Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 16
Jesus Knows
“I am the one God chose and sent into the world.”
John 10:36 (NCV)
God with us.
He knows hurt. His siblings called him crazy. He knows hunger. He made a meal out of wheat-field grains. He knows exhaustion. So sleepy, he dozed in a storm-tossed boat.
Most of all, he knows sin. Not his own, mind you. But he knows yours.
Every lie you’ve told.
Person you’ve hurt.
Promise you’ve broken.
Every deed you’ve committed against God—for all sin is against God—Jesus knows. He knows them better than you do. He knows their price. Because he paid it.
Revelation 13
1And the dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea.
The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"
5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.[b]
9He who has an ear, let him hear.
10If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
The Beast out of the Earth
11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
October 16, 2008
A Special Seat
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 10:38-42
[Martha] had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. —Luke 10:39
I’ve never sat in the first-class section of an airplane. But I still hold out the hope that someday I’ll get on the plane and the flight attendant will stop me and say, “Come with me. I have a special seat for you.”
That’s why I was pretty excited when a friend gave my sister some tickets for an event and we realized that they were for box seats. Instead of sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers all around us, we sat in a private compartment where we could see and hear everything perfectly. That evening, we felt privileged and special.
Remember Jesus’ friends, Mary and Martha? Although Martha had the opportunity to enjoy having Jesus as her guest, she soon became frustrated with her sister Mary and overwhelmed with the busyness of her preparations. Certainly understandable to a lot of us! Jesus made it clear to her, however, that sometimes it’s necessary to step away from the unending pressures of life and spend undistracted time with Him. God has given us the opportunity to have personal moments with Him. By taking the time just to be with the Lord, we are fed, refreshed, and renewed.
Jesus commended Mary for taking time to sit and learn at her Savior’s feet (Luke 10:42). As it turned out—she had the best seat in the house! — Cindy Hess Kasper
Take time to be holy,
The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret
With Jesus alone. —Longstaff
Jesus longs for our fellowship even more than we long for His
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 16, 2008
The Key to the Master’s Orders
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. "Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . ." In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, "Oh, but I have a special work to do!" No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, "a servant [who] is not greater than his master" (John 13:16 ), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. "Pray the Lord of the harvest," and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Greatest Treat of All - #5679
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
His name is Shadrach. No, he's not a Bible character in a fiery furnace. He's a dog; a black poodle, to be specific. And last week he provided some great live entertainment in an otherwise intense day of ministry. My wife and I were staying with friends in St. Louis rather than at the conference hotel there, and Shadrach belongs to our friends. As I was ready to run out the door one day, our friend Leslie said, "Wait! You need to take two minutes for my dog tricks." Then she started to show off what she had taught Shadrach. She started with the basics, "Sit" and the poodle did. "Stay," "roll over," "lie down." Shadrach responded immediately. Then "go look out the window." The poodle darted over to the window. "Jump" and Shadrach leaped about three feet in the air. Then Leslie pulled out a hoop and just said, "Hoop." Sure enough, black poodle flying through hoop. I was amazed!
I asked Leslie how she got him to obey all those commands without any treats. She said, "When I was first teaching him to obey, I had to give him treats all the time. But now he just seems to enjoy being able to understand what his master's saying, and doing what his master wants."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Greatest Treat of All."
Our Word for today from the Word of God is from Psalm 119:32. David says to God, "I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free." David is obeying what God says and he's really enjoying it. He's like Shadrach, my poodle friend. He's experiencing the joy of obeying his Master, just for the joy of pleasing Him. He obeys eagerly. He runs when God commands him to do something.
Sitting there watching the eager obedience of that little dog, I couldn't help but see a picture of the ways of God with His children. We're essentially "my way" people. If I feel like saying it, I'll say it. If I feel like doing it, I'll do it. If I think I need it, I'll go after it. Then along comes Jesus and captures our heart with His love. We have a new Master. Now we have the potential of really doing something, really being something if we can learn to do what Jesus says.
And Jesus knows that at first we need a lot of incentive to do what He wants in each situation. So, in the life of a new child of God, the Lord often seems to give instant rewards for your obeying Him: quick and dramatic answers to prayer, instant payoffs for doing the right thing, obvious gifts and interventions from Him. Like our poodle friend, at first we need quick rewards and treats from our Master so we can learn obedience. It's a good way to get started in Jesus, but it's real spiritual immaturity. "I'll do what You say, Lord, if you'll give me a treat."
But as you start doing it Jesus' way, you learn that His commands lead to results that you don't have to regret, to a wonderful inner peace, to outcomes that range from satisfying to even amazing! And after a while, you begin to understand what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." Or as it says in the KJV, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17).
Our friend says her dog just seems to enjoy understanding what's in his master's heart. And that is the unparalleled joy of someone who has learned to obey the Master. Through obeying, you begin to really feel what's in your Master's heart. And obedience becomes its own reward.
Maybe there are some of your Master's commands that you've been running from lately; things where you thought your way was going to be better than His way. Not true, is it? The joy is in obeying the One who made you His at the cost of His life. And the treats are nice, but don't do it for the treats. Understanding your Master's heart - enjoying your Master's pleasure - that's the greatest treat of all.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Revelation 12, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 15
Sorrow for Sin
If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.
1 John 1:9 (NCV)
"If we confess our sins..." The biggest word in Scriptures just might be that two letter one, if. For confessing sins--admitting failure--is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do.
"Me a sinner? Oh sure, I get rowdy every so often, but I'm a pretty good ol' boy."
"Listen, I'm just as good as the next guy. I pay my taxes. . . ."
Justification. Rationalization. Comparison....They sound good. They sound familiar. They even sound American. But in the kingdom, they sound hollow....
When you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option,... then cast all your cares on him for he is waiting.
Revelation 12
The Woman and the Dragon
1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
October 15, 2008
Joy To The World
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Deuteronomy 31:9-13
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. —John 1:14
When Christmas displays go up before Halloween displays come down, I long for the days when people didn’t think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However, there may be a legitimate reason to celebrate Christmas in October.
No one knows the exact day when Jesus was born, but December 25 is unlikely. His birth may have been in autumn, when the weather was still warm enough for shepherds to be outdoors with their flocks. We know that Jesus was crucified on Passover, and that the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. So some scholars have reasoned that Jesus’ birth may have occurred on another Jewish holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.
Although we cannot know for sure, we do know that it would be in keeping with God’s way of working to send His Son—the Word made flesh who “dwelt” (“tabernacled”) among us (John 1:14)—on the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot was a time when observant Jews lived in temporary dwellings and listened to the Word of the Lord being read (Deut. 31:10-13).
For Jews, Sukkot is “the time of our rejoicing.” For all of us, our time of rejoicing is the birth of Christ, who brings the joy of salvation to all the world. — Julie Ackerman Link
Tidings, glad tidings! God is love,
To man He sends His salvation!
His Son beloved, His only Son,
The work of mercy hath begun. —Montgomery
The date of Christ’s birth may be debatable, but the fact of His life is indisputable.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 15, 2008
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"— that is limitless (John 1:29 ). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the "remissionary" aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. ". . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . ." ( Luke 24:47 ). The greatest message of limitless importance is that "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . ." The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is "for the whole world." When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim "the Lamb of God." It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, "Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me," but, ". . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" ( 1 Corinthians 9:16 ). And this is the gospel— "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When Less is More - #5678 - October 15, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If you say the word "garden," I immediately think of my friend Mel. He has one of the best-kept, most productive gardens I've ever seen. I've eaten some of the fruits and vegetables of his labor. Growing up as I did in an apartment in Chicago, I have a lot to learn about gardens. I'm horticulturally challenged. Now, Mel has taught me a lot. One section of his garden is dedicated to his grapes. And when those vines start growing, He does something that looks very strange to a city-slicker like me. He goes after those vines with pruning shears. He starts cutting away branches - a lot of branches. It's called pruning.
Mel tells me that cutting that vine back will concentrate the vine's resources and produce far more fruit. Try explaining that to the poor vine that's getting its branches hacked away. If a vine could talk, he might say, "Hey! Hey! What are you doing to me?" And if Mel wanted to talk to a vine, which I hope I never hear him doing, he might say, "I'm doing this for your good so you'll produce more." I can hear the vine, "Right! Then how come it feels like you're killing me?" If I didn't know better now, I'd think the way to more fruit is to have more branches, not less. But it doesn't work that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Less is More."
Our Word for today from the Word of God, Judges 7:2. God has called on Gideon to lead an attack on the invading Midianite army - 135,000 Midianites! And Gideon is able to muster only 32,000 soldiers. He's outnumbered 4 to 1. Then God says, "Gideon, there's something wrong with your army." Gideon is probably thinking, "Yeah, man, it's too small!"
Judges 7:2, "The Lord said to Gideon, 'You have too many men (you have too many men?) for Me to deliver Midian into their hands." Well, General Gideon obeys God's orders to let anyone who is afraid go home. Ten thousand take him up on his offer. He is now outnumbered 13-1. Verse 4, "But the Lord said to Gideon, 'There are still too many men.'" Well, God gives him a way to sort out who should stay and who should be excused. In verse 7, God says, "With those 300 men, I will give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go." All right, he is now outnumbered 450 to 1!
This is a very strange strategy to win a major victory. But wait until you hear about the weapons of mass destruction that God asked His army to fight with. "He placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside." I get it! We're going to throw jars at the enemy! This is no way to win a war! Or is it? Judges 7:21, "While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled." They were routed.
God prepares for a great victory by cutting things back. God prepares for a great harvest by cutting things back. In the strange and wonderful ways of God, less is often more. That might be an equation you need to hear right now, because it sure does feel as if God is cutting you back. You're feeling the pain, the loss, and the confusion of a child of God who is being pruned. But not necessarily because something is wrong with you; maybe because something is very right. Jesus said in John 15:2, "Every branch that bears fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
God told Gideon what all these cutbacks were really for in Judges 7:2, "In order that Israel may not boast against Me that her own strength has saved her." God wants to do this in a way for which only He can get the glory. There will be no doubt this was Jehovah's victory, not yours.
So God may be doing a "Gideon" on you or your family or your career or your ministry; cutting back, and then even cutting back more. But this isn't about you losing. No, this is God's strange and wonderful strategy for an overwhelming victory!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 15
Sorrow for Sin
If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.
1 John 1:9 (NCV)
"If we confess our sins..." The biggest word in Scriptures just might be that two letter one, if. For confessing sins--admitting failure--is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do.
"Me a sinner? Oh sure, I get rowdy every so often, but I'm a pretty good ol' boy."
"Listen, I'm just as good as the next guy. I pay my taxes. . . ."
Justification. Rationalization. Comparison....They sound good. They sound familiar. They even sound American. But in the kingdom, they sound hollow....
When you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option,... then cast all your cares on him for he is waiting.
Revelation 12
The Woman and the Dragon
1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
October 15, 2008
Joy To The World
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Deuteronomy 31:9-13
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. —John 1:14
When Christmas displays go up before Halloween displays come down, I long for the days when people didn’t think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However, there may be a legitimate reason to celebrate Christmas in October.
No one knows the exact day when Jesus was born, but December 25 is unlikely. His birth may have been in autumn, when the weather was still warm enough for shepherds to be outdoors with their flocks. We know that Jesus was crucified on Passover, and that the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. So some scholars have reasoned that Jesus’ birth may have occurred on another Jewish holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.
Although we cannot know for sure, we do know that it would be in keeping with God’s way of working to send His Son—the Word made flesh who “dwelt” (“tabernacled”) among us (John 1:14)—on the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot was a time when observant Jews lived in temporary dwellings and listened to the Word of the Lord being read (Deut. 31:10-13).
For Jews, Sukkot is “the time of our rejoicing.” For all of us, our time of rejoicing is the birth of Christ, who brings the joy of salvation to all the world. — Julie Ackerman Link
Tidings, glad tidings! God is love,
To man He sends His salvation!
His Son beloved, His only Son,
The work of mercy hath begun. —Montgomery
The date of Christ’s birth may be debatable, but the fact of His life is indisputable.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 15, 2008
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"— that is limitless (John 1:29 ). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the "remissionary" aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. ". . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . ." ( Luke 24:47 ). The greatest message of limitless importance is that "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . ." The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is "for the whole world." When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim "the Lamb of God." It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, "Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me," but, ". . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" ( 1 Corinthians 9:16 ). And this is the gospel— "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When Less is More - #5678 - October 15, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If you say the word "garden," I immediately think of my friend Mel. He has one of the best-kept, most productive gardens I've ever seen. I've eaten some of the fruits and vegetables of his labor. Growing up as I did in an apartment in Chicago, I have a lot to learn about gardens. I'm horticulturally challenged. Now, Mel has taught me a lot. One section of his garden is dedicated to his grapes. And when those vines start growing, He does something that looks very strange to a city-slicker like me. He goes after those vines with pruning shears. He starts cutting away branches - a lot of branches. It's called pruning.
Mel tells me that cutting that vine back will concentrate the vine's resources and produce far more fruit. Try explaining that to the poor vine that's getting its branches hacked away. If a vine could talk, he might say, "Hey! Hey! What are you doing to me?" And if Mel wanted to talk to a vine, which I hope I never hear him doing, he might say, "I'm doing this for your good so you'll produce more." I can hear the vine, "Right! Then how come it feels like you're killing me?" If I didn't know better now, I'd think the way to more fruit is to have more branches, not less. But it doesn't work that way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Less is More."
Our Word for today from the Word of God, Judges 7:2. God has called on Gideon to lead an attack on the invading Midianite army - 135,000 Midianites! And Gideon is able to muster only 32,000 soldiers. He's outnumbered 4 to 1. Then God says, "Gideon, there's something wrong with your army." Gideon is probably thinking, "Yeah, man, it's too small!"
Judges 7:2, "The Lord said to Gideon, 'You have too many men (you have too many men?) for Me to deliver Midian into their hands." Well, General Gideon obeys God's orders to let anyone who is afraid go home. Ten thousand take him up on his offer. He is now outnumbered 13-1. Verse 4, "But the Lord said to Gideon, 'There are still too many men.'" Well, God gives him a way to sort out who should stay and who should be excused. In verse 7, God says, "With those 300 men, I will give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go." All right, he is now outnumbered 450 to 1!
This is a very strange strategy to win a major victory. But wait until you hear about the weapons of mass destruction that God asked His army to fight with. "He placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside." I get it! We're going to throw jars at the enemy! This is no way to win a war! Or is it? Judges 7:21, "While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled." They were routed.
God prepares for a great victory by cutting things back. God prepares for a great harvest by cutting things back. In the strange and wonderful ways of God, less is often more. That might be an equation you need to hear right now, because it sure does feel as if God is cutting you back. You're feeling the pain, the loss, and the confusion of a child of God who is being pruned. But not necessarily because something is wrong with you; maybe because something is very right. Jesus said in John 15:2, "Every branch that bears fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
God told Gideon what all these cutbacks were really for in Judges 7:2, "In order that Israel may not boast against Me that her own strength has saved her." God wants to do this in a way for which only He can get the glory. There will be no doubt this was Jehovah's victory, not yours.
So God may be doing a "Gideon" on you or your family or your career or your ministry; cutting back, and then even cutting back more. But this isn't about you losing. No, this is God's strange and wonderful strategy for an overwhelming victory!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Revelation 11, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 14
Your are You-Nique
Each of us is an original.
Galatians 5:26 (MSG)
God made you you-nique.
Secular thinking, as a whole, doesn’t buy this. Secular society sees no author behind the book, no architect behind the house, no purpose behind or beyond life. It simply says, “You can be anything you want to be.”
Be a butcher if you want to, a sales rep if you like. Be an ambassador if you really care. You can be anything you want to be. But can you? If God didn’t pack within you the meat sense of a butcher, the people skills of a salesperson, or the world vision of an ambassador, can you be one? An unhappy, dissatisfied one perhaps. But a fulfilled one? No. Can an acorn become a rose, a whale fly like a bird, or lead become gold? Absolutely not. You cannot be anything you want to be. But you can be everything God wants you to be.
Revelation 11
The Two Witnesses
1I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever." 16And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying:
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
19Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
James 1:19-27
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
October 14, 2008
The Ushpizzin
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: James 1:19-27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. —James 1:27
In Jewish legend, the ushpizzin are guests who visit the pious at Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. They are supposedly the great Old Testament heroes who come offering comfort and encouragement to the faithful.
According to Jewish lore, these unseen guests only visit the sukkah (shelter) where the poor are welcome—a reminder of each person’s responsibility to care for others. It also reminds them that unseen watchers may be observing their conduct.
The story of the ushpizzin isn’t true, of course. But beyond the lore and legend we are reminded that we as Christ-followers are living observed lives. Others are watching us. And our concern for others, particularly the least among us, is an expression of the compassion Christ displayed to the hurting and outcast of His generation.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, challenged believers to put the love of Christ into practice. He wrote, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
The example of Christ and the words of Scripture inspire us to care for our hurting world. Who’s watching us? Our world is watching. And so is our Lord! — Bill Crowder
FOR FURTHER STUDY
The church is made up of needy people—including us! How are we to respond to each other’s needs? Read The Church We Need at www.discoveryseries.org/q0904
When people observe your life, do they see the love of Christ?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14, 2008
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . ." He says, "Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me."
"Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them" ( Matthew 28:16 ). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, "Come to Me . . ."— that is the place to meet Jesus— "all you who labor and are heavy laden . . ." ( Matthew 11:28 )— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
"Go therefore . . . ." To "go" simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, "Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria," but, ". . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places]." He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . ." ( John 15:7 )— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
"None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . ." ( Acts 20:24 ). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Vinegar and Oil Relationships - #5677 - October 14, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
For many years I lived in New Jersey where we were blessed with a heavy dose of Italy. With so many Italians in our area, it should come as no surprise that we had so many Italian restaurants. And what's their favorite dressing on a dinner salad? Of course, Italian dressing. Actually, I didn't know what Italian dressing was for much of my life. I always heard it called by the ingredients that make it up - vinegar and oil. And frankly, I'm sure glad they put them together. Can you imagine a salad with just vinegar dressing? You'd bite your salad and your salad would bite you back! But then I couldn't get very excited about a salad that just had oil dressing on it either. That slimy covering - that's not going to be very appetizing. Vinegar without oil, oil without vinegar - not very appealing. But put them together and you've got a pretty tasty combination there!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Vinegar and Oil Relationships."
Now, let's think about the important relationships in your life for a couple of minutes; especially the ones that are a little strained or distant, superficial right now. Consider the possibility that some of your relationships have a little too much vinegar and not enough oil, or a little too much oil and not enough vinegar.
By now you have every reason to be asking, "What in the world is this man talking about?" Well, here's our word for today from the Word of God - a plain-spoken blueprint for healthy relationships. In fact, in five simple words, God gives us the two ingredients that make a marriage strong, or a parent-child relationship, or a friendship, a romance, a church, a ministry.
Ephesians 4:15-16, "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love." Now there are some key words here; words we would all like to have describe our important relationships I think: growing up, joined together, held together, building up in love. And how can you get along with people like this? A five-word secret of great relationships, "Speaking the truth in love."
There it is - the vinegar and oil of a healthy relationship. "The truth" - that's the vinegar. The oil - that's the love. See, together, they are a life-building, life-changing combination. But one without the other can create serious problems. If you're like most people. you're probably stronger in one of those than the other. You may be a person who is straightforward, outspoken, and transparent. People know where you stand. But your truth without the oil of love may have such bite that people may sometimes spit out the very truth you want them to hear.
Now, if your communication is too much vinegar, would you ask our gentle Savior to wrap your truth in more tenderness? To help you affirm and praise people at least as much as you confront them? To let people know you love them at the same time you're confronting them with the truth?
Now you may be saying, "Well, I don't give people that biting feeling. I'm smooth and gentle like oil." Your strength is more on the love side, but many people who are loving and encouraging can sometimes do it at the expense of the truth. You won't confront, you bury things you ought to be saying, you postpone dealing with hard issues which only postpones the inevitable and sometimes causes an eventual explosion. Will you ask your Savior, who is the Truth, to help you deal with hard issues, to speak up for the truth, to confront tensions and problems when they're small?
So often, the "truth champions" don't say it with love. And the "love champions" don't speak the truth. But God calls us to both! If there are problems in a relationship right now, it may very well be that there's been too much truth and not enough love, or so much love without dealing with truth. It takes both the vinegar of the truth and the oil of love to keep a relationship healthy. Vinegar alone? Uh-uh. Oil alone? No way. It's the vinegar and oil together that makes a wonderful combination.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 14
Your are You-Nique
Each of us is an original.
Galatians 5:26 (MSG)
God made you you-nique.
Secular thinking, as a whole, doesn’t buy this. Secular society sees no author behind the book, no architect behind the house, no purpose behind or beyond life. It simply says, “You can be anything you want to be.”
Be a butcher if you want to, a sales rep if you like. Be an ambassador if you really care. You can be anything you want to be. But can you? If God didn’t pack within you the meat sense of a butcher, the people skills of a salesperson, or the world vision of an ambassador, can you be one? An unhappy, dissatisfied one perhaps. But a fulfilled one? No. Can an acorn become a rose, a whale fly like a bird, or lead become gold? Absolutely not. You cannot be anything you want to be. But you can be everything God wants you to be.
Revelation 11
The Two Witnesses
1I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever." 16And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying:
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
19Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
James 1:19-27
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
October 14, 2008
The Ushpizzin
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: James 1:19-27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. —James 1:27
In Jewish legend, the ushpizzin are guests who visit the pious at Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. They are supposedly the great Old Testament heroes who come offering comfort and encouragement to the faithful.
According to Jewish lore, these unseen guests only visit the sukkah (shelter) where the poor are welcome—a reminder of each person’s responsibility to care for others. It also reminds them that unseen watchers may be observing their conduct.
The story of the ushpizzin isn’t true, of course. But beyond the lore and legend we are reminded that we as Christ-followers are living observed lives. Others are watching us. And our concern for others, particularly the least among us, is an expression of the compassion Christ displayed to the hurting and outcast of His generation.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, challenged believers to put the love of Christ into practice. He wrote, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
The example of Christ and the words of Scripture inspire us to care for our hurting world. Who’s watching us? Our world is watching. And so is our Lord! — Bill Crowder
FOR FURTHER STUDY
The church is made up of needy people—including us! How are we to respond to each other’s needs? Read The Church We Need at www.discoveryseries.org/q0904
When people observe your life, do they see the love of Christ?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14, 2008
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . ." He says, "Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me."
"Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them" ( Matthew 28:16 ). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, "Come to Me . . ."— that is the place to meet Jesus— "all you who labor and are heavy laden . . ." ( Matthew 11:28 )— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
"Go therefore . . . ." To "go" simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, "Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria," but, ". . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places]." He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . ." ( John 15:7 )— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
"None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . ." ( Acts 20:24 ). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Vinegar and Oil Relationships - #5677 - October 14, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
For many years I lived in New Jersey where we were blessed with a heavy dose of Italy. With so many Italians in our area, it should come as no surprise that we had so many Italian restaurants. And what's their favorite dressing on a dinner salad? Of course, Italian dressing. Actually, I didn't know what Italian dressing was for much of my life. I always heard it called by the ingredients that make it up - vinegar and oil. And frankly, I'm sure glad they put them together. Can you imagine a salad with just vinegar dressing? You'd bite your salad and your salad would bite you back! But then I couldn't get very excited about a salad that just had oil dressing on it either. That slimy covering - that's not going to be very appetizing. Vinegar without oil, oil without vinegar - not very appealing. But put them together and you've got a pretty tasty combination there!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Vinegar and Oil Relationships."
Now, let's think about the important relationships in your life for a couple of minutes; especially the ones that are a little strained or distant, superficial right now. Consider the possibility that some of your relationships have a little too much vinegar and not enough oil, or a little too much oil and not enough vinegar.
By now you have every reason to be asking, "What in the world is this man talking about?" Well, here's our word for today from the Word of God - a plain-spoken blueprint for healthy relationships. In fact, in five simple words, God gives us the two ingredients that make a marriage strong, or a parent-child relationship, or a friendship, a romance, a church, a ministry.
Ephesians 4:15-16, "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love." Now there are some key words here; words we would all like to have describe our important relationships I think: growing up, joined together, held together, building up in love. And how can you get along with people like this? A five-word secret of great relationships, "Speaking the truth in love."
There it is - the vinegar and oil of a healthy relationship. "The truth" - that's the vinegar. The oil - that's the love. See, together, they are a life-building, life-changing combination. But one without the other can create serious problems. If you're like most people. you're probably stronger in one of those than the other. You may be a person who is straightforward, outspoken, and transparent. People know where you stand. But your truth without the oil of love may have such bite that people may sometimes spit out the very truth you want them to hear.
Now, if your communication is too much vinegar, would you ask our gentle Savior to wrap your truth in more tenderness? To help you affirm and praise people at least as much as you confront them? To let people know you love them at the same time you're confronting them with the truth?
Now you may be saying, "Well, I don't give people that biting feeling. I'm smooth and gentle like oil." Your strength is more on the love side, but many people who are loving and encouraging can sometimes do it at the expense of the truth. You won't confront, you bury things you ought to be saying, you postpone dealing with hard issues which only postpones the inevitable and sometimes causes an eventual explosion. Will you ask your Savior, who is the Truth, to help you deal with hard issues, to speak up for the truth, to confront tensions and problems when they're small?
So often, the "truth champions" don't say it with love. And the "love champions" don't speak the truth. But God calls us to both! If there are problems in a relationship right now, it may very well be that there's been too much truth and not enough love, or so much love without dealing with truth. It takes both the vinegar of the truth and the oil of love to keep a relationship healthy. Vinegar alone? Uh-uh. Oil alone? No way. It's the vinegar and oil together that makes a wonderful combination.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Revelation 10, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 13
What Heaven Holds
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner changes his heart and life.
Luke 15:10 (NCV)
Why do Jesus and his angels rejoice over one repenting sinner? Can they see something we can't? Do they know something we don't? Absolutely. They know what heaven holds. . . .
Heaven is populated by those who let God change them. Arguments will cease, for jealousy won't exist. Suspicions won't surface, for there will be no secrets. Every sin is gone. Every insecurity is forgotten. Every fear is past. Pure wheat. No weeds. Pure gold. No alloy. Pure love. No lust. Pure hope. No fear. No wonder the angels rejoice when one sinner repents; they know another work of art will soon grace the gallery of God. They know what heaven holds.
Revelation 10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down."
5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! 7But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."
8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." 10I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 119:17-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
g Gimel
17 Do good to your servant, and I will live;
I will obey your word.
18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
19 I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed
and who stray from your commands.
22 Remove from me scorn and contempt,
for I keep your statutes.
23 Though rulers sit together and slander me,
your servant will meditate on your decrees.
24 Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.
October 13, 2008
Erasmus
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 119:17-24
Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. —Jeremiah 15:16
For centuries, many Christians were not permitted to read God’s Word in their own language. Instead, they were encouraged to attend Latin services that few could understand.
Then, in 1516, the Dutch scholar Erasmus compiled and published the first New Testament in the original Greek language. This landmark work was the basis for the later publication of Luther’s German Bible, Tyndale’s English Bible, and the King James Version. These translations made the Scriptures understandable to millions of people around the world.
Erasmus could not have known the influence his Greek New Testament would have, but he did have a passion for getting its message to laypeople from all walks of life. In the preface he wrote: “I would have [the Gospels and the Epistles] translated into all languages . . . . I long for the plowboy to sing them to himself as he follows the plow [and] the weaver to hum them to the tune of his shuttle.”
The prophet Jeremiah reflected this same passion for the Word: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (15:16).
Having God’s Word in our own language allows us to experience the joy of meditating on it each day. — Dennis Fisher
More precious than gold is God’s Word to me,
Much better than pearls from deep in the sea;
For in the Lord’s Word I take great delight,
And it is my joy each day and each night. —Fitzhugh
The treasures of truth in God’s Word are best mined with the spade of meditation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13, 2008
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, " ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ " ( Exodus 3:10-11 ). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, "Who am I that I should go . . . ?" We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— "I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you" ( Exodus 3:14 ). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be "well pleased" ( Matthew 3:17 ). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, "I know this is what God wants me to do." But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Dry Holes - #5676 - October 13, 2008
Category: Your Hard Times
Monday, October 13, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
For many years, my wife's father managed to squeeze out a living for his family on their little farm in the Ozarks. It was always a battle financially, but the battle got really intense the summer of the long drought. First, he emptied all three of their ponds to get water; then all of the ponds on his parents' adjacent property. A friend, then, let him use his well that had never gone dry. Well, it went dry the summer of the long drought. Finally, Dad had no choice but to find water and dig a well on his property. But that meant mortgaging a lot of his cattle. And as the well diggers had to go deeper, it eventually meant mortgaging all his cattle. And they never found water. His farming days were over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dry Holes."
My wife's dad had the frustrating experience of desperately needing something to satisfy the thirst and pouring everything into looking for it, and coming up with nothing. That's a feeling a lot of people have - maybe you. But the search, in this case, is an emotional one; actually, a spiritual one. Where is the spiritual water that will satisfy that lifetime emptiness, that lifetime loneliness, that lifetime restlessness in your soul?
Maybe you have a lot of empty ponds behind you. Maybe you've gone looking in a special relationship, but it ultimately turned out just to be a dry hole. Maybe you've searched in your work, your religion, your studies, your children, your success, but here you are today as thirsty in your soul as you were when you began. It's been the season of the long drought.
It had been a very long drought for the woman Jesus talked to in our word for today from the Word of God in John 4:13-14. In her case, her "wells" had been a series of relationships with men that she thought would satisfy the needs of her heart. No one had. One day she meets Jesus at, of all things, a well. And He begins to talk to her about a source of spiritual fulfillment that would have that quality nothing and no one on earth could offer her. It would be "ever lasting."
Here are Jesus' words to all of us who are tired of sinking everything we have into what we hope will be a well, only to find out it's ultimately a dry hole. "Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Notice Jesus said, "I will put the source of your peace and your satisfaction in you." That's where no drought can ever touch it.
Jesus is making that same offer to you today. You see, the reason He came to this planet was because we were all cut off from the source of everything we're looking for. We're cut off from God by our sin; by a life of doing it "my way" instead of God's way. In fact, instead of the eternal life Jesus is offering, we're facing eternal death because that's what our sin costs. But Jesus loves you so much that He took your death penalty for your sin when He died on the cross. So now God can forgive you and come into your life and let you into His heaven when you die.
But it isn't enough just to have Jesus around you, which you may have a lot of because you have a lot of Christianity. But you may have never opened up your life to Jesus to be in you. Jesus all around you will never satisfy the thirst of your soul - only Jesus in you. And He's in you only if you've pinned all your hopes on Him to be your Savior from your sin.
If there's never been a time that you've done that and you want there to be. You want to begin that relationship with Him and finally find the love you were made for, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I'd like to think we'd be able to help a little bit if you'd visit our website YoursForLife.net. Because if you go there, you'll find a simple explanation of how to be sure you have begun life's most important relationship. Or you can call for my booklet Yours For Life at 877-741-1200.
For you, the long drought can end right now, right where you are. It really all depends on one thing: what you do with Jesus.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 13
What Heaven Holds
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner changes his heart and life.
Luke 15:10 (NCV)
Why do Jesus and his angels rejoice over one repenting sinner? Can they see something we can't? Do they know something we don't? Absolutely. They know what heaven holds. . . .
Heaven is populated by those who let God change them. Arguments will cease, for jealousy won't exist. Suspicions won't surface, for there will be no secrets. Every sin is gone. Every insecurity is forgotten. Every fear is past. Pure wheat. No weeds. Pure gold. No alloy. Pure love. No lust. Pure hope. No fear. No wonder the angels rejoice when one sinner repents; they know another work of art will soon grace the gallery of God. They know what heaven holds.
Revelation 10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down."
5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! 7But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."
8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." 10I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 119:17-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
g Gimel
17 Do good to your servant, and I will live;
I will obey your word.
18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
19 I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed
and who stray from your commands.
22 Remove from me scorn and contempt,
for I keep your statutes.
23 Though rulers sit together and slander me,
your servant will meditate on your decrees.
24 Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.
October 13, 2008
Erasmus
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 119:17-24
Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. —Jeremiah 15:16
For centuries, many Christians were not permitted to read God’s Word in their own language. Instead, they were encouraged to attend Latin services that few could understand.
Then, in 1516, the Dutch scholar Erasmus compiled and published the first New Testament in the original Greek language. This landmark work was the basis for the later publication of Luther’s German Bible, Tyndale’s English Bible, and the King James Version. These translations made the Scriptures understandable to millions of people around the world.
Erasmus could not have known the influence his Greek New Testament would have, but he did have a passion for getting its message to laypeople from all walks of life. In the preface he wrote: “I would have [the Gospels and the Epistles] translated into all languages . . . . I long for the plowboy to sing them to himself as he follows the plow [and] the weaver to hum them to the tune of his shuttle.”
The prophet Jeremiah reflected this same passion for the Word: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (15:16).
Having God’s Word in our own language allows us to experience the joy of meditating on it each day. — Dennis Fisher
More precious than gold is God’s Word to me,
Much better than pearls from deep in the sea;
For in the Lord’s Word I take great delight,
And it is my joy each day and each night. —Fitzhugh
The treasures of truth in God’s Word are best mined with the spade of meditation.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13, 2008
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, " ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ " ( Exodus 3:10-11 ). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, "Who am I that I should go . . . ?" We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— "I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you" ( Exodus 3:14 ). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be "well pleased" ( Matthew 3:17 ). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, "I know this is what God wants me to do." But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Dry Holes - #5676 - October 13, 2008
Category: Your Hard Times
Monday, October 13, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
For many years, my wife's father managed to squeeze out a living for his family on their little farm in the Ozarks. It was always a battle financially, but the battle got really intense the summer of the long drought. First, he emptied all three of their ponds to get water; then all of the ponds on his parents' adjacent property. A friend, then, let him use his well that had never gone dry. Well, it went dry the summer of the long drought. Finally, Dad had no choice but to find water and dig a well on his property. But that meant mortgaging a lot of his cattle. And as the well diggers had to go deeper, it eventually meant mortgaging all his cattle. And they never found water. His farming days were over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dry Holes."
My wife's dad had the frustrating experience of desperately needing something to satisfy the thirst and pouring everything into looking for it, and coming up with nothing. That's a feeling a lot of people have - maybe you. But the search, in this case, is an emotional one; actually, a spiritual one. Where is the spiritual water that will satisfy that lifetime emptiness, that lifetime loneliness, that lifetime restlessness in your soul?
Maybe you have a lot of empty ponds behind you. Maybe you've gone looking in a special relationship, but it ultimately turned out just to be a dry hole. Maybe you've searched in your work, your religion, your studies, your children, your success, but here you are today as thirsty in your soul as you were when you began. It's been the season of the long drought.
It had been a very long drought for the woman Jesus talked to in our word for today from the Word of God in John 4:13-14. In her case, her "wells" had been a series of relationships with men that she thought would satisfy the needs of her heart. No one had. One day she meets Jesus at, of all things, a well. And He begins to talk to her about a source of spiritual fulfillment that would have that quality nothing and no one on earth could offer her. It would be "ever lasting."
Here are Jesus' words to all of us who are tired of sinking everything we have into what we hope will be a well, only to find out it's ultimately a dry hole. "Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Notice Jesus said, "I will put the source of your peace and your satisfaction in you." That's where no drought can ever touch it.
Jesus is making that same offer to you today. You see, the reason He came to this planet was because we were all cut off from the source of everything we're looking for. We're cut off from God by our sin; by a life of doing it "my way" instead of God's way. In fact, instead of the eternal life Jesus is offering, we're facing eternal death because that's what our sin costs. But Jesus loves you so much that He took your death penalty for your sin when He died on the cross. So now God can forgive you and come into your life and let you into His heaven when you die.
But it isn't enough just to have Jesus around you, which you may have a lot of because you have a lot of Christianity. But you may have never opened up your life to Jesus to be in you. Jesus all around you will never satisfy the thirst of your soul - only Jesus in you. And He's in you only if you've pinned all your hopes on Him to be your Savior from your sin.
If there's never been a time that you've done that and you want there to be. You want to begin that relationship with Him and finally find the love you were made for, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I'd like to think we'd be able to help a little bit if you'd visit our website YoursForLife.net. Because if you go there, you'll find a simple explanation of how to be sure you have begun life's most important relationship. Or you can call for my booklet Yours For Life at 877-741-1200.
For you, the long drought can end right now, right where you are. It really all depends on one thing: what you do with Jesus.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Revelation 9, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 12
I want to know Christ.
Philippians 3:10 (NCV)
The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowship with him. Walking with
him. Pondering him. Exploring him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable, and unfathomable.
And that he, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, thinks you're
worth his death on Roman timber.
Christ is the reward of Christianity.
Revelation 9
1The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.[a]
12The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns[b] of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.
17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 119:9-16
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
October 12, 2008
Life According To Plumb
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 119:9-16
Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11
Charlie Riggs has been called “the man behind Billy Graham.” For nearly 40 years, Riggs was the director of counseling and follow-up for Mr. Graham’s evangelistic meetings. In his counselor training classes, Charlie taught thousands of people the basic principles of how to live for Christ and share their faith with others.
At Charlie’s 90th birthday celebration, many tributes mentioned his lifelong practice of memorizing Scripture. His goal was not merely to know the Bible, but to know Christ and live by His Word.
Charlie followed Psalm 119:9-11, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. . . . Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” He likened the Scriptures to “plumb bobs” for his heart. Like the weight that holds a builder’s plumb line straight and true, these divine principles never change, no matter what the circumstances. He sought to measure his own thoughts, feelings, and behavior by God’s Word, not the other way around.
Charlie Riggs’ life was quiet and steady behind the scenes. His example challenges us today to hide God’s Word in our hearts and let it guide our lives. Charlie demonstrated what it means to live according to plumb. — David C. McCasland
The Bible will transform our lives
And turn us from our sin,
If we will read it and obey
God’s principles within. —Sper
The Bible: Know it in your head, stow it in your heart, show it in your life, sow it in the world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 12, 2008
Getting into God’s Stride
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Enoch walked with God . . . —Genesis 5:24
The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30 ). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride, but once we have done so, the only characteristic that exhibits itself is the very life of God Himself. The individual person is merged into a personal oneness with God, and God’s stride and His power alone are exhibited.
It is difficult to get into stride with God, because as soon as we start walking with Him we find that His pace has surpassed us before we have even taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. It was said of Jesus— "He will not fail nor be discouraged . . ." (Isaiah 42:4 ) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father. And we must learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning. It is God’s Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible. Getting into God’s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don’t give up because the pain is intense right now— get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 12
I want to know Christ.
Philippians 3:10 (NCV)
The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowship with him. Walking with
him. Pondering him. Exploring him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable, and unfathomable.
And that he, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, thinks you're
worth his death on Roman timber.
Christ is the reward of Christianity.
Revelation 9
1The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.[a]
12The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns[b] of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.
17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 119:9-16
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
October 12, 2008
Life According To Plumb
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 119:9-16
Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11
Charlie Riggs has been called “the man behind Billy Graham.” For nearly 40 years, Riggs was the director of counseling and follow-up for Mr. Graham’s evangelistic meetings. In his counselor training classes, Charlie taught thousands of people the basic principles of how to live for Christ and share their faith with others.
At Charlie’s 90th birthday celebration, many tributes mentioned his lifelong practice of memorizing Scripture. His goal was not merely to know the Bible, but to know Christ and live by His Word.
Charlie followed Psalm 119:9-11, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. . . . Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” He likened the Scriptures to “plumb bobs” for his heart. Like the weight that holds a builder’s plumb line straight and true, these divine principles never change, no matter what the circumstances. He sought to measure his own thoughts, feelings, and behavior by God’s Word, not the other way around.
Charlie Riggs’ life was quiet and steady behind the scenes. His example challenges us today to hide God’s Word in our hearts and let it guide our lives. Charlie demonstrated what it means to live according to plumb. — David C. McCasland
The Bible will transform our lives
And turn us from our sin,
If we will read it and obey
God’s principles within. —Sper
The Bible: Know it in your head, stow it in your heart, show it in your life, sow it in the world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 12, 2008
Getting into God’s Stride
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Enoch walked with God . . . —Genesis 5:24
The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30 ). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride, but once we have done so, the only characteristic that exhibits itself is the very life of God Himself. The individual person is merged into a personal oneness with God, and God’s stride and His power alone are exhibited.
It is difficult to get into stride with God, because as soon as we start walking with Him we find that His pace has surpassed us before we have even taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. It was said of Jesus— "He will not fail nor be discouraged . . ." (Isaiah 42:4 ) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father. And we must learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning. It is God’s Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible. Getting into God’s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don’t give up because the pain is intense right now— get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Revelation 8, daily readings and devotions\
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 11
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)
What does it mean to be just like Jesus?
The world has never known a heart so pure, a character so flawless. His spiritual hearing was so keen He never missed a heavenly whisper. His mercy so abundant He never missed a chance to forgive. No lie left His lips, no distraction marred His vision. He touched when others recoiled. He endured when others quit.
Jesus is the ultimate model for every person.
Revelation 8
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
The Trumpets
6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 4:18-25
The Calling of the First Disciples
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[a] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
October 11, 2008
The Art Of Common People
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 4:18-25
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. —Luke 5:32
The 16th-century Italian painter Caravaggio received scathing criticism in his day for depicting people of the Bible as common. His critics reflected a time when only members of royalty and aristocracy were considered appropriate subjects for the “immortality” of art. His commissioned canvas of St. Matthew and the Angel so offended church leaders that it had to be redone. They could not accept seeing Matthew with the physical features of an everyday laborer.
According to one biographer, what the church fathers did not understand was that “Caravaggio, in elevating this humble figure, was copying Christ, who had Himself raised Matthew from the street.”
Caravaggio was right about the people of the Bible. Jesus Himself grew up in the home of a laborer. When His time came to go public, He was announced by a weather-worn man of the wilderness known as John the Baptizer. His disciples were fishermen and common people.
Jesus lived, loved, and died for wealthy people too. But by befriending those who had been demon-possessed, lepers, fishermen, and even despised tax collectors, the teacher from Nazareth showed that no one is too poor, too sinful, or too insignificant to be His friend. — Mart De Haan
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer! —Scriven
Jesus wants you for a friend.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 11, 2008
God’s Silence— Then What?
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READ:
When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was —John 11:6
Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead" (see Matthew 7:9 ). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35 ).
A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.
The Place of Obedience
By Os Hillman
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Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. - Acts 9:8a
There is a place of obedience for all of us. For Paul, it was being struck blind on the Damascus road. God literally knocked him to the ground with a blinding light. A voice from Heaven asked Paul why he was persecuting Him (Jesus). When Paul arose, he could not see. Jesus told him to go to Damascus and meet a man named Ananias. There, Jesus restored Paul's sight through Ananias.
Each of us has a place of obedience. For some, it requires only a nudge of pressure to gently lead us toward God. For others of us, a lightning bolt is necessary to get our undivided attention. Many who are hard-hearted rebel against the living God. Yet God's love for these individuals is so great that He takes extreme measures to gain their attention -- and their hearts. When you come in contact with people like this, do not fear their arrogance. Instead, see them as God sees them as people who need the Savior and who could be a powerful force in the Kingdom if God saved them. It is a sign to begin praying for them.
We've all heard the saying, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." In many cases this is true. God has called many hard cases into His Kingdom through miraculous circumstances in order to save their lives from the pit of hell and transform them into a sweet-smelling fragrance. Do not let the hard exterior fool you. These are needy people who are crying out for help in their own prideful way.
Whenever God begins this process in the life of a sinner, He has others standing by to assist. Ananias was the person in Paul's life. He found it unbelievable that Paul really could have been saved. An angel had to convince him. Has God placed such an individual in your path? Perhaps God desires to use you to be an "Ananias" in the life of one of His wayward children. To do so requires a willingness to come alongside that one who needs your help. Who knows, that person could be the next apostle Paul.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 11
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)
What does it mean to be just like Jesus?
The world has never known a heart so pure, a character so flawless. His spiritual hearing was so keen He never missed a heavenly whisper. His mercy so abundant He never missed a chance to forgive. No lie left His lips, no distraction marred His vision. He touched when others recoiled. He endured when others quit.
Jesus is the ultimate model for every person.
Revelation 8
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
The Trumpets
6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 4:18-25
The Calling of the First Disciples
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[a] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
October 11, 2008
The Art Of Common People
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 4:18-25
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. —Luke 5:32
The 16th-century Italian painter Caravaggio received scathing criticism in his day for depicting people of the Bible as common. His critics reflected a time when only members of royalty and aristocracy were considered appropriate subjects for the “immortality” of art. His commissioned canvas of St. Matthew and the Angel so offended church leaders that it had to be redone. They could not accept seeing Matthew with the physical features of an everyday laborer.
According to one biographer, what the church fathers did not understand was that “Caravaggio, in elevating this humble figure, was copying Christ, who had Himself raised Matthew from the street.”
Caravaggio was right about the people of the Bible. Jesus Himself grew up in the home of a laborer. When His time came to go public, He was announced by a weather-worn man of the wilderness known as John the Baptizer. His disciples were fishermen and common people.
Jesus lived, loved, and died for wealthy people too. But by befriending those who had been demon-possessed, lepers, fishermen, and even despised tax collectors, the teacher from Nazareth showed that no one is too poor, too sinful, or too insignificant to be His friend. — Mart De Haan
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer! —Scriven
Jesus wants you for a friend.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 11, 2008
God’s Silence— Then What?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was —John 11:6
Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead" (see Matthew 7:9 ). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35 ).
A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.
The Place of Obedience
By Os Hillman
Powered By Marketplace Leaders
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. - Acts 9:8a
There is a place of obedience for all of us. For Paul, it was being struck blind on the Damascus road. God literally knocked him to the ground with a blinding light. A voice from Heaven asked Paul why he was persecuting Him (Jesus). When Paul arose, he could not see. Jesus told him to go to Damascus and meet a man named Ananias. There, Jesus restored Paul's sight through Ananias.
Each of us has a place of obedience. For some, it requires only a nudge of pressure to gently lead us toward God. For others of us, a lightning bolt is necessary to get our undivided attention. Many who are hard-hearted rebel against the living God. Yet God's love for these individuals is so great that He takes extreme measures to gain their attention -- and their hearts. When you come in contact with people like this, do not fear their arrogance. Instead, see them as God sees them as people who need the Savior and who could be a powerful force in the Kingdom if God saved them. It is a sign to begin praying for them.
We've all heard the saying, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." In many cases this is true. God has called many hard cases into His Kingdom through miraculous circumstances in order to save their lives from the pit of hell and transform them into a sweet-smelling fragrance. Do not let the hard exterior fool you. These are needy people who are crying out for help in their own prideful way.
Whenever God begins this process in the life of a sinner, He has others standing by to assist. Ananias was the person in Paul's life. He found it unbelievable that Paul really could have been saved. An angel had to convince him. Has God placed such an individual in your path? Perhaps God desires to use you to be an "Ananias" in the life of one of His wayward children. To do so requires a willingness to come alongside that one who needs your help. Who knows, that person could be the next apostle Paul.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Revelation 7, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 10
Short Cuts
They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words.
Matthew 6:7 (NCV)
I love the short sentence....What follows are cuts from some of my books and a couple of others. Keep the ones you like. Forgive the ones you don't. Share them when you can.
Pray all the time. If necessary, use words.
God forgets the past. Imitate him.
Greed I've often regretted. Generosity--never.
Don't ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right.
No one is useless to God. No one.
Nails didn't hold God to a cross. Love did.
You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you.
Revelation 7
144,000 Sealed
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb." 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
13Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"
14I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 105
1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
October 10, 2008
A Handful Of Thorns
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 105:1-6
Give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! —Psalm 107:21
Jeremy Taylor was a 17th-century English cleric who was severely persecuted for his faith. But though his house was plundered, his family left destitute, and his property confiscated, he continued to count the blessings he could not lose.
He wrote: “They have not taken away my merry countenance, my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience; they have still left me with the providence of God, and all His promises . . . my hopes of Heaven, and my charity to them, too, and still I sleep and digest, I eat and drink, I read and meditate. And he that hath so many causes of joy, and so great should never choose to sit down upon his little handful of thorns.”
Although we may not be afflicted with the grievous difficulties that Jeremy Taylor endured, all of us face trials and troubles. Are we grumbling? Or do we refuse to let our “little handful of thorns,” our troubles, obscure the overwhelming abundance of our blessings?
When we feel like complaining, let’s remember God’s faithfulness and “give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! . . . Remember His marvelous works which He has done!” (Ps. 105:1,5). — Vernon C. Grounds
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost;
Count your many blessings—name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. —Oatman
Spend your time counting your blessings, not airing your complaints.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 10, 2008
How Will I Know?
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READ:
Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’ —Matthew 11:25
We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— "But if we walk in the light," we are cleansed "from all sin" ( 1 John 1:7 ). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.
All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, "I suppose I will understand these things someday!" You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the "wise and prudent." "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." (John 7:17 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Problem With Just Looking - #5675 - October 10, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Friday, October 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Maybe I'm just too sensitive about it, but I always feel a little sheepish when I walk into a store, knowing that I won't buy anything. I'll just be browsing along and some bored salesperson stands up and starts moving my direction. Maybe that's what makes me feel bad. It's her look of hope, of expectancy, of "at last I can justify my existence." "At last I can accomplish what I'm here to do." So the salesperson pleasantly asks, "May I help you?" To which I answer with the two most hated words in the life of a salesperson, "Just looking." I am such a disappointment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Problem With Just Looking."
It's not just sales people who are bored by folks who are "just looking." Jesus is troubled by people, often people like you and me, who aren't interested in buying spiritually. They're "just looking." Like the people in our word for today from the Word of God in John 9:13.
Now, this follows Jesus' amazing miracle of healing a man who had been blind from birth. It should have been amazing to the religious leaders, the Pharisees. But all they could see was that Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath, which they considered a violation of their laws.
The Bible says, "They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been born blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. 'He put mud on my eyes,' the man replied, 'and I washed, and now I see." Awesome, huh? Not to the Pharisees. Their reaction? "Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.'"
Obviously men - very religious men - have no intention of buying into what Jesus is doing here. They're just looking. Actually, everywhere Jesus did miracles there seemed to be two groups: the expecters who are looking for Jesus to do something, and the dissecters who are just looking at what Jesus is doing. What bothers me is that the dissecters were the religious folks, the spiritual veterans. Like me and maybe you. They were always so busy analyzing what Jesus was doing that they missed what Jesus was doing. That could be happening to you.
As you get more settled into Christian things, as you know more Christian ideas, as you do more Christian activity, this subtle numbness can start to creep in. You go to church, not so much to have God speak to you but to watch God speak to others. You make spiritual events happen but you seldom let them happen to you. You start to become a discusser of God's working rather than an experiencer of God at work. You start to become critical of other leaders and other methods.
Can you feel that creeping sleep in your soul? Somewhere you stepped out of the middle of God's life-changing work and you moved to the edges to watch, to analyze, to categorize, to criticize, or to help it happen. And it's cold out there, isn't it? You show up at Jesus' store, you look around, but you just don't buy into the wonder of it all. The great revivalist Gipsy Smith started preaching when he was 17 and he quit when he was 82 because he died. When people used to ask him why he was as excited and passionate in his preaching even like when he was a young man, he simply said, "I have never lost the wonder."
Maybe you have. It's time to get back into the mainstream where the miracles are...where the powerful works of God are. Drop your analyzer's detachment and return to your original love, your original excitement about Jesus. Let God happen to you again! When Jesus is offering such supernatural merchandise, it would be a shame if you're just on the edges "just looking."
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 10
Short Cuts
They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words.
Matthew 6:7 (NCV)
I love the short sentence....What follows are cuts from some of my books and a couple of others. Keep the ones you like. Forgive the ones you don't. Share them when you can.
Pray all the time. If necessary, use words.
God forgets the past. Imitate him.
Greed I've often regretted. Generosity--never.
Don't ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right.
No one is useless to God. No one.
Nails didn't hold God to a cross. Love did.
You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you.
Revelation 7
144,000 Sealed
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb." 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
13Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"
14I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 105
1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
October 10, 2008
A Handful Of Thorns
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 105:1-6
Give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! —Psalm 107:21
Jeremy Taylor was a 17th-century English cleric who was severely persecuted for his faith. But though his house was plundered, his family left destitute, and his property confiscated, he continued to count the blessings he could not lose.
He wrote: “They have not taken away my merry countenance, my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience; they have still left me with the providence of God, and all His promises . . . my hopes of Heaven, and my charity to them, too, and still I sleep and digest, I eat and drink, I read and meditate. And he that hath so many causes of joy, and so great should never choose to sit down upon his little handful of thorns.”
Although we may not be afflicted with the grievous difficulties that Jeremy Taylor endured, all of us face trials and troubles. Are we grumbling? Or do we refuse to let our “little handful of thorns,” our troubles, obscure the overwhelming abundance of our blessings?
When we feel like complaining, let’s remember God’s faithfulness and “give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! . . . Remember His marvelous works which He has done!” (Ps. 105:1,5). — Vernon C. Grounds
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost;
Count your many blessings—name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. —Oatman
Spend your time counting your blessings, not airing your complaints.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 10, 2008
How Will I Know?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’ —Matthew 11:25
We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— "But if we walk in the light," we are cleansed "from all sin" ( 1 John 1:7 ). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.
All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, "I suppose I will understand these things someday!" You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the "wise and prudent." "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." (John 7:17 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Problem With Just Looking - #5675 - October 10, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Friday, October 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Maybe I'm just too sensitive about it, but I always feel a little sheepish when I walk into a store, knowing that I won't buy anything. I'll just be browsing along and some bored salesperson stands up and starts moving my direction. Maybe that's what makes me feel bad. It's her look of hope, of expectancy, of "at last I can justify my existence." "At last I can accomplish what I'm here to do." So the salesperson pleasantly asks, "May I help you?" To which I answer with the two most hated words in the life of a salesperson, "Just looking." I am such a disappointment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Problem With Just Looking."
It's not just sales people who are bored by folks who are "just looking." Jesus is troubled by people, often people like you and me, who aren't interested in buying spiritually. They're "just looking." Like the people in our word for today from the Word of God in John 9:13.
Now, this follows Jesus' amazing miracle of healing a man who had been blind from birth. It should have been amazing to the religious leaders, the Pharisees. But all they could see was that Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath, which they considered a violation of their laws.
The Bible says, "They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been born blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. 'He put mud on my eyes,' the man replied, 'and I washed, and now I see." Awesome, huh? Not to the Pharisees. Their reaction? "Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.'"
Obviously men - very religious men - have no intention of buying into what Jesus is doing here. They're just looking. Actually, everywhere Jesus did miracles there seemed to be two groups: the expecters who are looking for Jesus to do something, and the dissecters who are just looking at what Jesus is doing. What bothers me is that the dissecters were the religious folks, the spiritual veterans. Like me and maybe you. They were always so busy analyzing what Jesus was doing that they missed what Jesus was doing. That could be happening to you.
As you get more settled into Christian things, as you know more Christian ideas, as you do more Christian activity, this subtle numbness can start to creep in. You go to church, not so much to have God speak to you but to watch God speak to others. You make spiritual events happen but you seldom let them happen to you. You start to become a discusser of God's working rather than an experiencer of God at work. You start to become critical of other leaders and other methods.
Can you feel that creeping sleep in your soul? Somewhere you stepped out of the middle of God's life-changing work and you moved to the edges to watch, to analyze, to categorize, to criticize, or to help it happen. And it's cold out there, isn't it? You show up at Jesus' store, you look around, but you just don't buy into the wonder of it all. The great revivalist Gipsy Smith started preaching when he was 17 and he quit when he was 82 because he died. When people used to ask him why he was as excited and passionate in his preaching even like when he was a young man, he simply said, "I have never lost the wonder."
Maybe you have. It's time to get back into the mainstream where the miracles are...where the powerful works of God are. Drop your analyzer's detachment and return to your original love, your original excitement about Jesus. Let God happen to you again! When Jesus is offering such supernatural merchandise, it would be a shame if you're just on the edges "just looking."
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Revelation 6, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 9
It’s Not Up to You
The Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants.
Romans 8:27 (NCV)
None of us pray as much as we should, but all of us pray more than we think, because the Holy Spirit turns our sighs into petitions and tears into entreaties. He speaks for you and protects you. He makes sure you get heard.
Now, suppose a person never…learns about the sealing and intercession of the Spirit. This individual thinks that salvation security resides in self, not God, that prayer power depends on the person, not the Spirit. What kind of life will this person lead? A parched and prayerless one.
But what if you believe in the work of the Spirit? Will you be different as a result? You bet your sweet Sunday you will. Your shoulders will lift as you lower the buckling weight of self-salvation. Your knees will bend as you discover the buoyant power of the praying Spirit. Higher walk. Deeper prayers. And, most of all, a quiet confidence that comes from knowing it’s not up to you.
Revelation 6
The Seals
1I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart[a] of wheat for a day's wages,[b] and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,[c] and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 6:9-15
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Footnotes:
Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
October 9, 2008
The Chain Of Ungrace
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 6:9-15
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. —Matthew 6:12
When I feel wronged, I can contrive a hundred reasons against forgiveness. “He needs to learn a lesson.” “I’ll let her stew for a while; it’ll do her good.” “It’s not up to me to make the first move.” When I finally soften to the point of granting forgiveness, it seems a leap from hard logic to mushy sentiment.
One factor that motivates me to forgive is that as a Christian I am commanded to, as the child of a Father who forgives. Jesus said, “If you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).
But beyond that, I can identify three pragmatic reasons. First, forgiveness halts the cycle of blame and pain, breaking the chain of ungrace. Without it we remain bound to the people we can’t forgive, held in their vise grip.
Second, forgiveness loosens the stranglehold of guilt in the perpetrator. It allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party, even if a just punishment is still required.
And third, forgiveness creates a remarkable linkage, placing the forgiver on the same side as the party who did the wrong. We are not as different from the wrongdoer as we would like to think, for we too must ask our heavenly Father, “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12). — Philip Yancey
When I consider Calvary’s dismay—
The shame, the scorn, the scourging borne by You—
Resentment melts; I am compelled to say,
“Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do!” —Mollon
He who cannot forgive others burns the bridge over which he himself must pass. —Herbert
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 9, 2008
Building on the Atonement
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God —Romans 6:13
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life— an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation— it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life— it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, "Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Walking too Fast to Talk - #5674 - October 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I always enjoyed walking the beautiful three-mile walk around the local lake we used to live near. And my wife enjoyed it too. Walking together is good. It not only improves your physical condition, but it gives you a chance to talk. Well, theoretically. The problem is I'm into covering that ground as fast as possible. That's maximum aerobic effect, calorie burn. You know. But when my wife and I would chug up and down our local hills at my hyper pace, she had a question: "Weren't we going to talk?" "Sure." Then comes her all too legitimate complaint: "You're walking too fast to talk." It's not just about when we're on a hike. And I don't think I'm alone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walking too Fast to Talk."
Our word for today from the Word of God - now, let me warn you, I call it elbow verses. When you read them in church, husbands and wives start elbowing each other. "Hey, this is for you!" The wives get it in the earlier verses that talk about wives submitting to their husbands. But Mr. Husband is the focus of our word for today from Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church."
No doubt about what the word husband means to God. It's selfless love that continually puts a wife's needs and a wife's welfare ahead of his own. It's sacrificial love, like Jesus' love - love that's expressed by caring for her in a thousand little and big ways. A woman needs to be loved, she need to be valued, and what's the biggest single way she can tell she's loved and valued? By knowing she is important enough to be heard by her man. A woman has no greater need, I think, than to know she's being heard by the man to whom she has entrusted her life.
Which means she needs time. Guess what a man has the hardest time giving? Time! Especially time to listen. Why? Because he's walking or running too fast to talk or listen. If she can catch me, she can talk to me. If she can keep it to a three-minute summary, she can have my attention. That's not love.
If you're a married man or a man otherwise in love, the woman you love needs regular time to be heard. When a woman feels unheard, she talks louder, longer and more often. If you're wondering why she's becoming a nag, maybe you should look in the mirror.
Your listening time with your wife has to be a deliberate choice, a sacrifice choice, a regular choice. "I'm all yours, honey, and I'm yours for a while." That kind of love will create a home where there are no unpleasant surprises; where frustrations don't build into unmanageable avalanches; where a woman has that harbor that her heart has always longed for.
But it won't happen if you just keep going at the same speed you've been going. As my wife has taught me on our little walks, you have to slow down in order to talk. You have to slow down in order to listen. You know what? My wife's language of love, and I think every woman's language of love is pretty bottom line. It's your willingness to listen.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 9
It’s Not Up to You
The Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants.
Romans 8:27 (NCV)
None of us pray as much as we should, but all of us pray more than we think, because the Holy Spirit turns our sighs into petitions and tears into entreaties. He speaks for you and protects you. He makes sure you get heard.
Now, suppose a person never…learns about the sealing and intercession of the Spirit. This individual thinks that salvation security resides in self, not God, that prayer power depends on the person, not the Spirit. What kind of life will this person lead? A parched and prayerless one.
But what if you believe in the work of the Spirit? Will you be different as a result? You bet your sweet Sunday you will. Your shoulders will lift as you lower the buckling weight of self-salvation. Your knees will bend as you discover the buoyant power of the praying Spirit. Higher walk. Deeper prayers. And, most of all, a quiet confidence that comes from knowing it’s not up to you.
Revelation 6
The Seals
1I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart[a] of wheat for a day's wages,[b] and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,[c] and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 6:9-15
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Footnotes:
Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
October 9, 2008
The Chain Of Ungrace
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 6:9-15
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. —Matthew 6:12
When I feel wronged, I can contrive a hundred reasons against forgiveness. “He needs to learn a lesson.” “I’ll let her stew for a while; it’ll do her good.” “It’s not up to me to make the first move.” When I finally soften to the point of granting forgiveness, it seems a leap from hard logic to mushy sentiment.
One factor that motivates me to forgive is that as a Christian I am commanded to, as the child of a Father who forgives. Jesus said, “If you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).
But beyond that, I can identify three pragmatic reasons. First, forgiveness halts the cycle of blame and pain, breaking the chain of ungrace. Without it we remain bound to the people we can’t forgive, held in their vise grip.
Second, forgiveness loosens the stranglehold of guilt in the perpetrator. It allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party, even if a just punishment is still required.
And third, forgiveness creates a remarkable linkage, placing the forgiver on the same side as the party who did the wrong. We are not as different from the wrongdoer as we would like to think, for we too must ask our heavenly Father, “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12). — Philip Yancey
When I consider Calvary’s dismay—
The shame, the scorn, the scourging borne by You—
Resentment melts; I am compelled to say,
“Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do!” —Mollon
He who cannot forgive others burns the bridge over which he himself must pass. —Herbert
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 9, 2008
Building on the Atonement
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God —Romans 6:13
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life— an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation— it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life— it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, "Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Walking too Fast to Talk - #5674 - October 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I always enjoyed walking the beautiful three-mile walk around the local lake we used to live near. And my wife enjoyed it too. Walking together is good. It not only improves your physical condition, but it gives you a chance to talk. Well, theoretically. The problem is I'm into covering that ground as fast as possible. That's maximum aerobic effect, calorie burn. You know. But when my wife and I would chug up and down our local hills at my hyper pace, she had a question: "Weren't we going to talk?" "Sure." Then comes her all too legitimate complaint: "You're walking too fast to talk." It's not just about when we're on a hike. And I don't think I'm alone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walking too Fast to Talk."
Our word for today from the Word of God - now, let me warn you, I call it elbow verses. When you read them in church, husbands and wives start elbowing each other. "Hey, this is for you!" The wives get it in the earlier verses that talk about wives submitting to their husbands. But Mr. Husband is the focus of our word for today from Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church."
No doubt about what the word husband means to God. It's selfless love that continually puts a wife's needs and a wife's welfare ahead of his own. It's sacrificial love, like Jesus' love - love that's expressed by caring for her in a thousand little and big ways. A woman needs to be loved, she need to be valued, and what's the biggest single way she can tell she's loved and valued? By knowing she is important enough to be heard by her man. A woman has no greater need, I think, than to know she's being heard by the man to whom she has entrusted her life.
Which means she needs time. Guess what a man has the hardest time giving? Time! Especially time to listen. Why? Because he's walking or running too fast to talk or listen. If she can catch me, she can talk to me. If she can keep it to a three-minute summary, she can have my attention. That's not love.
If you're a married man or a man otherwise in love, the woman you love needs regular time to be heard. When a woman feels unheard, she talks louder, longer and more often. If you're wondering why she's becoming a nag, maybe you should look in the mirror.
Your listening time with your wife has to be a deliberate choice, a sacrifice choice, a regular choice. "I'm all yours, honey, and I'm yours for a while." That kind of love will create a home where there are no unpleasant surprises; where frustrations don't build into unmanageable avalanches; where a woman has that harbor that her heart has always longed for.
But it won't happen if you just keep going at the same speed you've been going. As my wife has taught me on our little walks, you have to slow down in order to talk. You have to slow down in order to listen. You know what? My wife's language of love, and I think every woman's language of love is pretty bottom line. It's your willingness to listen.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Revelation 5, daily readings and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 8
Set Apart
The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NCV)
In the third century, St. Cyprian wrote to a friend named Donatus:
This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair
garden.... But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out... you know
very well what I would see; brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in
the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds....
Yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people.... They are
despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world.
These people, Donatus, are Christians....
What a compliment! A, quiet and holy people....
Quiet. . . . Not obnoxious. Not boastful. Not demanding. Just quiet....
Holy.... Set apart. Pure. Decent. Honest. Wholesome....
Revelation 5
The Scroll and the Lamb
1Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 5:21-26
Murder
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.[d]
October 8, 2008
Erev Yom Kippur
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 5:21-26
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:24
In Judaism, the holiest day of the year is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. On that day, the nation seeks God’s forgiveness for sins both personal and national.
What is interesting, however, is the day before Yom Kippur, known as Erev Yom Kippur. It represents a person’s last opportunity to seek forgiveness from other people before Yom Kippur begins. This is important because, in Jewish thought, you must seek forgiveness from other people before you can seek the forgiveness of God.
Today, we are called to do the same. Jesus pointed out that in order to worship Him with all our heart, we first need to resolve matters with others. In Matthew 5:23-24, He said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Even in a matter so basic as our giving, the ability to truly worship God is hindered by the reality of relationships broken by our wrong actions, attitudes, and words.
So that our worship can be pleasing and acceptable to God, let us make every effort to be reconciled to one another—today. — Bill Crowder
Have you hurt a friend or brother?
Go at once and make things right;
From your heart say, “Please forgive me.”
How these words bring God delight! —D. De Haan
An offense against your neighbor is a fence between you and God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 8, 2008
Coming to Jesus
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— "Come to Me . . . ." In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, "Just as I am, I come." As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to "Come . . . ."
"Come to Me . . . ." When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, "I’ve really received what I wanted this time!" And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, "Come to Me. . . ."
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Rewards of Not Moving - #5673 - October 8, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Over many years of flying commercially, I really learned to like those frequent flyer miles, you know, that they give to high mileage passengers. You know, it's getting a little tougher with those, but I'll tell you what, I think it was a great idea. When it was time to book another flight, I didn't have to think twice about which airline I'd try first. I would just stick to the one particular airline. And you know what? I'm not even going to do free advertising for them. Unless the schedule or the fare was out of line, I'd go with that airline. Why? I'm just a loyal kind of guy? No. Because they credited me with mileage awards that convert into discounts, upgrades, and free trips. That bonus incentive really succeeded in getting me to stay with one carrier. It worked on millions of other flyers like me, as well. It's a pretty good system - the biggest rewards are for those who stick with the same carrier.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want A Word With You today about "The Rewards of Not Moving."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 10:35-36. "Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what was promised." Notice the principle here about your relationship with God, about so many areas of your life: "Persevere so that you will receive." This was originally addressed to people whose commitment to Christ was being tested by some very hard times. Times that might make it tempting to change carriers. But God says, "The rewards are for those who stay put." If you fly with Jesus some of the time but don't stay with Him, you will miss His wonderful rewards that are reserved for those who persevere with Him.
That "persevere so you will receive" principle applies to many areas of your life. It's sure true of marriage, for example. Today, many people make a commitment to fly the rest of their life with one person, but one day they start getting restless, they get frustrated, they look at what seems to be greener grass on the other side.
My wife and I have enjoyed a lot of years together. I'll tell you, as millions of others would, that the best of married love and friendship and intimacy isn't in the passionate days of courtship - the honeymoon - it comes from the long years of weathering storms together, facing problems, praying through situations, learning each other's languages of love. One day the sun rises on a deep trust, a belonging, a sense of safety that you can only know by staying with the same partner. It's a joy and love that the bailer-outers will never know. You persevere; you receive the reward.
I've seen the same principle at work in ministry. People who jump from place to place never know the tremendous payoff of sticking it out in one place. There's a harvest that comes only through patient, persevering work. So often the jumpers leave just before the real harvest starts to come. They put in the work, but they don't get to see the bonuses because they change carriers before they hit the reward level.
This persevering payoff is about friendship, too, the great rewards of being someone's friend come from staying with that friend no matter what and not changing friends all the time. The principle applies to making a commitment to a cause and sticking with it; to seeing a job through. But most important of all, it's a key to following Christ patiently, stubbornly, every day even when it's tempting to leave Him for another loyalty. The songwriter captured it beautifully, "The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows."
Stay with the one you started with. You'll love the rewards that belong to the ones that do.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 8
Set Apart
The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NCV)
In the third century, St. Cyprian wrote to a friend named Donatus:
This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair
garden.... But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out... you know
very well what I would see; brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in
the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds....
Yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people.... They are
despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world.
These people, Donatus, are Christians....
What a compliment! A, quiet and holy people....
Quiet. . . . Not obnoxious. Not boastful. Not demanding. Just quiet....
Holy.... Set apart. Pure. Decent. Honest. Wholesome....
Revelation 5
The Scroll and the Lamb
1Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 5:21-26
Murder
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.[d]
October 8, 2008
Erev Yom Kippur
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 5:21-26
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:24
In Judaism, the holiest day of the year is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. On that day, the nation seeks God’s forgiveness for sins both personal and national.
What is interesting, however, is the day before Yom Kippur, known as Erev Yom Kippur. It represents a person’s last opportunity to seek forgiveness from other people before Yom Kippur begins. This is important because, in Jewish thought, you must seek forgiveness from other people before you can seek the forgiveness of God.
Today, we are called to do the same. Jesus pointed out that in order to worship Him with all our heart, we first need to resolve matters with others. In Matthew 5:23-24, He said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Even in a matter so basic as our giving, the ability to truly worship God is hindered by the reality of relationships broken by our wrong actions, attitudes, and words.
So that our worship can be pleasing and acceptable to God, let us make every effort to be reconciled to one another—today. — Bill Crowder
Have you hurt a friend or brother?
Go at once and make things right;
From your heart say, “Please forgive me.”
How these words bring God delight! —D. De Haan
An offense against your neighbor is a fence between you and God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 8, 2008
Coming to Jesus
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— "Come to Me . . . ." In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, "Just as I am, I come." As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to "Come . . . ."
"Come to Me . . . ." When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, "I’ve really received what I wanted this time!" And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, "Come to Me. . . ."
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Rewards of Not Moving - #5673 - October 8, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Over many years of flying commercially, I really learned to like those frequent flyer miles, you know, that they give to high mileage passengers. You know, it's getting a little tougher with those, but I'll tell you what, I think it was a great idea. When it was time to book another flight, I didn't have to think twice about which airline I'd try first. I would just stick to the one particular airline. And you know what? I'm not even going to do free advertising for them. Unless the schedule or the fare was out of line, I'd go with that airline. Why? I'm just a loyal kind of guy? No. Because they credited me with mileage awards that convert into discounts, upgrades, and free trips. That bonus incentive really succeeded in getting me to stay with one carrier. It worked on millions of other flyers like me, as well. It's a pretty good system - the biggest rewards are for those who stick with the same carrier.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want A Word With You today about "The Rewards of Not Moving."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 10:35-36. "Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what was promised." Notice the principle here about your relationship with God, about so many areas of your life: "Persevere so that you will receive." This was originally addressed to people whose commitment to Christ was being tested by some very hard times. Times that might make it tempting to change carriers. But God says, "The rewards are for those who stay put." If you fly with Jesus some of the time but don't stay with Him, you will miss His wonderful rewards that are reserved for those who persevere with Him.
That "persevere so you will receive" principle applies to many areas of your life. It's sure true of marriage, for example. Today, many people make a commitment to fly the rest of their life with one person, but one day they start getting restless, they get frustrated, they look at what seems to be greener grass on the other side.
My wife and I have enjoyed a lot of years together. I'll tell you, as millions of others would, that the best of married love and friendship and intimacy isn't in the passionate days of courtship - the honeymoon - it comes from the long years of weathering storms together, facing problems, praying through situations, learning each other's languages of love. One day the sun rises on a deep trust, a belonging, a sense of safety that you can only know by staying with the same partner. It's a joy and love that the bailer-outers will never know. You persevere; you receive the reward.
I've seen the same principle at work in ministry. People who jump from place to place never know the tremendous payoff of sticking it out in one place. There's a harvest that comes only through patient, persevering work. So often the jumpers leave just before the real harvest starts to come. They put in the work, but they don't get to see the bonuses because they change carriers before they hit the reward level.
This persevering payoff is about friendship, too, the great rewards of being someone's friend come from staying with that friend no matter what and not changing friends all the time. The principle applies to making a commitment to a cause and sticking with it; to seeing a job through. But most important of all, it's a key to following Christ patiently, stubbornly, every day even when it's tempting to leave Him for another loyalty. The songwriter captured it beautifully, "The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows."
Stay with the one you started with. You'll love the rewards that belong to the ones that do.
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