Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 12
God’s Thoughts
LORD you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts!
Psalm 92:5 (NCV)
God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are they even like ours. We aren't even in the same neighborhood. We're thinking, Preserve the body; he's thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. "I'm going to live before I die," we resolve. "Die, so you can live," he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions. We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, "Be like Mike." God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, "Be like Christ."
Hebrews 13
Concluding Exhortations
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."[a] 6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"[b]
7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. 10We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
18Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
20May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.
23I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
24Greet all your leaders and all God's people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
25Grace be with you all.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Timothy 5
Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves
1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
3Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
September 12, 2008
Lifework
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Timothy 5:1-8
If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. —1 Timothy 5:8
Some of our friends have chosen to curtail or leave their ministries this year. They did so in order to care for family members—for aging parents, ill spouses, siblings, or children with special needs. All were involved in fruitful works for which they were uniquely gifted. All believed that there was much to be done.
Some have chosen to reduce the time and energy they spend on those ministries; others have left their work completely. These adjustments have been difficult because ministry has been their lifework—a work for which they spent years in preparation and had many years yet to serve.
It occurs to me, however, that they have not given up their lifework but rather have assumed another. Loving and caring for others is our life’s work, and caring for those of our “own house” is the highest and holiest work of all. To deny love is to align ourselves with a cold, uncaring world.
Not everyone can leave a career or calling to care for others. Financial realities and obligations may dictate otherwise. But is not such love the mark of one who does the work of God? Did not Jesus promise that one who gives a cup of cold water to one of His children “shall by no means lose his reward”? (Matt. 10:42). — David H. Roper
Thinking It Through
Paul says we are to help those who “are really widows” (1 Tim. 5:3-5). What does he mean by this? (vv.9-10). Who should help before the church does? (v.16).
True love is doing, not just feeling.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 12, 2008
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22
There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.
The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8 ). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember?He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?
The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13 ). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father?as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. "Everyone who asks receives . . ." ( Luke 11:10 ). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.
The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8 ). "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" ( Luke 18:8 ). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Rescue Insurance - #5655 - September 12, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Friday, September 12, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We had heard so much about the Stealth bomber, you know, how it comes in under the radar at night, virtually invisible to ground defenses. That's why a few years ago, we were shocked when we heard that one had been downed during NATO's bombing of Serbia. We saw the burning plane wreckage on Serb TV, but there was no mention of the pilot. Well, my wife and I stopped as soon as we heard the news and we prayed for the safety of that pilot wherever he was. As it turned out, our military launched an all-out search for him as soon as they learned his plane was down. In fact, their rescue tactics are so sophisticated no one really told the whole story of how they went about it. But I was impressed, not to mention all the other pilots who were risking their lives every day over Serbia - at how they were committed to the rescue, whatever it took. Boy, and you know the pilot knew it. And they brought him out!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Rescue Insurance."
The good news is that you have Someone committed to your rescue - whatever it takes. Human rescuers will do all they can to attempt a rescue. Your Rescuer always accomplishes His rescues. Just ask David.
As he writes our word for today from the Word of God, he is hiding in a cave, knowing the king and his army are scouring the area looking for him. When they find him, they will kill him. Hiding in a cave, David - desperately needing a rescue - writes these powerful words in Psalm 34 beginning at verse 4. "I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears." An emotional rescue while the situation is still very dangerous. God rescues him from his fear - from his anxiety. It's amazing!
Verse 7, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." Verse 9, "Those who fear Him lack nothing ... those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." Now, that's the promise that God will rescue us from the need that may seem un-meetable. Okay, now here's verse 18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." This Heavenly Rescuer shows up in the middle of our brokenness.
Then is Psalm 34:19, David sort of summarizes and says, "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all." Notice, he doesn't say the righteous man doesn't have troubles - he does. But he also has an all-powerful Deliverer! You can dare to fly your mission, you can dare to risk, you can find the strength to fight back, and the strength to go on. Why? Because you know you have a Rescuer who will do whatever it takes to bring you out!
No, not always in the time frame you want. Not always in the way you think He should. Sometimes He'll deliver you from the situation. Other times He'll deliver you from being defeated and controlled by the situation. Either way, it's a miracle.
If you're down in enemy territory, there is no rescue beyond the power of your Savior, whether the rescue is emotional, or medical, or financial, reputational, relational, or even from your own mistakes. In one way or another, your Savior will pull you out. There's no need to run, no need to panic, no need to surrender, no need to be depressed. You have a Savior who is committed to rescuing those He loves.
Maybe all you can see right now is a very dark night, enemy troops nearby, and no way out. But your Rescuer from heaven is on His way!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Hebrews 12, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 8
What Makes God, God?
If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 (NCV)
God's blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith....
Why is that important to know? So you won't get cynical. Look around you. Aren't there more mouths than bread? Aren't there more wounds than physicians? Aren't there more who need the truth than those who tell it?
So what do we do? Throw up our hands and walk away? Tell the world we can't help them?
No, we don't give up. We look up. We trust. We believe. And our optimism is not hollow. Christ has proven worthy. He has shown that he never fails. That's what makes God, God.
Hebrews 12
God Disciplines His Sons
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."[a]
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning Against Refusing God
14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."[c] 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."[d]
22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."[e] 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."[f]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Romans 12:3-8
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[a]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
September 11, 2008
Called
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Romans 12:3-8
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. —Romans 12:6
In September 2001, Lisa Jefferson had an unexpected opportunity to be used by God. Her now well-known 15-minute conversation with a passenger on United Flight 93 forever changed the direction of her life. In her book Called, she emphasizes that her listening skills and her ability to take charge and stay calm in a crisis were used to encourage fellow believer Todd Beamer in the last moments of his life.
She didn’t ask to be used that way. But God saw a woman who was available and matched her with someone who was in need. Lisa now shares her story with whomever she can to encourage believers to always be ready to serve.
Not only has God given us natural abilities, He also equips every believer with spiritual gifts for the purpose of ministry. God doesn’t use the unwilling—He won’t force us to serve Him. His part is to equip us (Eph. 4:11-13) and empower and prepare us for service. Our part is to be faithful and available and aware of opportunities to use our gifts (Rom. 12:6).
When you feel impelled to help fill a need, when you are inwardly driven to serve—listen to those thoughts. You don’t want to miss God’s call. — Cindy Hess Kasper
In gladness I go forth each day
Expectantly to serve and claim
The happiness that service gives
When freely rendered in God’s name. —Anon.
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary work.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 11, 2008
Missionary Weapons (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, "Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field"? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield--you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the "second mile" with God (see Matthew 5:41 ). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, "Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life." But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Tipping Allowed - #5654 - September 11, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Any time I'm planning to be in New York City, I make sure I have some loose change and some small bills; I know I'll need it for tips. Maybe for a parking lot attendant, a cab driver, maybe a waitress. Actually, tipping is a way of life in America. Here's what the dictionary says it is: "A small percent of money given directly to someone for performing a service." A tip is a small thank you, nothing major, loose change stuff. And that's appropriate as a response to a small service but not to a total sacrifice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Tipping Allowed."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 6:33-34. It says this, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus is setting up here the priority structure that should govern the lives of anyone who is following Him, and it's pretty simple. Make sure God always gets His first.
But often Jesus has to wait in a long line behind our business, our friends, our family, our recreation, our ambitions, and our needs. Then we fish around in the loose change of our life and give Him a tip, a small thanks for a total sacrifice. In the words of Romans 8:32, "God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all." That's worth more than a tip that costs you little. Or in the words of David, "Shall I bring to the Lord that which costs me nothing?"
Life at its best always gives to God off the top. Let's start with money, whether you have a lot or a little. There's no tithe law anymore, but don't you think love should start where law left off and go from there? Financially, seek first God's interests - you give to Him before you do anything else with the money you have received.
And how about your schedule? We need to say, "With my busy schedule, I'm seeking Him first." Daily time to spend with Jesus is supposed to be the anchor of your schedule, it is non-negotiable. And be sure you save some prime time for the work of His Kingdom, too.
Jesus also deserves the best of your talents and your dearest possessions. Who really owns that car of yours, that house, that music, that wardrobe, those books? Jesus' Name should be all over everything. He should have prior claim to how it all gets used since He paid for your life with His life on a cross!
Will you make Jesus' share the sun around which everything must revolve, or is Jesus really just one of your planets revolving around something else that you've put in the center? Doesn't the Bible say, "You shall have no other gods before me"? Give Jesus His money first, His time first, His use of your talents first, your possessions first.
It may seem risky, but it's not nearly as risky as giving your Savior less than your best. You give God His and you don't have less, you have more. What did Jesus say? "All these things will be given to you...do not worry." God is your Father, not your waiter. He's your Lord, not your chauffeur. And He gets your very best. You don't worship your Lord and Savior by just giving Him tips.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 8
What Makes God, God?
If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 (NCV)
God's blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith....
Why is that important to know? So you won't get cynical. Look around you. Aren't there more mouths than bread? Aren't there more wounds than physicians? Aren't there more who need the truth than those who tell it?
So what do we do? Throw up our hands and walk away? Tell the world we can't help them?
No, we don't give up. We look up. We trust. We believe. And our optimism is not hollow. Christ has proven worthy. He has shown that he never fails. That's what makes God, God.
Hebrews 12
God Disciplines His Sons
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."[a]
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning Against Refusing God
14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."[c] 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."[d]
22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."[e] 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."[f]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Romans 12:3-8
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[a]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
September 11, 2008
Called
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Romans 12:3-8
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. —Romans 12:6
In September 2001, Lisa Jefferson had an unexpected opportunity to be used by God. Her now well-known 15-minute conversation with a passenger on United Flight 93 forever changed the direction of her life. In her book Called, she emphasizes that her listening skills and her ability to take charge and stay calm in a crisis were used to encourage fellow believer Todd Beamer in the last moments of his life.
She didn’t ask to be used that way. But God saw a woman who was available and matched her with someone who was in need. Lisa now shares her story with whomever she can to encourage believers to always be ready to serve.
Not only has God given us natural abilities, He also equips every believer with spiritual gifts for the purpose of ministry. God doesn’t use the unwilling—He won’t force us to serve Him. His part is to equip us (Eph. 4:11-13) and empower and prepare us for service. Our part is to be faithful and available and aware of opportunities to use our gifts (Rom. 12:6).
When you feel impelled to help fill a need, when you are inwardly driven to serve—listen to those thoughts. You don’t want to miss God’s call. — Cindy Hess Kasper
In gladness I go forth each day
Expectantly to serve and claim
The happiness that service gives
When freely rendered in God’s name. —Anon.
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary work.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 11, 2008
Missionary Weapons (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, "Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field"? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield--you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the "second mile" with God (see Matthew 5:41 ). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, "Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life." But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Tipping Allowed - #5654 - September 11, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Any time I'm planning to be in New York City, I make sure I have some loose change and some small bills; I know I'll need it for tips. Maybe for a parking lot attendant, a cab driver, maybe a waitress. Actually, tipping is a way of life in America. Here's what the dictionary says it is: "A small percent of money given directly to someone for performing a service." A tip is a small thank you, nothing major, loose change stuff. And that's appropriate as a response to a small service but not to a total sacrifice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Tipping Allowed."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 6:33-34. It says this, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus is setting up here the priority structure that should govern the lives of anyone who is following Him, and it's pretty simple. Make sure God always gets His first.
But often Jesus has to wait in a long line behind our business, our friends, our family, our recreation, our ambitions, and our needs. Then we fish around in the loose change of our life and give Him a tip, a small thanks for a total sacrifice. In the words of Romans 8:32, "God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all." That's worth more than a tip that costs you little. Or in the words of David, "Shall I bring to the Lord that which costs me nothing?"
Life at its best always gives to God off the top. Let's start with money, whether you have a lot or a little. There's no tithe law anymore, but don't you think love should start where law left off and go from there? Financially, seek first God's interests - you give to Him before you do anything else with the money you have received.
And how about your schedule? We need to say, "With my busy schedule, I'm seeking Him first." Daily time to spend with Jesus is supposed to be the anchor of your schedule, it is non-negotiable. And be sure you save some prime time for the work of His Kingdom, too.
Jesus also deserves the best of your talents and your dearest possessions. Who really owns that car of yours, that house, that music, that wardrobe, those books? Jesus' Name should be all over everything. He should have prior claim to how it all gets used since He paid for your life with His life on a cross!
Will you make Jesus' share the sun around which everything must revolve, or is Jesus really just one of your planets revolving around something else that you've put in the center? Doesn't the Bible say, "You shall have no other gods before me"? Give Jesus His money first, His time first, His use of your talents first, your possessions first.
It may seem risky, but it's not nearly as risky as giving your Savior less than your best. You give God His and you don't have less, you have more. What did Jesus say? "All these things will be given to you...do not worry." God is your Father, not your waiter. He's your Lord, not your chauffeur. And He gets your very best. You don't worship your Lord and Savior by just giving Him tips.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hebrews 11, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 10
Closer than You Think
Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:27 (NKJV)
When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they called him a ghost. A phantom.... To them, the glow was anything but God.
When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as apparitions, accidents, or anomalies. Anything but God....
And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle. Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper.
But it is in burnished candles that God comes, and through whispered promises he speaks: "When you doubt, look around; I am closer than you think."
Hebrews 11
By Faith
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned."[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
23By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[e]
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 22:22-27
22 "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
25 "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. [a] 26 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, 27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
September 10, 2008
Hear Their Cry
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 22:22-27
You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry. —Exodus 22:22-23
CNN recently reported that there are approximately 40 million widows in India. Fifteen thousand of them live on the streets of the northern city of Vrindavan. Unfortunately, many of their families do not hear their cries. A 70-year-old widow says, “My son tells me: ‘You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away.’?” She cries, “What do I do? My pain has no limit.”
When God gave His people instructions in the desert, He told them they had a responsibility to care for widows and fatherless children in the land (Ex. 22:22-23). They were to leave some of the harvest in the field for them, and every third year they took up a special tithe for the needy. God expected His people to hear the cries of the powerless, defend their rights, and care for them.
The Israelites were commanded to care for others as a remembrance of their experience in Egypt. When they were in trouble and cried out to God, He heard their cries and helped them. So their memory of oppression and release was intended to mold their values, attitudes, and actions toward the powerless in the land (Deut. 24:18-22).
Let us imitate our Father by hearing the cries of the needy in our world. — Marvin Williams
To love your neighbor as yourself
Is not an easy task,
But God will show His love through you
If only you will ask. —Sper
The closer you are to God, the more you’ll have a heart for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 10, 2008
Missionary Weapons (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, "If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion"? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private "fig-tree" life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, "But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready"? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beyond Yesterday - #5653 - September 10, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We've got at least four generations of men in our family who have had a hard time holding onto their hair. Some have suggested that our hair is being pushed out by our rapidly expanding intelligence and that sounds very scientifically credible to me. I think that's it probably. I feel better when I hear about that man who lost all his hair in a very short time, well, almost all of it. He had that one hair that didn't fall out. And did he take care of that one hair! He made sure it was shampooed, and rinsed, moussed, and razor cut, and styled, until that awful morning he woke up and found that hair on his pillow. A shriek went through the house and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Oh no! I'm bald!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Wait Till it's All Gone!"
Mr. One-hair didn't wake up to what was going on until there was nothing left! That's the very mistake you might be making right now in one of your important relationships.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5 beginning with verse 23, "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." Jesus is saying, "If you've got a breaking or broken relationship, drop everything and get to fixing it immediately, you don't have anything more important to do. You say, "Wouldn't it make more sense to finish this worship service first?" He said, "No, first, go and be reconciled before you do any more work, any more worship, any more study, any more anything.
The problem is that we let walls and resentments grow, and like the man who was the last one to call himself bald, we wait until the relationship is gone before we face it.
It could be that somewhere in your life right now there is a hurting relationship. There is someone hurting, maybe someone you've wounded or insulted or neglected or ignored. Maybe there's a husband or wife, a son or daughter or maybe another loved one who is suddenly crying, "I need you and you're not here." Don't wait to act - don't wait to notice until it's too late.
My friend Stan waited for the emergency room. That's where they were fighting to save the life of his teenage daughter who had just attempted suicide. Thank God, Mary survived. And Stan finally faced the issues that were slowly destroying his little girl. He said, "Mary, I'm so sorry for the ways I've treated you and the affection I haven't given you. I've been copying the way my father treated me and I know you have needed a different kind of father. Please forgive me." She was almost gone before he could say he was sorry. Don't wait for the emergency room. By the way, that night was a turning point to a new and closer relationship.
Is there a relationship in your life that needs some attention? Jesus says to get to that first. It means facing your mistakes, facing your neglect, maybe your conflicts. It may mean apologizing, maybe forgiving. Reaching out with love they can feel, making time for someone you love but you've been too busy for. So many parents are so busy establishing their lives that they have no time for their children. Ironically, when the kids have time in their lives, we don't. Then, we finally have some time for them, and they don't. Irreplaceable years and opportunities are gone. We waited too long.
That may be what your Lord is trying to say to you right now. Take care of that relationship before any more time goes by. Don't wait until that devastating time when you wake up and realize that you've waited until there's nothing left.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 10
Closer than You Think
Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:27 (NKJV)
When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they called him a ghost. A phantom.... To them, the glow was anything but God.
When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as apparitions, accidents, or anomalies. Anything but God....
And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle. Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper.
But it is in burnished candles that God comes, and through whispered promises he speaks: "When you doubt, look around; I am closer than you think."
Hebrews 11
By Faith
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned."[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
23By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[e]
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 22:22-27
22 "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
25 "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. [a] 26 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, 27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
September 10, 2008
Hear Their Cry
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 22:22-27
You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry. —Exodus 22:22-23
CNN recently reported that there are approximately 40 million widows in India. Fifteen thousand of them live on the streets of the northern city of Vrindavan. Unfortunately, many of their families do not hear their cries. A 70-year-old widow says, “My son tells me: ‘You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away.’?” She cries, “What do I do? My pain has no limit.”
When God gave His people instructions in the desert, He told them they had a responsibility to care for widows and fatherless children in the land (Ex. 22:22-23). They were to leave some of the harvest in the field for them, and every third year they took up a special tithe for the needy. God expected His people to hear the cries of the powerless, defend their rights, and care for them.
The Israelites were commanded to care for others as a remembrance of their experience in Egypt. When they were in trouble and cried out to God, He heard their cries and helped them. So their memory of oppression and release was intended to mold their values, attitudes, and actions toward the powerless in the land (Deut. 24:18-22).
Let us imitate our Father by hearing the cries of the needy in our world. — Marvin Williams
To love your neighbor as yourself
Is not an easy task,
But God will show His love through you
If only you will ask. —Sper
The closer you are to God, the more you’ll have a heart for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 10, 2008
Missionary Weapons (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, "If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion"? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private "fig-tree" life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, "But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready"? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beyond Yesterday - #5653 - September 10, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We've got at least four generations of men in our family who have had a hard time holding onto their hair. Some have suggested that our hair is being pushed out by our rapidly expanding intelligence and that sounds very scientifically credible to me. I think that's it probably. I feel better when I hear about that man who lost all his hair in a very short time, well, almost all of it. He had that one hair that didn't fall out. And did he take care of that one hair! He made sure it was shampooed, and rinsed, moussed, and razor cut, and styled, until that awful morning he woke up and found that hair on his pillow. A shriek went through the house and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Oh no! I'm bald!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Wait Till it's All Gone!"
Mr. One-hair didn't wake up to what was going on until there was nothing left! That's the very mistake you might be making right now in one of your important relationships.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5 beginning with verse 23, "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." Jesus is saying, "If you've got a breaking or broken relationship, drop everything and get to fixing it immediately, you don't have anything more important to do. You say, "Wouldn't it make more sense to finish this worship service first?" He said, "No, first, go and be reconciled before you do any more work, any more worship, any more study, any more anything.
The problem is that we let walls and resentments grow, and like the man who was the last one to call himself bald, we wait until the relationship is gone before we face it.
It could be that somewhere in your life right now there is a hurting relationship. There is someone hurting, maybe someone you've wounded or insulted or neglected or ignored. Maybe there's a husband or wife, a son or daughter or maybe another loved one who is suddenly crying, "I need you and you're not here." Don't wait to act - don't wait to notice until it's too late.
My friend Stan waited for the emergency room. That's where they were fighting to save the life of his teenage daughter who had just attempted suicide. Thank God, Mary survived. And Stan finally faced the issues that were slowly destroying his little girl. He said, "Mary, I'm so sorry for the ways I've treated you and the affection I haven't given you. I've been copying the way my father treated me and I know you have needed a different kind of father. Please forgive me." She was almost gone before he could say he was sorry. Don't wait for the emergency room. By the way, that night was a turning point to a new and closer relationship.
Is there a relationship in your life that needs some attention? Jesus says to get to that first. It means facing your mistakes, facing your neglect, maybe your conflicts. It may mean apologizing, maybe forgiving. Reaching out with love they can feel, making time for someone you love but you've been too busy for. So many parents are so busy establishing their lives that they have no time for their children. Ironically, when the kids have time in their lives, we don't. Then, we finally have some time for them, and they don't. Irreplaceable years and opportunities are gone. We waited too long.
That may be what your Lord is trying to say to you right now. Take care of that relationship before any more time goes by. Don't wait until that devastating time when you wake up and realize that you've waited until there's nothing left.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Hebrews 10, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 9
He Is Your God
“I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you.”
Hosea 11:9 (NCV)
Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, “I am among you.” Do you believe that? Do you believe God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, he is present. In your car. On the plane. In your office, your bedroom, your den. He’s near.
God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy. He has not removed himself from history. He has not chosen to seclude himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.
He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the carpools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In the schoolroom as in the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the communion table.
Hebrews 10
Christ's Sacrifice Once for All
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' "[a] 8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."[b] 17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."[c] 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d] and again, "The Lord will judge his people."[e] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."[g] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
September 9, 2008
The Chimp’s Birthday Card
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 3:1-13
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” —Genesis 3:12
Not long ago my wife asked me to pick up a belated birthday card for her brother. Scanning the rack, I ran across a card with a chimpanzee on the front holding a phone receiver in his hand.
This is what it said: “I better not hear . . . about how upset you are that I missed your birthday. I mean, how do you know I wasn’t in a serious car accident and lying in some ditch out in the middle of nowhere? . . . Well, I may have forgotten your birthday, but I didn’t exactly get any phone calls to see if I was okay. All I know is you better have a good excuse why I didn’t hear from you on your birthday!”
The extent to which people avoid legitimate responsibility is almost laughable, but it is nothing new. When God confronted Adam for eating the forbidden fruit, he chose to blame his wife and God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12).
When we have done something wrong, we can either accept legitimate blame for what we have done or shift the blame to others. The way that pleases God and results in spiritual growth is to accept personal responsibility for our actions. Irrationally blaming others is no laughing matter. — Dennis Fisher
His eye our secret thoughts behold,
His mercies all our lives enfold,
He knows our purposes untold,
You cannot hide from God! —Ackley
A good test of a person’s character is his behavior when he is wrong.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 9, 2008
Do It Yourself (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, ". . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . ." So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— "the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . " ( John 5:19 ). Then compare this with what we do— we take "every thought" or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are "bringing every thought [and project] into captivity" are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not "bringing every thought [and project] into captivity," but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to "be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . ." (Romans 12:2 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beyond Yesterday - #5652 - September 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
The plane bound for Newark Airport was full. Now all those passengers are waiting for their suitcase to arrive on the baggage carousel along with passengers from a couple of other flights. And to think people pay to go to the zoo! There are times when that crowd of people gets pretty big and we're all crammed together in an area that can get pretty wall-to-wall. Recently the claustrophobia got worse than ever, they have put up a wall that reduces the already limited space. You could get pretty steamed about it if you didn't realize that wall was there to cover up some construction that's in progress. See, they are improving and enlarging that whole area! Now how do they make us feel good about this crunch in the meantime? They put up a sign on that construction wall and it seemed to do the job. I didn't forget it and it said this, "Thanks for your patience. We are getting rid of yesterday so we can get ready for tomorrow."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beyond Yesterday."
That's God's construction strategy, too, for improving and enlarging your life. Our word for today from the Word of God, Philippians 3:13-14. Paul says, "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Or, I am getting rid of yesterday so I can get ready for tomorrow.
Well, are you hanging on to yesterday. Those construction people at the airport have to make a choice. Shall we hang onto what's been in the past or leave that behind and build something for the future? You can't have both. They can't have the future if they keep hanging onto the past, and neither can you.
It may be that you are writing the verse this way, "Dwelling on what is behind," "remembering what is behind." You won't let go of the past: the hurts, the slights, the pain, the problems, the miss understandings, the grudge, and the resentments. You keep reliving and replaying them and consequently you have pretty much identified your place in life, I'm a victim. And you may very well have been a victim. But you will be tomorrow a victim, only if you insist on carrying your yesterday into your tomorrow.
You've got Jesus now. Your identity is "child of God," not victim. Your tomorrows need to be focused on pursuing what Jesus can make you, not what your past has made you. Maybe the yesterdays you won't forget are your failures. You've got to leave them behind, too.
You cannot change the past, and the Devil would love to have you focused on what can't be changed. Then you're a slave for life. Jesus wants you to focus on what can be changed, the future. That has yet to be written. You can determine right now, no matter what the past has been that the rest of your days will be the best of your days and that your past will not infect your future. You draw a line today.
The choice is clear, just like that construction company; you have to choose between yesterday or tomorrow. Dwelling on your yesterdays will cost you what your tomorrows could have been. Releasing your yesterdays, deliberately moving past them, makes room for what God wants to build in your future. Jesus is in the construction business with you, getting rid of yesterday so He can get ready for tomorrow.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 9
He Is Your God
“I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you.”
Hosea 11:9 (NCV)
Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, “I am among you.” Do you believe that? Do you believe God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, he is present. In your car. On the plane. In your office, your bedroom, your den. He’s near.
God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy. He has not removed himself from history. He has not chosen to seclude himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.
He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the carpools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In the schoolroom as in the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the communion table.
Hebrews 10
Christ's Sacrifice Once for All
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' "[a] 8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."[b] 17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."[c] 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d] and again, "The Lord will judge his people."[e] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."[g] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
September 9, 2008
The Chimp’s Birthday Card
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 3:1-13
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” —Genesis 3:12
Not long ago my wife asked me to pick up a belated birthday card for her brother. Scanning the rack, I ran across a card with a chimpanzee on the front holding a phone receiver in his hand.
This is what it said: “I better not hear . . . about how upset you are that I missed your birthday. I mean, how do you know I wasn’t in a serious car accident and lying in some ditch out in the middle of nowhere? . . . Well, I may have forgotten your birthday, but I didn’t exactly get any phone calls to see if I was okay. All I know is you better have a good excuse why I didn’t hear from you on your birthday!”
The extent to which people avoid legitimate responsibility is almost laughable, but it is nothing new. When God confronted Adam for eating the forbidden fruit, he chose to blame his wife and God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12).
When we have done something wrong, we can either accept legitimate blame for what we have done or shift the blame to others. The way that pleases God and results in spiritual growth is to accept personal responsibility for our actions. Irrationally blaming others is no laughing matter. — Dennis Fisher
His eye our secret thoughts behold,
His mercies all our lives enfold,
He knows our purposes untold,
You cannot hide from God! —Ackley
A good test of a person’s character is his behavior when he is wrong.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 9, 2008
Do It Yourself (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, ". . . I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ . . . ." So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— "the Son can do nothing of Himself . . . " ( John 5:19 ). Then compare this with what we do— we take "every thought" or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.
Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are "bringing every thought [and project] into captivity" are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not "bringing every thought [and project] into captivity," but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.
We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to "be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . ." (Romans 12:2 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Beyond Yesterday - #5652 - September 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
The plane bound for Newark Airport was full. Now all those passengers are waiting for their suitcase to arrive on the baggage carousel along with passengers from a couple of other flights. And to think people pay to go to the zoo! There are times when that crowd of people gets pretty big and we're all crammed together in an area that can get pretty wall-to-wall. Recently the claustrophobia got worse than ever, they have put up a wall that reduces the already limited space. You could get pretty steamed about it if you didn't realize that wall was there to cover up some construction that's in progress. See, they are improving and enlarging that whole area! Now how do they make us feel good about this crunch in the meantime? They put up a sign on that construction wall and it seemed to do the job. I didn't forget it and it said this, "Thanks for your patience. We are getting rid of yesterday so we can get ready for tomorrow."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beyond Yesterday."
That's God's construction strategy, too, for improving and enlarging your life. Our word for today from the Word of God, Philippians 3:13-14. Paul says, "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Or, I am getting rid of yesterday so I can get ready for tomorrow.
Well, are you hanging on to yesterday. Those construction people at the airport have to make a choice. Shall we hang onto what's been in the past or leave that behind and build something for the future? You can't have both. They can't have the future if they keep hanging onto the past, and neither can you.
It may be that you are writing the verse this way, "Dwelling on what is behind," "remembering what is behind." You won't let go of the past: the hurts, the slights, the pain, the problems, the miss understandings, the grudge, and the resentments. You keep reliving and replaying them and consequently you have pretty much identified your place in life, I'm a victim. And you may very well have been a victim. But you will be tomorrow a victim, only if you insist on carrying your yesterday into your tomorrow.
You've got Jesus now. Your identity is "child of God," not victim. Your tomorrows need to be focused on pursuing what Jesus can make you, not what your past has made you. Maybe the yesterdays you won't forget are your failures. You've got to leave them behind, too.
You cannot change the past, and the Devil would love to have you focused on what can't be changed. Then you're a slave for life. Jesus wants you to focus on what can be changed, the future. That has yet to be written. You can determine right now, no matter what the past has been that the rest of your days will be the best of your days and that your past will not infect your future. You draw a line today.
The choice is clear, just like that construction company; you have to choose between yesterday or tomorrow. Dwelling on your yesterdays will cost you what your tomorrows could have been. Releasing your yesterdays, deliberately moving past them, makes room for what God wants to build in your future. Jesus is in the construction business with you, getting rid of yesterday so He can get ready for tomorrow.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Hebrews 9, daily reading and devotions
The Reality of Faith, by Max Lucado
Monday, September 08, 2008
“Surely this was a righteous man.”
Luke 23:47 NIV
If it is true that a picture paints a thousand words, then there was a Roman centurion who got a dictionary full. All he did was see Jesus suffer. He never heard him preach or saw him heal or followed him through the crowds. He never witnessed him still the winds; he only witnessed the way he died. But that was all it took to cause this weather-worn soldier to take a giant step in faith. “Surely this was a righteous man.”
That says a lot, doesn’t it? It says the rubber of faith meets the road of reality under hardship. It says the trueness of one’s belief in revealed in pain. Genuineness and character are unveiled in misfortune. Faith is at its best, not in three-piece suits on Sunday mornings or at V.B.S on summer days, but at hospital bedsides, cancer wards, and cemeteries.
Hebrews 9
Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.[a] But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The Blood of Christ
11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here,[b] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep."[e] 21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 4
Apostles of Christ
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!
September 8, 2008
Compliments Given Here
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Corinthians 4:1-8
Each one’s praise will come from God. —1 Corinthians 4:5
Artist Tom Greaves knows how to give compliments. He designed a bright red-and-white-striped box for an art exhibit in Washington, DC, called “The Compliment Machine.” As people walk by, the machine dishes out compliments from an internal iPod. It says things like, “Your eyes are beautiful,” “You smell good,” and “People are drawn to your positive energy.”
Greaves won’t say what his motive is for the box, other than that it’s in response to a saccharine culture in which everyone is special and nobody is criticized, regardless of performance.
Everybody loves to hear a compliment now and then; that is, if it’s genuine. It makes us feel good about ourselves to have the approval or admiration of others—for a few minutes at least. The apostle Paul, though, looked at what others thought of him or even what he thought of himself as “a very small thing” (1 Cor. 4:3). He said, “He who judges me is the Lord” (v.4). He knew that one day our hearts will be revealed, and “then each one’s praise will come from God” (v.5).
Could there be any greater compliment than this from our heavenly Father when we meet Him: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:23). — Anne Cetas
What joy ’twill be to hear Him say,
“Rejoice, My child, well done!
You’ve fought the battles there on earth,
The victor’s crown you’ve won.” —Sherbert
Work well done for Christ will receive a “well done” from Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8, 2008
Do It Yourself (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to "stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . ." (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier "against the knowledge of God" is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Knowing You're Safe - #5651 - September 8, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, September 8, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When our older son was little, he would sometimes wander into the living room, crawl into my lap, and snuggle up so close I wasn't sure how he could breathe. One night he looked up at me with those big blue eyes of his and he told me something I've never forgotten. He said, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knowing You're Safe."
No matter how old we get, we're still looking for arms where we can feel totally safe, especially when we think about eternity.
For many years, my wife has wanted to find her grandfather's grave. So recently when my work took me near the area where Bill Harrison was buried, she checked out all the local cemeteries hoping to find that grave. Granddad Harrison had been an alcoholic since he was 12, but on the night he was planning to kill himself, he was attracted into a rescue mission by a song his mother used to sing. And that night he committed himself to Jesus Christ, and he never touched alcohol again. He spent the rest of his life traveling the country telling about the power that had changed him.
My wife never got to meet him; he died before she was born. And no one is alive today who could tell her exactly where he was buried. Sadly, she couldn't find a grave with his name on it. But she finally called and told me a little tearfully, The last grave we looked at had no name on it, but the same words we had inscribed on my mother's grave were on that gravestone, 'In the arms of Jesus.'"
Whatever they put on our tombstone some day, I hope those words will accurately describe where you'll be the moment after you die - safe in Jesus' arms. The Bible lets us know that this hope is more than just a nice epitaph. It says of those who belong to Jesus Christ, that they will be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (1 Corinthians 5:8). Or, to put it simply, safe forever.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Revelation 21 beginning at verse 3, the Lord gives us a peek at what heaven will be like. It says, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain ... The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it ... there will be no night there." Of course, the most important question for you and me is, "Who will be there in heaven? Who goes to be 'in the arms of Jesus' when they die?"
Well, Revelation 21:27 says, "Nothing impure will ever enter it ... but only those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life." Earlier in the same book, God says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The Bible makes it clear that God gave His only Son for us that "whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That's who's in that Book of Life. Bill Harrison, my wife's mom, you or me, we end up "in the arms of Jesus" not because God accepts what we have done, but because we accept what God has done when Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. Nobody will make it to heaven because of the good they've done. The Bible says, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). And no one with sin can enter heaven. That's why Jesus had to die to pay a death penalty we could never pay, to remove the only thing that will keep you out of heaven when you die - your sin.
To end up in the arms of Jesus the moment you die, you have to put yourself in His arms before you die. And that's what He's inviting you to do right now; to walk into His open arms and let Him rescue you from a sin penalty you could never rescue yourself from. If you do that, you can know from this day on what will happen when you die. You will be in heaven with your Savior. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I hope you'll visit our website, because there's a lot of practical help there in knowing that you have actually given your life to Jesus Christ and how to begin that relationship. It's YoursForLife.net.
There is one safe place, today and forever. It is in the arms of Jesus.
Monday, September 08, 2008
“Surely this was a righteous man.”
Luke 23:47 NIV
If it is true that a picture paints a thousand words, then there was a Roman centurion who got a dictionary full. All he did was see Jesus suffer. He never heard him preach or saw him heal or followed him through the crowds. He never witnessed him still the winds; he only witnessed the way he died. But that was all it took to cause this weather-worn soldier to take a giant step in faith. “Surely this was a righteous man.”
That says a lot, doesn’t it? It says the rubber of faith meets the road of reality under hardship. It says the trueness of one’s belief in revealed in pain. Genuineness and character are unveiled in misfortune. Faith is at its best, not in three-piece suits on Sunday mornings or at V.B.S on summer days, but at hospital bedsides, cancer wards, and cemeteries.
Hebrews 9
Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.[a] But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The Blood of Christ
11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here,[b] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep."[e] 21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 4
Apostles of Christ
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!
September 8, 2008
Compliments Given Here
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Corinthians 4:1-8
Each one’s praise will come from God. —1 Corinthians 4:5
Artist Tom Greaves knows how to give compliments. He designed a bright red-and-white-striped box for an art exhibit in Washington, DC, called “The Compliment Machine.” As people walk by, the machine dishes out compliments from an internal iPod. It says things like, “Your eyes are beautiful,” “You smell good,” and “People are drawn to your positive energy.”
Greaves won’t say what his motive is for the box, other than that it’s in response to a saccharine culture in which everyone is special and nobody is criticized, regardless of performance.
Everybody loves to hear a compliment now and then; that is, if it’s genuine. It makes us feel good about ourselves to have the approval or admiration of others—for a few minutes at least. The apostle Paul, though, looked at what others thought of him or even what he thought of himself as “a very small thing” (1 Cor. 4:3). He said, “He who judges me is the Lord” (v.4). He knew that one day our hearts will be revealed, and “then each one’s praise will come from God” (v.5).
Could there be any greater compliment than this from our heavenly Father when we meet Him: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:23). — Anne Cetas
What joy ’twill be to hear Him say,
“Rejoice, My child, well done!
You’ve fought the battles there on earth,
The victor’s crown you’ve won.” —Sherbert
Work well done for Christ will receive a “well done” from Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 8, 2008
Do It Yourself (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5
Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to "stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . ." (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier "against the knowledge of God" is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Knowing You're Safe - #5651 - September 8, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, September 8, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When our older son was little, he would sometimes wander into the living room, crawl into my lap, and snuggle up so close I wasn't sure how he could breathe. One night he looked up at me with those big blue eyes of his and he told me something I've never forgotten. He said, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knowing You're Safe."
No matter how old we get, we're still looking for arms where we can feel totally safe, especially when we think about eternity.
For many years, my wife has wanted to find her grandfather's grave. So recently when my work took me near the area where Bill Harrison was buried, she checked out all the local cemeteries hoping to find that grave. Granddad Harrison had been an alcoholic since he was 12, but on the night he was planning to kill himself, he was attracted into a rescue mission by a song his mother used to sing. And that night he committed himself to Jesus Christ, and he never touched alcohol again. He spent the rest of his life traveling the country telling about the power that had changed him.
My wife never got to meet him; he died before she was born. And no one is alive today who could tell her exactly where he was buried. Sadly, she couldn't find a grave with his name on it. But she finally called and told me a little tearfully, The last grave we looked at had no name on it, but the same words we had inscribed on my mother's grave were on that gravestone, 'In the arms of Jesus.'"
Whatever they put on our tombstone some day, I hope those words will accurately describe where you'll be the moment after you die - safe in Jesus' arms. The Bible lets us know that this hope is more than just a nice epitaph. It says of those who belong to Jesus Christ, that they will be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (1 Corinthians 5:8). Or, to put it simply, safe forever.
In our word for today from the Word of God, Revelation 21 beginning at verse 3, the Lord gives us a peek at what heaven will be like. It says, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain ... The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it ... there will be no night there." Of course, the most important question for you and me is, "Who will be there in heaven? Who goes to be 'in the arms of Jesus' when they die?"
Well, Revelation 21:27 says, "Nothing impure will ever enter it ... but only those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life." Earlier in the same book, God says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The Bible makes it clear that God gave His only Son for us that "whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That's who's in that Book of Life. Bill Harrison, my wife's mom, you or me, we end up "in the arms of Jesus" not because God accepts what we have done, but because we accept what God has done when Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. Nobody will make it to heaven because of the good they've done. The Bible says, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). And no one with sin can enter heaven. That's why Jesus had to die to pay a death penalty we could never pay, to remove the only thing that will keep you out of heaven when you die - your sin.
To end up in the arms of Jesus the moment you die, you have to put yourself in His arms before you die. And that's what He's inviting you to do right now; to walk into His open arms and let Him rescue you from a sin penalty you could never rescue yourself from. If you do that, you can know from this day on what will happen when you die. You will be in heaven with your Savior. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I hope you'll visit our website, because there's a lot of practical help there in knowing that you have actually given your life to Jesus Christ and how to begin that relationship. It's YoursForLife.net.
There is one safe place, today and forever. It is in the arms of Jesus.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Hebrews 8, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 7
The Son gives life.
John 5:21 (NCV)
The Bible is the story of two gardens: Eden and Gethsemane. In the first, Adam took a fall. In the second, Jesus took a stand.
In the first, God sought Adam. In the second, Jesus sought God.
In Eden, Adam hid from God. In Gethsemane, Jesus emerged from the tomb.
In Eden, Satan led Adam to a tree that led to his death. From Gethsemane, Jesus went to a tree that led to our life.
Heaven Knows Your Heart, by Max Lucado
Sunday, September 07, 2008
“Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.” Ecclesiastes 5:15 NIV
Think for just a moment about the things you own. Think about the house you have, the car you drive, the money you’ve saved. Think about the stocks you’ve traded and the clothes you’ve purchased. Envision all your stuff, and let me remind you of two biblical truths.
Your stuff isn’t yours. Ask any coroner…No one takes it with him. When one of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. leave?” The accountant’s reply? “All of it.”
All that stuff—it’s not yours. And you know what else about all that stuff? It’s not you. Who you are has nothing to do with the clothes you wear or the car you drive. Jesus said, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Luke 12:15 MSG). Heaven does not know you as the fellow with the nice suit or the woman with the big house or the kid with the new bike. Heaven knows your heart.
Hebrews 8
The High Priest of a New Covenant
1The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.
3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."[a] 6But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said[b]:
"The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."[c]
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 8:6-18
6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
September 7, 2008
The Dangers Of Success
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Deuteronomy 8:6-18
Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes. —Deuteronomy 8:11
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn said that he learned to pray in a Siberian concentration camp because he had no other hope. Before his arrest, when things were going well, he seldom gave God a thought.
Similarly, the Israelites learned the habit of depending on God in the Sinai wilderness where they had no choice; they needed His daily intervention just to eat and drink. But when they finally stood on the banks of the Jordan River, they awaited a more difficult test of faith. After they entered the land of plenty, would they soon forget God?
The Israelites knew little about the seductions of other cultures, having spent their lives in the desert. Moses was more afraid of the coming prosperity than the rigors of the desert—the alluring sensuality, the exotic religions, the glittering wealth. The Israelites might put God behind them and credit themselves for their success (Deut. 8:11,17).
Ironically, success makes it harder to depend on the Lord. The Israelites did prove less faithful after they moved into the Promised Land. Again and again they turned their hearts to other gods.
Beware of the temptation that success brings. There is grave danger in getting what we want. — Philip Yancey
I blindly ask for what I crave,
With haughty heart and will so stout;
He oft denies me what I seek,
But gives me grace to do without. —Anon.
There is no failure more disastrous than the success that leaves God out.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7, 2008
Fountains of Blessings
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to "be filled" ( Ephesians 5:18 ) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you "will flow rivers of living water"— irrepressible life ( John 7:38 ).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as "rivers of living water" in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you "will flow rivers of living water." It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, "But I don’t see the rivers"? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 7
The Son gives life.
John 5:21 (NCV)
The Bible is the story of two gardens: Eden and Gethsemane. In the first, Adam took a fall. In the second, Jesus took a stand.
In the first, God sought Adam. In the second, Jesus sought God.
In Eden, Adam hid from God. In Gethsemane, Jesus emerged from the tomb.
In Eden, Satan led Adam to a tree that led to his death. From Gethsemane, Jesus went to a tree that led to our life.
Heaven Knows Your Heart, by Max Lucado
Sunday, September 07, 2008
“Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.” Ecclesiastes 5:15 NIV
Think for just a moment about the things you own. Think about the house you have, the car you drive, the money you’ve saved. Think about the stocks you’ve traded and the clothes you’ve purchased. Envision all your stuff, and let me remind you of two biblical truths.
Your stuff isn’t yours. Ask any coroner…No one takes it with him. When one of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. leave?” The accountant’s reply? “All of it.”
All that stuff—it’s not yours. And you know what else about all that stuff? It’s not you. Who you are has nothing to do with the clothes you wear or the car you drive. Jesus said, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Luke 12:15 MSG). Heaven does not know you as the fellow with the nice suit or the woman with the big house or the kid with the new bike. Heaven knows your heart.
Hebrews 8
The High Priest of a New Covenant
1The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.
3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."[a] 6But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said[b]:
"The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."[c]
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 8:6-18
6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
September 7, 2008
The Dangers Of Success
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READ: Deuteronomy 8:6-18
Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes. —Deuteronomy 8:11
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn said that he learned to pray in a Siberian concentration camp because he had no other hope. Before his arrest, when things were going well, he seldom gave God a thought.
Similarly, the Israelites learned the habit of depending on God in the Sinai wilderness where they had no choice; they needed His daily intervention just to eat and drink. But when they finally stood on the banks of the Jordan River, they awaited a more difficult test of faith. After they entered the land of plenty, would they soon forget God?
The Israelites knew little about the seductions of other cultures, having spent their lives in the desert. Moses was more afraid of the coming prosperity than the rigors of the desert—the alluring sensuality, the exotic religions, the glittering wealth. The Israelites might put God behind them and credit themselves for their success (Deut. 8:11,17).
Ironically, success makes it harder to depend on the Lord. The Israelites did prove less faithful after they moved into the Promised Land. Again and again they turned their hearts to other gods.
Beware of the temptation that success brings. There is grave danger in getting what we want. — Philip Yancey
I blindly ask for what I crave,
With haughty heart and will so stout;
He oft denies me what I seek,
But gives me grace to do without. —Anon.
There is no failure more disastrous than the success that leaves God out.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7, 2008
Fountains of Blessings
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READ:
The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14
The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to "be filled" ( Ephesians 5:18 ) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you "will flow rivers of living water"— irrepressible life ( John 7:38 ).
We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as "rivers of living water" in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you "will flow rivers of living water." It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.
Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, "But I don’t see the rivers"? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Hebrews 7, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 6
God, examine me and know my heart....Lead me on the road to everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NCV)
You don't have to be like the world to have an impact on the world.
You don't have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don't have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level.
Holiness doesn't seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
Hebrews 7
Melchizedek the Priest
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
4Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. 6This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. 8In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
Jesus Like Melchizedek
11If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is declared:
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."[a]
18The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
"The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
'You are a priest forever.' "[b] 22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 5:14-24
14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
September 6, 2008
Do Your Best And Leave The Rest
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-24
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. —1 Thessalonians 5:24
Have you at some time found yourself under extreme pressure? Have there been episodes in your life when you were so burdened by tasks and responsibilities that there was simply no breathing space to prepare for your service to God?
That was the experience of a pastor by the name of A. J. Gossip. During one hectic week, he didn’t have his customary amount of time to prepare his sermon. As he walked to his pulpit that Sunday morning, he felt guilty about the scanty sermon notes in his hand. It seemed that the Lord was asking him, “Is this the best you could do for Me this week?” And Gossip honestly replied, “Yes, Lord, it is my best.” He told a friend later that Jesus took that ill-prepared piece of work and in His hands “it became a trumpet” to his congregation.
The apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to give their all for God (1 Thess. 5:14-22). They were to exhort, warn, comfort, rejoice, pray, and express their gratitude to God—among other things. We too should always do our best in our Christian life and service. But when pressure-periods come and we just don’t have the time we feel we need, we should do the best we can and then prayerfully trust God’s faithfulness (v.24). — Vernon C. Grounds
Give of your best to the Master,
Give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service,
Consecrate every part. —Grose
Be faithful—and leave the results to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6, 2008
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
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READ:
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8 ) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— "This is the work of God, that you believe. . ." ( John 6:29 ). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 6
God, examine me and know my heart....Lead me on the road to everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NCV)
You don't have to be like the world to have an impact on the world.
You don't have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don't have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level.
Holiness doesn't seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
Hebrews 7
Melchizedek the Priest
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
4Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. 6This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. 8In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
Jesus Like Melchizedek
11If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is declared:
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."[a]
18The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
"The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
'You are a priest forever.' "[b] 22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 5:14-24
14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
September 6, 2008
Do Your Best And Leave The Rest
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-24
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. —1 Thessalonians 5:24
Have you at some time found yourself under extreme pressure? Have there been episodes in your life when you were so burdened by tasks and responsibilities that there was simply no breathing space to prepare for your service to God?
That was the experience of a pastor by the name of A. J. Gossip. During one hectic week, he didn’t have his customary amount of time to prepare his sermon. As he walked to his pulpit that Sunday morning, he felt guilty about the scanty sermon notes in his hand. It seemed that the Lord was asking him, “Is this the best you could do for Me this week?” And Gossip honestly replied, “Yes, Lord, it is my best.” He told a friend later that Jesus took that ill-prepared piece of work and in His hands “it became a trumpet” to his congregation.
The apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to give their all for God (1 Thess. 5:14-22). They were to exhort, warn, comfort, rejoice, pray, and express their gratitude to God—among other things. We too should always do our best in our Christian life and service. But when pressure-periods come and we just don’t have the time we feel we need, we should do the best we can and then prayerfully trust God’s faithfulness (v.24). — Vernon C. Grounds
Give of your best to the Master,
Give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service,
Consecrate every part. —Grose
Be faithful—and leave the results to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 6, 2008
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8 ) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— "This is the work of God, that you believe. . ." ( John 6:29 ). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Hebrews 6, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 5
Prayer Reminds Us
When a believing person prays, great things happen.
James 5:16 (NCV)
Prayer is the recognition that if God had not engaged himself in our problems, we would still be lost in the blackness. It is by his mercy that we have been lifted up. Prayer is that whole process that reminds us of who God is and who we are.
I believe there's great power in prayer. I believe God heals the wounded, and that he can raise the dead. But I don't believe we tell God what to do and when to do it.
God knows that we, with our limited vision, don't even know that for which we should pray. When we entrust our requests to him, we trust him to honor our prayers with holy judgment.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God's Promise
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."[c] 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
September 5, 2008
Roots Or Shoots?
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READ: Matthew 13:1-9
Because they had no root they withered away. —Matthew 13:6
In the life of trees, one key to survival is having more roots than shoots. In his book Oak: The Frame of Civilization,, author William Bryant Logan says, “If a tree puts on a lot of top growth and few roots, it is liable to be weak-wooded and short-lived. . . . If a tree puts down a great deal of roots and adds shoots more slowly, however, it is liable to be long-lived and more resistant to stress and strain.”
People and organizations can be like trees. The rise to prominence is exhilarating, but anything that puts up shoots faster than it puts down roots is fragile and in danger of breaking, falling, or dying.
Jesus used a similar analogy in His parable of the sower. People who hear the Word and receive it joyfully are like seed sown on stony places; they spring up quickly but endure only a short time because they have no roots (Matt. 13:6,20-21).
Roots aren’t at all glamorous, but they are the source of our strength. If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God (Jer. 9:24) and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), we’ll be strong, resistant to blight, and more likely to survive the storms of adversity.
How deep are your roots? — Julie Ackerman Link
Lord, keep me from being envious of the beautiful and the seemingly powerful. May I use Your resources to put down roots that will make me strong rather than growing branches to make me attractive. Amen.
The roots of stability come from being grounded in God’s Word and prayer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5, 2008
Watching With Jesus
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READ:
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me." Jesus was saying, in effect, "Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me." In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular "Gethsemane" experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, "No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful." And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they "all . . . forsook Him and fled" ( Matthew 26:56 ).
"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . ." ( Acts 2:4 ). "They" refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and "filled with the Holy Spirit." Our Lord had said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . ." ( Acts 1:8 ). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unforgettable You - #5650 - September 5, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, September 5, 2008
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Some of our great moments as a family have been spent watching those old videos of us (we thankfully converted them to DVDs now.) But they are at a time when we were all a lot younger. For a while, our firstborn had the camera all to herself. Then we added a co-star - her brother. And then along came another subject for the lens - a baby brother! And, of course, some of the most camera-worthy moments are when your baby or toddler is winning some of their first victories, doing some of those things that are irresistibly cute. You know? So often the camera was focused on our daughter's little brothers. So you'll be watching one of them doing some adorable thing when suddenly this five-year-old jumps into the picture, waving and smiling right into the camera. It's almost as if our daughter was saying, "Hey, remember me? I'm over here! Don't forget me!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unforgettable You."
Left out of the picture - now that's not just a feeling reserved for little people. It may be a feeling you know all too well. You may be feeling pretty much forgotten right now, left out, passed over, neglected, on the margins. It's a painful kind of loneliness that leaves you crying out inside, "Hey, I'm here, too! Remember me?" In fact, maybe you've done some pretty wild things to try to get in the picture, but your efforts to be noticed or accepted have only left you feeling even worse.
I want you to know that there's someone who considers you unforgettable. This is not just some sentimental platitude to try to cheer you up. This is a life-changing reality that can forever change how you feel about yourself, that can open you up to the love of a lifetime.
Our word for today from the Word of God is the powerful guarantee that you are never forgotten. In Isaiah 49:15-16, God says, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands."
It's true sometimes even the person closest to you can seem to forget you. Every human love will disappoint you at some point. But the most powerful person in the universe says, "I will not forget you." You see, He can't. He has you engraved on the palms of His hands - in nail prints.
The Son of God knew you had forgotten Him. We all have. We've lived most of our life with our back turned to our Creator, doing what we wanted instead of what He wanted. And He knew that, unless He intervened, you would be separated from Him for all eternity. That's the built-in penalty for our sin. But Jesus loves you so much that He left heaven to go to a cross where He took your hell. And now, whenever He looks at His hands, He sees the evidence of how much you mean to Him - the print of the nails.
But He doesn't force His love on you. You have to give yourself to Him. From the moment you do, you begin a love-relationship you've been missing your whole life. You will never be alone, never unloved, never abandoned again. You've walked into the strong and safe arms of the Man who died for you!
Now, if you want to begin this incredible relationship with Jesus, please tell Him that right where you are. And I would love to help you be sure that you belong to Him. In fact, our website is all about that. It's called YoursForLife.net. And I hope you'll go there today at your first convenience. I think you'll find there some information that has helped an awful lot of people secure a personal relationship with this Savior who died in their place. You know, you can also get this by way of just called us and get a little booklet called Yours For Life that I've written. The toll free number is 877-741-1200.
All this time you've forgotten Jesus. He's never forgotten you, and He never will. He loves you too much! He's got the scars to prove it.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 5
Prayer Reminds Us
When a believing person prays, great things happen.
James 5:16 (NCV)
Prayer is the recognition that if God had not engaged himself in our problems, we would still be lost in the blackness. It is by his mercy that we have been lifted up. Prayer is that whole process that reminds us of who God is and who we are.
I believe there's great power in prayer. I believe God heals the wounded, and that he can raise the dead. But I don't believe we tell God what to do and when to do it.
God knows that we, with our limited vision, don't even know that for which we should pray. When we entrust our requests to him, we trust him to honor our prayers with holy judgment.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God's Promise
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."[c] 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
September 5, 2008
Roots Or Shoots?
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READ: Matthew 13:1-9
Because they had no root they withered away. —Matthew 13:6
In the life of trees, one key to survival is having more roots than shoots. In his book Oak: The Frame of Civilization,, author William Bryant Logan says, “If a tree puts on a lot of top growth and few roots, it is liable to be weak-wooded and short-lived. . . . If a tree puts down a great deal of roots and adds shoots more slowly, however, it is liable to be long-lived and more resistant to stress and strain.”
People and organizations can be like trees. The rise to prominence is exhilarating, but anything that puts up shoots faster than it puts down roots is fragile and in danger of breaking, falling, or dying.
Jesus used a similar analogy in His parable of the sower. People who hear the Word and receive it joyfully are like seed sown on stony places; they spring up quickly but endure only a short time because they have no roots (Matt. 13:6,20-21).
Roots aren’t at all glamorous, but they are the source of our strength. If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God (Jer. 9:24) and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), we’ll be strong, resistant to blight, and more likely to survive the storms of adversity.
How deep are your roots? — Julie Ackerman Link
Lord, keep me from being envious of the beautiful and the seemingly powerful. May I use Your resources to put down roots that will make me strong rather than growing branches to make me attractive. Amen.
The roots of stability come from being grounded in God’s Word and prayer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5, 2008
Watching With Jesus
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READ:
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me." Jesus was saying, in effect, "Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me." In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular "Gethsemane" experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, "No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful." And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they "all . . . forsook Him and fled" ( Matthew 26:56 ).
"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . ." ( Acts 2:4 ). "They" refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and "filled with the Holy Spirit." Our Lord had said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . ." ( Acts 1:8 ). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unforgettable You - #5650 - September 5, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, September 5, 2008
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Some of our great moments as a family have been spent watching those old videos of us (we thankfully converted them to DVDs now.) But they are at a time when we were all a lot younger. For a while, our firstborn had the camera all to herself. Then we added a co-star - her brother. And then along came another subject for the lens - a baby brother! And, of course, some of the most camera-worthy moments are when your baby or toddler is winning some of their first victories, doing some of those things that are irresistibly cute. You know? So often the camera was focused on our daughter's little brothers. So you'll be watching one of them doing some adorable thing when suddenly this five-year-old jumps into the picture, waving and smiling right into the camera. It's almost as if our daughter was saying, "Hey, remember me? I'm over here! Don't forget me!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unforgettable You."
Left out of the picture - now that's not just a feeling reserved for little people. It may be a feeling you know all too well. You may be feeling pretty much forgotten right now, left out, passed over, neglected, on the margins. It's a painful kind of loneliness that leaves you crying out inside, "Hey, I'm here, too! Remember me?" In fact, maybe you've done some pretty wild things to try to get in the picture, but your efforts to be noticed or accepted have only left you feeling even worse.
I want you to know that there's someone who considers you unforgettable. This is not just some sentimental platitude to try to cheer you up. This is a life-changing reality that can forever change how you feel about yourself, that can open you up to the love of a lifetime.
Our word for today from the Word of God is the powerful guarantee that you are never forgotten. In Isaiah 49:15-16, God says, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands."
It's true sometimes even the person closest to you can seem to forget you. Every human love will disappoint you at some point. But the most powerful person in the universe says, "I will not forget you." You see, He can't. He has you engraved on the palms of His hands - in nail prints.
The Son of God knew you had forgotten Him. We all have. We've lived most of our life with our back turned to our Creator, doing what we wanted instead of what He wanted. And He knew that, unless He intervened, you would be separated from Him for all eternity. That's the built-in penalty for our sin. But Jesus loves you so much that He left heaven to go to a cross where He took your hell. And now, whenever He looks at His hands, He sees the evidence of how much you mean to Him - the print of the nails.
But He doesn't force His love on you. You have to give yourself to Him. From the moment you do, you begin a love-relationship you've been missing your whole life. You will never be alone, never unloved, never abandoned again. You've walked into the strong and safe arms of the Man who died for you!
Now, if you want to begin this incredible relationship with Jesus, please tell Him that right where you are. And I would love to help you be sure that you belong to Him. In fact, our website is all about that. It's called YoursForLife.net. And I hope you'll go there today at your first convenience. I think you'll find there some information that has helped an awful lot of people secure a personal relationship with this Savior who died in their place. You know, you can also get this by way of just called us and get a little booklet called Yours For Life that I've written. The toll free number is 877-741-1200.
All this time you've forgotten Jesus. He's never forgotten you, and He never will. He loves you too much! He's got the scars to prove it.
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