Ezekiel 39
Ezekiel 39 1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of [a] Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.
7 " 'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.
9 " 'Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD.
11 " 'On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward [b] the Sea. [c] It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. [d]
12 " 'For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD.
14 " 'Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. 15 As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 (Also a town called Hamonah [e] will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.'
17 "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: 'Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD.
21 "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.
25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity [f] and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion:
Psalm 92:12-15
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."2,000-Year-Old Sprout
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Psalm 92:12-15
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. . . . They shall still bear fruit in old age. —Psalm 92:12,14
About this cover In June of 2006, Israeli doctors and scientists successfully germinated a 2,000-year-old date palm seed. Found at the Herodian fortress of Masada on the west bank of the Dead Sea, the seed was tagged “Methuselah” for the man with the oldest recorded age in the Bible (Gen. 5:27). In addition to the challenge of awakening a long-dormant seed, the team also wanted to learn more about the tree praised in Scripture for its shade, food, beauty, and medicinal qualities.
The date palm has an important role in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the tree is linked to the temple and presence of God. The New Testament describes excited crowds praising God and throwing palm branches at the feet of Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
God’s promise to bless the world through a descendant of Abraham also lay dormant for 2,000 years (see Gen. 12:1-3). Finally, the Seed of promise sprouted. That Seed was Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. Soon the story of His resurrected life would go out to every nation on earth.
The miracle is now ours to experience. Time is not a factor. Neither is the barren ground of circumstance. All that matters is that we allow our hearts to be the soil in which Christ is welcomed and worshiped. —Mart De Haan
God’s promise like a tiny seedMay seem to be an empty thing,But hidden in that tiny seedIs life that waits the warmth of spring. —D. De Haan
God never makes a promise that He will not keep.
Utmost for My Highest
November 16, 2007
Still Human!LISTEN: READ:
. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31 About this cover In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.
We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, "What a wonderful man of prayer he is!" or, "What a great woman of devotion she is!" If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.
We want to be able to say, "Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!" But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3 ). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.
Ron Hutchcraft, A Word With You
Getting Rid of What You've Hung Onto So Long - #5440 Friday, November 16, 2007
Our friend Joy has become a bit of an expert on moving. Her husband is a career Air Force officer, and that means seeing a lot of different places, having a lot of different addresses, and seeing a lot of moving vans in your life. We were talking the other day about their last move and what she considered one of the greatest gifts she's ever been given. It didn't have beautiful wrapping paper or bows on it. In fact, it was a dumpster! That might not sound all that exciting to you, but it was to her! She and her family had so much stuff to move, and everything they could get rid of, they didn't have to move. Someone said to her, "I've got this dumpster I'd like to loan to you for your move." Joy said she was overjoyed! She said there was something so exciting about the first thud of the first thing they threw into that dumpster. Then it was all about lots of thuds as they threw away mountains of stuff. They couldn't wait to go get more.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting Rid of What You've Hung Onto So Long."
When I asked our friend what was so exciting about having that dumpster, she said, "It was so great getting rid of so much stuff that we'd been hanging onto so long." That's the very feeling that so many people over so many years have experienced when they surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. They came to the dumpster of God and unloaded so much stuff that they'd been hanging onto so long. It's an experience God wants you to have - even today.
It's an experience vividly described in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. It begins with bad news about some of the dirty and useless stuff we hang onto. It says, "Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters (that's anyone who lets anything be more important than God in their life) nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers (that's anyone who speaks destructively about another person) nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Now that is bad news. Our sin leaves us with no human chance of heaven.
OK, fasten your seat belt. Here comes the dumpster of God. "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified (that means you were made special), you were justified (that means you were made right with God) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Because of what Jesus did when He died on the cross, you don't have to be dirty inside for one more day. You can be clean from now on. You don't have to be away from God. You can belong to God if you'll bring all your sin, all your selfishness, all the junk of a life that you've run to the dumpster of God - which is the cross of Jesus Christ! That's where every wrong thing you've ever done was paid for in full by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
It's stuff you've hung onto so long - including the guilt of it all, the shame, the regrets of what you wish you had done differently. But Jesus took all that on Himself when He died on the cross, and He's waiting to take it from you at the moment you put your total trust in Him to be your personal Savior from your personal sin. It happens the moment you give yourself to Him, turning from that sin and placing your life in His hands. How does it feel? Our friend described the feeling of getting rid of all that junk with one word. She said, "It was so cleansing." That's it. You can be cleansed today!
If that's what you want, please let me send you the little booklet I wrote about beginning this life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. It's called Yours For Life. I'll send it to you if you'll just let me know you want it. You can go to our website at yoursforlife.net or you can call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
This can be the day that Jesus Christ enters your life; the day that you experience the wonderful relief of getting rid of so much that you've been hanging onto for so long.
To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit: yoursforlife.net or call 1-888-966-7325.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ezekiel 38 and devotions
Ezekiel 38A Prophecy Against Gog 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of [a] Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of [b] Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush [c] and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. 7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
10 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages [d] will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" '
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
17 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'
Our Daily Bread reading:
Jeremiah 17 1 "Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles [a] beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land and your [b] wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever."
5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
November 15, 2007
Say No To Self-Help
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Jeremiah 17:1-8
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. —Psalm 28:7 About this cover Early in my editorial career in religious publishing, I was responsible for a line of books referred to as “self-help.” The label troubled me because it seemed contrary to everything Christian.
The idea of self-help is popular because it supports the notion that we are in control. In the words of the poem “Invictus”: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
But we’re not! Eventually something happens that reminds us how out-of-control life is, and no self-help book can help us make it right.
Thankfully, Christians are not in the business of self-help. Quite the opposite! To become a Christian requires that we admit our helplessness and acknowledge our total dependence on God. “Without Me, you can do nothing,” said Jesus (John 15:5).
The ancient Israelites were always getting in trouble for trusting human strength rather than God’s (Jer. 17:5). Yet even after their failures, the Lord said, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord” (v.7).
When especially difficult circumstances or strong temptations invade our lives and remind us of our powerlessness, we have an all-powerful God who works on behalf of those who trust Him. —Julie Ackerman Link
No strength of our own, nor goodness we claim;Our trust is all thrown on Jesus’ name:In this our strong tower for safety we hide;The Lord is our power, “The Lord will provide.” —Newton
Whatever does not begin with God will end in failure.
Utmost for my Highest:
November 15, 2007
"What Is That to You?"LISTEN: READ:
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22 About this cover One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, "He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t." You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, "What is that to you?" Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
'A Word with You', Ron Hutchcraft:
Emptying the Cage - #5439 Thursday, November 15, 2007
Some years ago I heard about an unusual experiment that some scientists conducted. The scientists wired a cage with low level voltage in the bottom of the cage, they put dogs in it and then they closed the door. They sent a current through. It wasn't enough to harm the dogs but it was enough to inflict some mild pain. You can guess the dog's reaction. They jumped, they barked, they howled. Well, they kept this up several times a day, but the reaction eventually changed. After a while the dogs barely twitched when the current went through the floor of that cage. They had gotten conditioned to it. In fact, the scientists then opened the cage door, sent the current through the floor and not one dog even tried to leave. It's as if they'd given up ever getting away from the pain. One last step in the experiment: they put a dog in the cage who had not been conditioned to the current and they left the door open. Well, they turned on the juice and the new dog knew exactly what to do. He ran right out of the cage followed by all the other dogs!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Emptying the Cage."
One dog knew what it was to be free; he knew where the hope was. But the one who had become conditioned to a hopeless situation didn't even try to leave when he could - until one of his own came into that cage and showed him the way out.
And so it is with some of the people around you. They've been hurt by bad relationships, broken relationships, selfishness, loneliness, betrayal, but they look around and they see everyone else living in the same stress and confusion and emotional hollowness. And they decide this must be the way it is and the way it always will be. Just like those dogs in that cage.
The only way they'll find hope in real life is if one of their own comes into their cage and shows them the way out. Well, that's what Jesus did when He left the shock-free environment of heaven to enter our dirty, pain-wracked cage down here. He came and said, "I am the way, I am the door ... He that follows Me shall never walk in darkness." And we followed Him into the wonderful world outside the cage. Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten the people who are still in there. We work with them, we live around them, and we meet them every day.
When Jesus was on earth, He invaded the lostness of a place called Samaria through a Samaritan woman He met at a well one day. Our word for today from the Word of God, John 4:28, says, "Then leaving her water jar the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.' Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony." That's the awesome power of one changed life; someone who will go back to his or her own people with the good news that Jesus is the way out.
God's plan for bringing life and hope to the people around you is still the same - a simple message, "Come see a man." Not come see a church, or a religion, or a set of beliefs. It's Jesus - the only one who loved them enough to die for them. And then the other part of the plan is a natural ambassador - one of their own. How is a Samaritan most likely to come to Christ? Through another Samaritan! A teacher through a teacher, a machinist through a machinist, a mother is most likely to come to Christ through another mother, a student through a student. Jesus has assigned you where you are to be His personal representative to that group of people. You're one of them. They'll listen to you. "We are Christ’s ambassadors," the Bible says.
The people you know are accepting a level of life they should never accept. It's more lonely, it's more empty, it's more disappointing, it's more fatal than it was ever meant to be. And Jesus has opened a door that leads out. But they haven't gone through it yet, maybe because no one has come into their cage to lead them out. They don't know it, but they're waiting for you.
10 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages [d] will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" '
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
17 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'
Our Daily Bread reading:
Jeremiah 17 1 "Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles [a] beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land and your [b] wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever."
5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
November 15, 2007
Say No To Self-Help
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Jeremiah 17:1-8
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. —Psalm 28:7 About this cover Early in my editorial career in religious publishing, I was responsible for a line of books referred to as “self-help.” The label troubled me because it seemed contrary to everything Christian.
The idea of self-help is popular because it supports the notion that we are in control. In the words of the poem “Invictus”: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
But we’re not! Eventually something happens that reminds us how out-of-control life is, and no self-help book can help us make it right.
Thankfully, Christians are not in the business of self-help. Quite the opposite! To become a Christian requires that we admit our helplessness and acknowledge our total dependence on God. “Without Me, you can do nothing,” said Jesus (John 15:5).
The ancient Israelites were always getting in trouble for trusting human strength rather than God’s (Jer. 17:5). Yet even after their failures, the Lord said, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord” (v.7).
When especially difficult circumstances or strong temptations invade our lives and remind us of our powerlessness, we have an all-powerful God who works on behalf of those who trust Him. —Julie Ackerman Link
No strength of our own, nor goodness we claim;Our trust is all thrown on Jesus’ name:In this our strong tower for safety we hide;The Lord is our power, “The Lord will provide.” —Newton
Whatever does not begin with God will end in failure.
Utmost for my Highest:
November 15, 2007
"What Is That to You?"LISTEN: READ:
Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22 About this cover One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, "He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t." You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, "What is that to you?" Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
'A Word with You', Ron Hutchcraft:
Emptying the Cage - #5439 Thursday, November 15, 2007
Some years ago I heard about an unusual experiment that some scientists conducted. The scientists wired a cage with low level voltage in the bottom of the cage, they put dogs in it and then they closed the door. They sent a current through. It wasn't enough to harm the dogs but it was enough to inflict some mild pain. You can guess the dog's reaction. They jumped, they barked, they howled. Well, they kept this up several times a day, but the reaction eventually changed. After a while the dogs barely twitched when the current went through the floor of that cage. They had gotten conditioned to it. In fact, the scientists then opened the cage door, sent the current through the floor and not one dog even tried to leave. It's as if they'd given up ever getting away from the pain. One last step in the experiment: they put a dog in the cage who had not been conditioned to the current and they left the door open. Well, they turned on the juice and the new dog knew exactly what to do. He ran right out of the cage followed by all the other dogs!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Emptying the Cage."
One dog knew what it was to be free; he knew where the hope was. But the one who had become conditioned to a hopeless situation didn't even try to leave when he could - until one of his own came into that cage and showed him the way out.
And so it is with some of the people around you. They've been hurt by bad relationships, broken relationships, selfishness, loneliness, betrayal, but they look around and they see everyone else living in the same stress and confusion and emotional hollowness. And they decide this must be the way it is and the way it always will be. Just like those dogs in that cage.
The only way they'll find hope in real life is if one of their own comes into their cage and shows them the way out. Well, that's what Jesus did when He left the shock-free environment of heaven to enter our dirty, pain-wracked cage down here. He came and said, "I am the way, I am the door ... He that follows Me shall never walk in darkness." And we followed Him into the wonderful world outside the cage. Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten the people who are still in there. We work with them, we live around them, and we meet them every day.
When Jesus was on earth, He invaded the lostness of a place called Samaria through a Samaritan woman He met at a well one day. Our word for today from the Word of God, John 4:28, says, "Then leaving her water jar the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.' Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony." That's the awesome power of one changed life; someone who will go back to his or her own people with the good news that Jesus is the way out.
God's plan for bringing life and hope to the people around you is still the same - a simple message, "Come see a man." Not come see a church, or a religion, or a set of beliefs. It's Jesus - the only one who loved them enough to die for them. And then the other part of the plan is a natural ambassador - one of their own. How is a Samaritan most likely to come to Christ? Through another Samaritan! A teacher through a teacher, a machinist through a machinist, a mother is most likely to come to Christ through another mother, a student through a student. Jesus has assigned you where you are to be His personal representative to that group of people. You're one of them. They'll listen to you. "We are Christ’s ambassadors," the Bible says.
The people you know are accepting a level of life they should never accept. It's more lonely, it's more empty, it's more disappointing, it's more fatal than it was ever meant to be. And Jesus has opened a door that leads out. But they haven't gone through it yet, maybe because no one has come into their cage to lead them out. They don't know it, but they're waiting for you.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Ezekiel 37 and more
Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath [a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
One Nation Under One King 15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. 18 "When your countrymen ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' 19 say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, [b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 " 'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.' "
Lamentations 3:19-29
(New International Version)New International Version (NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope.
November 14, 2007
Losing A Friend
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Lamentations 3:19-29
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. —Lamentations 3:22 About this cover When London’s red double-decker Routemaster buses were withdrawn from regular service in December 2005, many people felt they had lost a friend. The Routemasters had provided reliable service for 51 years, and they were popular with Londoners and tourists alike because of their easy jump-on, jump-off rear access. A few of the old buses still run on two Heritage tourist routes, but in the rest of the sprawling city, they’re gone.
Many changes in our lives represent loss, whether as small as the cherished memory of a bus or as large as a destroyed family home, a thwarted dream of success, or the death of a person we’ve deeply loved. In every loss we long for a touch of healing and hope.
The book of Lamentations has been called “the funeral of a city.” In it, Jeremiah mourned the captivity of his people and the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet in the midst of sorrow, there is a celebration of God’s faithfulness: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lam. 3:22-24).
When our hearts hurt because of loss, we can find hope in our Lord, who never changes. —David C. McCasland
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;Leave to thy God to order and provide;In every change He faithful will remain. —von Schlegel
When the sunshine of God’s love meets the showers of our sorrow, the rainbow of promise appears.
November 14, 2007
Discovering Divine DesignLISTEN: READ:
As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27 About this cover We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2 ). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. ". . . the Lord led me . . ." and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, "I will never do this or that," in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
Handling the Overwhelming - #5438 Wednesday, November 14, 2007
When five-year-old Jeremy started school, it was more than he bargained for. It was the second morning of his kindergarten experience. Mom got Jeremy up and started helping him get ready. Then came his question, "Do I have to go back?" Oops! He wasn't counting on an encore. His rationale, "Well, I already went yesterday." His mother told us, "I didn't have the heart to tell him there's twelve more years of this!" Well, he went off to day two, of year one, of twelve more years!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Handling the Overwhelming."
I think Jeremy was feeling overwhelmed, and he sure would have sunk if his mother had tried to explain the educational marathon he has ahead. He has no idea. But Jeremy's going to make it. Hey, look, you did. I did. Not by thinking about twelve years, but by doing that school thing one day at a time.
You've probably gotten over the idea of school being overwhelming, but little Jeremy could never guess that life is a series of challenges that seem overwhelming. School's the least of it. Maybe you're facing one of those right now and it looks huge; a bombardment of responsibilities and it's too much; stressful deadlines, trying to raise your child, trying to make your marriage work, facing a long medical marathon, digging out of that financial pit, or even trying to live your life for Jesus Christ.
Our word for today from the Word of God is from Deuteronomy 7:17. I think it will help. To God's ancient people He says, "You may say to yourselves, these nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out? But do not be afraid." They're facing, as they entered the Promised Land, huge walled cities and barbaric tribes - overwhelming obstacles, overwhelming challenges. Verse 22 says, "Do not be terrified by them for the Lord your God is among you, and He's a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little." What hope-giving words! God will win this one with you and for you, but not in one great victory. Jeremy won't be able to get his education cared for in one day, or in one week. It's going to be little by little. And that's God's plan for you to handle the overwhelming - little by little.
Break it into daily chunks - manageable pieces. Have a good day. Let Jesus be the Lord of the undone at the end of that day. Remember, daily is how He promised He would give you His strength. He said, "Your strength will equal your days." There is no strength for Friday when it's Thursday. You've only got Thursday's strength. You run ahead of your strength and you'll sink.
Maybe you've been wondering how you'll ever beat some sin that's been beating you, or how you can carry out your desire to dedicate your whole life to Jesus. Win for one day. You let Jesus be the Lord of that weakness for this one day. Tomorrow you have another twenty-four hour victory. And don't try to dedicate your life to Jesus unless you do it by dedicating each new day. You give Him a day, and then another day, and then the day after that. He'll make a life out of it. The Christian life is the sum total of a thousand little victories a day at a time.
Just like little Jeremy going to school. He doesn't have to worry, and you don't have to worry about all those months and all those years ahead. The secret of handling the overwhelming is to do it little by little. Remember, this is the day the Lord has made!
The Valley of Dry Bones 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath [a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
One Nation Under One King 15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. 18 "When your countrymen ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' 19 say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, [b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 " 'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.' "
Lamentations 3:19-29
(New International Version)New International Version (NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope.
November 14, 2007
Losing A Friend
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Lamentations 3:19-29
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. —Lamentations 3:22 About this cover When London’s red double-decker Routemaster buses were withdrawn from regular service in December 2005, many people felt they had lost a friend. The Routemasters had provided reliable service for 51 years, and they were popular with Londoners and tourists alike because of their easy jump-on, jump-off rear access. A few of the old buses still run on two Heritage tourist routes, but in the rest of the sprawling city, they’re gone.
Many changes in our lives represent loss, whether as small as the cherished memory of a bus or as large as a destroyed family home, a thwarted dream of success, or the death of a person we’ve deeply loved. In every loss we long for a touch of healing and hope.
The book of Lamentations has been called “the funeral of a city.” In it, Jeremiah mourned the captivity of his people and the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet in the midst of sorrow, there is a celebration of God’s faithfulness: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lam. 3:22-24).
When our hearts hurt because of loss, we can find hope in our Lord, who never changes. —David C. McCasland
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;Leave to thy God to order and provide;In every change He faithful will remain. —von Schlegel
When the sunshine of God’s love meets the showers of our sorrow, the rainbow of promise appears.
November 14, 2007
Discovering Divine DesignLISTEN: READ:
As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27 About this cover We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2 ). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. ". . . the Lord led me . . ." and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, "I will never do this or that," in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
Handling the Overwhelming - #5438 Wednesday, November 14, 2007
When five-year-old Jeremy started school, it was more than he bargained for. It was the second morning of his kindergarten experience. Mom got Jeremy up and started helping him get ready. Then came his question, "Do I have to go back?" Oops! He wasn't counting on an encore. His rationale, "Well, I already went yesterday." His mother told us, "I didn't have the heart to tell him there's twelve more years of this!" Well, he went off to day two, of year one, of twelve more years!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Handling the Overwhelming."
I think Jeremy was feeling overwhelmed, and he sure would have sunk if his mother had tried to explain the educational marathon he has ahead. He has no idea. But Jeremy's going to make it. Hey, look, you did. I did. Not by thinking about twelve years, but by doing that school thing one day at a time.
You've probably gotten over the idea of school being overwhelming, but little Jeremy could never guess that life is a series of challenges that seem overwhelming. School's the least of it. Maybe you're facing one of those right now and it looks huge; a bombardment of responsibilities and it's too much; stressful deadlines, trying to raise your child, trying to make your marriage work, facing a long medical marathon, digging out of that financial pit, or even trying to live your life for Jesus Christ.
Our word for today from the Word of God is from Deuteronomy 7:17. I think it will help. To God's ancient people He says, "You may say to yourselves, these nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out? But do not be afraid." They're facing, as they entered the Promised Land, huge walled cities and barbaric tribes - overwhelming obstacles, overwhelming challenges. Verse 22 says, "Do not be terrified by them for the Lord your God is among you, and He's a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little." What hope-giving words! God will win this one with you and for you, but not in one great victory. Jeremy won't be able to get his education cared for in one day, or in one week. It's going to be little by little. And that's God's plan for you to handle the overwhelming - little by little.
Break it into daily chunks - manageable pieces. Have a good day. Let Jesus be the Lord of the undone at the end of that day. Remember, daily is how He promised He would give you His strength. He said, "Your strength will equal your days." There is no strength for Friday when it's Thursday. You've only got Thursday's strength. You run ahead of your strength and you'll sink.
Maybe you've been wondering how you'll ever beat some sin that's been beating you, or how you can carry out your desire to dedicate your whole life to Jesus. Win for one day. You let Jesus be the Lord of that weakness for this one day. Tomorrow you have another twenty-four hour victory. And don't try to dedicate your life to Jesus unless you do it by dedicating each new day. You give Him a day, and then another day, and then the day after that. He'll make a life out of it. The Christian life is the sum total of a thousand little victories a day at a time.
Just like little Jeremy going to school. He doesn't have to worry, and you don't have to worry about all those months and all those years ahead. The secret of handling the overwhelming is to do it little by little. Remember, this is the day the Lord has made!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Ezekiel 36
Ezekiel 36A Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel 1 "Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The enemy said of you, "Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession." ' 3 Therefore prophesy and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people's malicious talk and slander, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD : This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you- 5 this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.' 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn. 8 " 'But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, 10 and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.
13 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because people say to you, "You devour men and deprive your nation of its children," 14 therefore you will no longer devour men or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign LORD. 15 No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
16 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman's monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, 'These are the LORD's people, and yet they had to leave his land.' 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.
22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
24 " 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
33 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited." 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'
37 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Psalm 8For the director of music. According to gittith [a].A psalm of David. 1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise [b] because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c] and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
November 13, 2007
Why We Have Value
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Psalm 8
As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. —John 1:12 About this cover In a commencement address to a graduating class at Miami University, columnist George Will gave some statistics that help to diminish our sense of self-importance. He pointed out that “the sun around which Earth orbits is one of perhaps 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is a piddling galaxy next door to nothing much.” He added, “There are perhaps 40 billion galaxies in the still-unfolding universe. If all the stars in the universe were only the size of the head of a pin, they still would fill Miami’s Orange Bowl to overflowing more than 3 billion times.”
There is a plus side to all that overwhelming data. The God who created and sustains our star-studded cosmos in its incomprehensible vastness loves us. And He doesn’t just love the human race as an entity of multiplied billions. He loves us individually. What Paul exclaims to be true about himself is true about each of us in all our insignificance: Christ “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
Astronomically, we are insignificant. But we are the beloved objects of God’s care. While we have no reason for pride, we are inexpressibly grateful to the Lord whose love for us personally is revealed at Calvary’s cross. —Vernon C Grounds
Loved with everlasting love,Led by grace that love to know,Gracious Spirit from above,Thou hast taught me it is so! —Robinson
We have nothing to boast of but that we’re dearly loved by God.
November 13, 2007
Faith or Experience?LISTEN: READ:
. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20 About this cover We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven’t had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
-- No author assigned in CUT
Breath of Spring in the Cold of Winter - #5437 Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Three feet of snow! That was a weather record I didn't really want to participate in. But, sure enough, we woke up that cold New Jersey morning to three feet of snow that had literally buried the metropolitan New York area. Even New York, the city that never sleeps, had been effectively shut down by the storm. There were cross country skiers in Times Square! Our little guy really wanted to go out in the snow that blanketed our backyard. So we bundled him up and we watched as he ventured into that white stuff. And he promptly disappeared! I went out after him - and, as short as I am, I just about disappeared myself. I almost became the Abdominal - I mean, what's that? Abominable Snowman. It took quite a while for that snow to become manageable and for life to return to normal. And it wasn't the last snow dump of the winter. But for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is this one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word - spring.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Breath of Spring in the Cold of Winter."
You can make it through the winter because you know winter never lasts forever - there's going to be a spring! In fact, spring has never failed to come, no matter how brutal the winter may have been.
God comes to us with an interesting self-description in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 15:13. He calls Himself "the God of hope." Because of Him, there will always be a spring. Because of Him we can make it through the darkest days of emotional and spiritual winter in our lives. I guess you could describe hopelessness this way: it will always be winter. But hope goes like this: every winter will be followed by a spring.
But let's say it's a winter season in your life right now - it's cold, it's dark, you're battling discouragement and despair. Here's what the God of hope says He wants to do for you: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Let's break this down. God wants to fill you with joy and peace when joy and peace are nowhere to be found in your circumstances. If you dwell on your burdens, on your fears, on your wounds, or how people are, you'll be filled with discouragement instead of joy and you'll be filled with stress instead of peace. But if you dwell on your all-powerful, always-loving God of hope, you can have a positiveness and a peace that's humanly unexplainable. The problems are still there, but God's joy and God's peace are the wind beneath your wings that enables you to soar when otherwise you would be grounded. You get that joy and peace "as your trust in Him" - not in your feelings, not in what humans can do, not in what you can see, but in Him. It may be winter all around you, but it will be spring inside you!
And it gets better. That joy and peace you download from your God of hope will enable "you to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That's awesome! You will not only have enough hope to sustain you, you'll have enough to give away to others who are also going through a long winter. God wants you to be a hope receiver so you can become a hope generator! And as you encourage others, even as you're in your own winter season, your hope will grow as you give it to others. In the words of the Bible, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25).
And, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." If you can be an island of hope in a sea of despair, people are going to want to know the reason. And the reason is Jesus. Which means you can use the winter you're going through to help someone who's watching you go to heaven with you someday!
Spring inside you, even with the winter all around you - that's the hope God wants to give you - the hope He wants to give to you to give to others. You can be their breath of spring in the dark of their winter!
13 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because people say to you, "You devour men and deprive your nation of its children," 14 therefore you will no longer devour men or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign LORD. 15 No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
16 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman's monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, 'These are the LORD's people, and yet they had to leave his land.' 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.
22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
24 " 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
33 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited." 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'
37 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Psalm 8For the director of music. According to gittith [a].A psalm of David. 1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise [b] because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c] and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
November 13, 2007
Why We Have Value
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Psalm 8
As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. —John 1:12 About this cover In a commencement address to a graduating class at Miami University, columnist George Will gave some statistics that help to diminish our sense of self-importance. He pointed out that “the sun around which Earth orbits is one of perhaps 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is a piddling galaxy next door to nothing much.” He added, “There are perhaps 40 billion galaxies in the still-unfolding universe. If all the stars in the universe were only the size of the head of a pin, they still would fill Miami’s Orange Bowl to overflowing more than 3 billion times.”
There is a plus side to all that overwhelming data. The God who created and sustains our star-studded cosmos in its incomprehensible vastness loves us. And He doesn’t just love the human race as an entity of multiplied billions. He loves us individually. What Paul exclaims to be true about himself is true about each of us in all our insignificance: Christ “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
Astronomically, we are insignificant. But we are the beloved objects of God’s care. While we have no reason for pride, we are inexpressibly grateful to the Lord whose love for us personally is revealed at Calvary’s cross. —Vernon C Grounds
Loved with everlasting love,Led by grace that love to know,Gracious Spirit from above,Thou hast taught me it is so! —Robinson
We have nothing to boast of but that we’re dearly loved by God.
November 13, 2007
Faith or Experience?LISTEN: READ:
. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20 About this cover We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven’t had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
-- No author assigned in CUT
Breath of Spring in the Cold of Winter - #5437 Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Three feet of snow! That was a weather record I didn't really want to participate in. But, sure enough, we woke up that cold New Jersey morning to three feet of snow that had literally buried the metropolitan New York area. Even New York, the city that never sleeps, had been effectively shut down by the storm. There were cross country skiers in Times Square! Our little guy really wanted to go out in the snow that blanketed our backyard. So we bundled him up and we watched as he ventured into that white stuff. And he promptly disappeared! I went out after him - and, as short as I am, I just about disappeared myself. I almost became the Abdominal - I mean, what's that? Abominable Snowman. It took quite a while for that snow to become manageable and for life to return to normal. And it wasn't the last snow dump of the winter. But for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is this one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word - spring.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Breath of Spring in the Cold of Winter."
You can make it through the winter because you know winter never lasts forever - there's going to be a spring! In fact, spring has never failed to come, no matter how brutal the winter may have been.
God comes to us with an interesting self-description in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 15:13. He calls Himself "the God of hope." Because of Him, there will always be a spring. Because of Him we can make it through the darkest days of emotional and spiritual winter in our lives. I guess you could describe hopelessness this way: it will always be winter. But hope goes like this: every winter will be followed by a spring.
But let's say it's a winter season in your life right now - it's cold, it's dark, you're battling discouragement and despair. Here's what the God of hope says He wants to do for you: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Let's break this down. God wants to fill you with joy and peace when joy and peace are nowhere to be found in your circumstances. If you dwell on your burdens, on your fears, on your wounds, or how people are, you'll be filled with discouragement instead of joy and you'll be filled with stress instead of peace. But if you dwell on your all-powerful, always-loving God of hope, you can have a positiveness and a peace that's humanly unexplainable. The problems are still there, but God's joy and God's peace are the wind beneath your wings that enables you to soar when otherwise you would be grounded. You get that joy and peace "as your trust in Him" - not in your feelings, not in what humans can do, not in what you can see, but in Him. It may be winter all around you, but it will be spring inside you!
And it gets better. That joy and peace you download from your God of hope will enable "you to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That's awesome! You will not only have enough hope to sustain you, you'll have enough to give away to others who are also going through a long winter. God wants you to be a hope receiver so you can become a hope generator! And as you encourage others, even as you're in your own winter season, your hope will grow as you give it to others. In the words of the Bible, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25).
And, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." If you can be an island of hope in a sea of despair, people are going to want to know the reason. And the reason is Jesus. Which means you can use the winter you're going through to help someone who's watching you go to heaven with you someday!
Spring inside you, even with the winter all around you - that's the hope God wants to give you - the hope He wants to give to you to give to others. You can be their breath of spring in the dark of their winter!
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