did not think it wise to take him” on his next trip (Acts 15:38), which resulted in a strong disagreement with Barnabas. But in spite of his initial failings, Mark shows up years later in surprising ways. When Paul was lonely and in prison toward the end of his life, he asked for Mark and called him “helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). God even inspired Mark to write the gospel that bears his name.
Mark’s life shows us that God won’t leave us to face our errors and failures alone. We have a Friend who’s greater than every mistake. As we follow our Savior, He’ll provide the help and strength we need.
By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
What mistakes or failures have you faced recently? In what ways have you discovered God’s strength as you shared them with Him in prayer?
Jesus, thank You for being there whenever I want to talk to You. I praise You for the comfort and hope only You can give!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Will To Be Faithful
…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… —Joshua 24:15
A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves…” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Bible in a Year: Job 36-37; Acts 15:22-41
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Say It In My Language - #8738
So I'm settling into my hotel room. I'm out of town, and I'm going to turn on the TV probably to get a little of the local flavor. I especially like to watch the local weather and the local news. That's pretty much what I do at home. Now, if I'm in the U.S. listening to the local news and weather, that's easy. It gets kind of frustrating in another country sometimes .
Like I was in Amsterdam for a major conference, and I did what I just described there. I turned on the TV as I was unpacking in my hotel room, and I saw a man communicating very earnestly. He was telling viewers everything they should know: the local news, the weather for tomorrow. Of course I couldn't understand a word he was saying; it was all in Dutch, and it was frustrating. He knew it, I wanted to know it, but the information was not in a language I could understand. You may know some folks who feel the same way toward you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Say It In My Language."
Our word for today from the Word of God; it's in Acts 2, where we have a communications miracle called Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in Christians beginning at this point, and the disciples are preaching on the street corner in Jerusalem. The problem is that the disciples don't speak many languages; they have their own language they speak. The audience is very multilingual, representing many language groups, and Hebrew just isn't going to "cut it" to get across to most of them. Listen to what happened.
In verse 1: "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place." Verse 4: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language." And then it says later in verse 11, the people say, "We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own languages."
Well, that was the key. They were impressed that they heard the Good News in their own language. In one sense, that was a special miracle for a special occasion. But it's still true that our message has no effect until a person hears it in a language he can understand.
We have people right around us that we're trying to share Christ with, but we might be like that Dutch newsman I heard. We're giving the information, but the person who needs it just doesn't understand it in the language we're giving it in.
Maybe we've got a language problem. See, when you become a Jesus follower, right away you start hanging around the church and picking up a wonderful Christian vocabulary. We get used to expressing Christ in religious terms. I call it Christianese. But they're terms that a lost person just doesn't understand.
There might be someone close to you right now and they're rejecting Christ. Maybe they've never heard about Him in words they can understand. They don't understand all our church talk. They need to hear the Gospel expressed in the language of sports, or business, or music if that's their thing, or gardening, or parenting, or computers, or the language of the medical profession, or whatever they can relate to. It's lazy just to say it in the religious jargon I'm most comfortable with. Think about that lost person. Learn to think "lost."
Walk a mile in his shoes, actually in his vocabulary. Look at his interests. Look at how the truth of the Gospel could be communicated and illustrated in his or her terms. When a missionary goes to the mission field, they don't just transmit the Gospel, they translate the Gospel. That's why they go to language school before they go to the mission field. We need to translate our message. This is information that a person's eternity depends on.
I sat in that Dutch hotel room and I murmured, "Say it in my language, will you?" Well, there's someone near you who doesn't have Christ who's waiting for words they can understand. Do what you have to do. Leave your comfort zone to say it in their language.
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