Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 25
A Hunch and a Hope
Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.
Mark 5:34 (NKJV)
Maybe all you have [is] a crazy hunch and a high hope. You have nothing to give. But you are hurting. And all you have to offer him is your hurt.
Maybe that has kept you from coming to God. Oh, you've taken a step or two in his direction. But then you saw the other people around him. They seemed so clean, so neat, so trim and fit in their faith. And when you saw them, they blocked your view of him. So you stepped back.
If that describes you, note carefully,... one person [whom Christ] commended... for having faith. It wasn't a wealthy giver. It wasn't a loyal follower. It wasn't an acclaimed teacher. It. was a shame-struck, penniless outcast--[a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years]--who clutched onto her hunch that he could and her hope that he would.
Which, by the way, isn't a bad definition of faith. A conviction that he can and a hope that he will.
Ecclesiastes 5
Stand in Awe of God
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
3 As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
Riches Are Meaningless
8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or much,
but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.
13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
14 or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when he has a son
there is nothing left for him.
15 Naked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand.
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As a man comes, so he departs,
and what does he gain,
since he toils for the wind?
17 All his days he eats in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 5:12-16 (New International Version)
The Man With Leprosy
12While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[a] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.
14Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."
15Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
February 25, 2009
Okello’s Story, Our Story
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 5:12-16
[Jesus] put out His hand and touched [the leper]. —Luke 5:13
My friend Roxanne has had some impressive jobs in her life. She has covered the Olympics as a reporter. She has worked in Washington, DC, for noted people and companies. For years, she has written articles about top Christian athletes. But none of those jobs can compare with what she is doing now: giving the love of Jesus to children in Uganda.
What are her days like? Consider the rainy Thursday when she walked the muddy pathway to a cancer ward. Once inside, she scooped up little Okello, whose arms bore sores from poor IV care and whose body raged with a high fever. She carried him to the office of the only cancer doctor in the building and stayed with him until he got help and his condition stabilized.
Jesus, our example, spent His entire ministry among the suffering, healing them and bringing them the good news of God’s love (Luke 7:21-22).
How significant are the jobs we do? Sure, it’s vital to make a living to support ourselves and our families. But is there something we can do to help relieve the suffering in our world of pain? We may not be able to move to Uganda like Roxanne, but we can all find ways to assist someone. In whose life will you make a difference? — Dave Branon
God uses us to show His love
To people caught in life’s despair;
Our deeds of kindness open doors
To talk of God and His great care. —Sper
One measure of our likeness to Christ is our sensitivity to the suffering of others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 25, 2009
The Destitution of Service
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READ:
. . . though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, "It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God." "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 8:9 ). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually "out-socialized" the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11 ). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— "What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things." All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
What's So Amazing About Amazing Grace - #5773
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It seems like it's almost America's spiritual national anthem - even more so after the emotional earthquake of September 11, 2001. You heard it a lot then. It's that centuries-old hymn, Amazing Grace. For years, they've played it at the funerals of fallen policemen and firemen and of many everyday men and women. It's been the subject of a public television documentary. And on the emotional anniversaries after September 11, at Ground Zero, what song have the bagpipers played as they approached that site which has become hallowed ground? Of course, they were playing the haunting strains of Amazing Grace. Even for people who don't go to church or know much about the Bible or even believe much of anything, they know Amazing Grace.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What's So Amazing about Amazing Grace."
Many who love the song Amazing Grace have little idea what is so amazing about the grace that it celebrates; or even what "grace" really is. And yet we have a strange sense in our soul that whatever that song is about is something our soul really needs. And we're right.
Once you dig in and try to grasp what God's "grace" is all about, you really will be amazed and you'll be changed forever. There's no better place to get the inside scoop on grace than Ephesians 2 in the Bible beginning with verse 1. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It starts with bad news, and it ends with the best news you've ever heard. It says, "As for you, you were dead in your...sins." Sins - that's all the things we've done our way instead of God's way. And, spiritually speaking, our hijacking of our life from God has left us dead, which means separated from God. Deep inside, maybe you can even feel being away from God.
The Bible continues: "All of us lived...gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature...Like the rest, we were objects of wrath." Translation: we've ended up on the wrong side of God's wrath because we've defied Him and, in reality, we've made ourselves "God" in our lives. The stars obey Him, the planets obey Him, the angels obey Him, even demons do what He commands them. We're the rebels who dare to defy God's authority in the way we live, with our selfishness, our lies, our anger, our lust, the way we treat other people. The song says God's grace is amazing because it "saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."
The Bible then delivers this awesome news for us "Death Row" rebels: "it is by grace (that's undeserved love) you have been saved, through faith. This is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works." The Son of God Himself said, "I will take the punishment you deserve. I will take your hell." And He died on a cross to take your place and your punishment. You can't do a thing to get yourself to heaven; it's "not by works." God says so. What will cost you heaven is depending on anything other than Jesus, anything in addition to Jesus, no matter how Christian it is or how religious it is.
Maybe you're still "lost," like the song says, but you're ready to be "found." You've been "blind," but you want to "see." Then it's time to let God's undeserved love - His amazing grace - happen to you. It's time to reach out to Jesus and grab Him like a drowning person would grab a rescuer. He's your only hope.
You can tell Him right where you are that you want this relationship with Him beginning today. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I believe when You died on that cross, some of those sins you were paying for were mine. You are my only hope of being forgiven by God. You're my only hope of being in heaven some day, and I'm putting all my trust in You because You died for me and You walked out of your grave under your own power. You're alive today!"
If that's what you want, I hope you'll check out our website as early as you can today. So many people have been encouraged there - found help there in beginning their relationship with Christ. That's really what it's there for. It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be glad to send you my little booklet Yours For Life if you'll just call for it toll free at 877-741-1200.
It's amazing grace - it can be yours today.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Ecclesiastes 4, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 24
No Limit to His Love
This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us.
1 John 3:16 (NCV)
It’s nice to be included. You aren’t always.
Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough, and, sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough.
But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of his love, he stretched one hand to the right and the other to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know he died loving you.
But isn’t there a limit? Surely there has to be an end to this love. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit bottom. But when it came to God’s love, they never did.
Ecclesiastes 4
Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness
1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.
3 But better than both
is he who has not yet been,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.
4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5 The fool folds his hands
and ruins himself.
6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Advancement Is Meaningless
13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king's successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Ruth 1:15-22 (New International Version)
15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"
20 "Don't call me Naomi, [a] " she told them. "Call me Mara, [b] because the Almighty [c] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted [d] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
February 24, 2009
Managing The Mess
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Ruth 1:15-22
Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? —Ruth 1:21
When we meet Naomi in the Scriptures, her life is a mess. She and her husband had gone to Moab searching for food during a famine. While in that land, their two sons married Moabite women, and life was good—until her husband and sons died and she was stuck, widowed in a foreign land.
Though honest about her pain, Naomi obviously had a sense of who was in control: “The Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (Ruth 1:21).
The Hebrew word for “Almighty” (Shaddai) indicates God’s sufficiency for any situation. The word “Lord” (Yahweh) refers to His faithfulness as the loving covenant-keeping God. I love how Naomi put these two names together. In the midst of her complaint, she never lost sight of the fact that her God was a capable and faithful God. And, sure enough, He proved His capability to deliver her and His faithfulness to care for her to the very end.
If there seems to be no way out of your despair, remember that Naomi’s God is your God as well. And He specializes in managing our messes to good and glorious outcomes. Thankfully, He is both capable and faithful. So, when your life is a mess, remember who your God is! — Joe Stowell
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last. —von Schlegel
Stand back and watch the Lord manage your mess into a glorious outcome.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 24, 2009
The Delight of Sacrifice
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls . . . —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit," we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5 ). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13 ). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" ( 1 Corinthians 9:22 ).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a "doormat" without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren . . ." ( Romans 9:3 ). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Back In the Ring For Another Round - #5772
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If you've ever watched a boxing match, if you've ever been around a "Rocky" movie, then you know the scene. Boxer-Man has been punched and pounded and bruised for several rounds. The bell rings, he staggers to his corner, his attendants immediately start working on him. They give him something to drink, they help him get a quick breather, and they give him a big pep talk. I don't know what they tell Boxer-Man, but I'm sure it's good stuff. What I do know is whatever they tell him works. Even though he's banged up, he gets back into the ring for another round!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Back In the Ring For Another Round."
We live in a world where everybody is taking their blows. People you know often feel beat up, punched around, and even ready to go down for the count. What may keep them from giving up is someone in their corner who's giving them what they need to go for another round. I hope that someone is you.
We've got a stellar example of that in our word for today from the Word of God. In Acts 4:36, we're introduced to "Joseph...whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement)." Something about this man made the early Christian leaders think "encouragement." I wonder if that's what people think when they see you coming. "Here comes encouragement."
All through his appearances in the Book of Acts, Barnabas shows us what an encourager looks like. In Acts 9, for example, when none of the disciples wanted anything to do with Saul of Tarsus after he met Christ, (I mean, they were afraid he was still hunting Christians.) Barnabas was the one who brought him to them and vouched for him. A Barnabas believes in a person when no one else will. I hope that's you.
In Acts 11, when God started working among the despised Gentiles, it says the church leaders in Jerusalem "sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord" (Acts 11:23-24). Here's another face of the encourager. He looks for what God is doing in someone's life and he fans the flame.
Now lest you think this mission of encouragement is just for a gifted elite like Barnabas, don't forget that God says to all of us, "Encourage one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13). So how are you doing? Do you look for the things a person is doing right? Do you thank them for it? Do you make a person feel really important when they're with you, or like they're keeping you from something more important? Do you listen for their heart, not just their words? Do you look for what God seems to be doing in their life and then you affirm it to them? Do you look for their strong points and tell them what you see? By the way, this ministry of encouragement is one anyone can have and it may be just what you need to get you out of your own pit of self-focus and self-pity. And your ministry of encouragement begins first with your very own family. They need it the most, and you're in a unique position to give it to them.
I love that word "encourage." When you do it, you literally put "courage in" to that person. Someone who may be more battered than you know, closer to going down or giving up than you could imagine. You never know when your encouragement might literally be the difference in that person's life. When you're bruised and when you're hurting, the difference very well may be the person in your corner who gets back in the ring for another round.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 24
No Limit to His Love
This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us.
1 John 3:16 (NCV)
It’s nice to be included. You aren’t always.
Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough, and, sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough.
But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of his love, he stretched one hand to the right and the other to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know he died loving you.
But isn’t there a limit? Surely there has to be an end to this love. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit bottom. But when it came to God’s love, they never did.
Ecclesiastes 4
Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness
1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.
3 But better than both
is he who has not yet been,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.
4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5 The fool folds his hands
and ruins himself.
6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Advancement Is Meaningless
13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king's successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Ruth 1:15-22 (New International Version)
15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"
20 "Don't call me Naomi, [a] " she told them. "Call me Mara, [b] because the Almighty [c] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted [d] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
February 24, 2009
Managing The Mess
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Ruth 1:15-22
Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? —Ruth 1:21
When we meet Naomi in the Scriptures, her life is a mess. She and her husband had gone to Moab searching for food during a famine. While in that land, their two sons married Moabite women, and life was good—until her husband and sons died and she was stuck, widowed in a foreign land.
Though honest about her pain, Naomi obviously had a sense of who was in control: “The Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me” (Ruth 1:21).
The Hebrew word for “Almighty” (Shaddai) indicates God’s sufficiency for any situation. The word “Lord” (Yahweh) refers to His faithfulness as the loving covenant-keeping God. I love how Naomi put these two names together. In the midst of her complaint, she never lost sight of the fact that her God was a capable and faithful God. And, sure enough, He proved His capability to deliver her and His faithfulness to care for her to the very end.
If there seems to be no way out of your despair, remember that Naomi’s God is your God as well. And He specializes in managing our messes to good and glorious outcomes. Thankfully, He is both capable and faithful. So, when your life is a mess, remember who your God is! — Joe Stowell
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last. —von Schlegel
Stand back and watch the Lord manage your mess into a glorious outcome.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 24, 2009
The Delight of Sacrifice
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls . . . —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit," we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5 ). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13 ). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" ( 1 Corinthians 9:22 ).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a "doormat" without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren . . ." ( Romans 9:3 ). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Back In the Ring For Another Round - #5772
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If you've ever watched a boxing match, if you've ever been around a "Rocky" movie, then you know the scene. Boxer-Man has been punched and pounded and bruised for several rounds. The bell rings, he staggers to his corner, his attendants immediately start working on him. They give him something to drink, they help him get a quick breather, and they give him a big pep talk. I don't know what they tell Boxer-Man, but I'm sure it's good stuff. What I do know is whatever they tell him works. Even though he's banged up, he gets back into the ring for another round!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Back In the Ring For Another Round."
We live in a world where everybody is taking their blows. People you know often feel beat up, punched around, and even ready to go down for the count. What may keep them from giving up is someone in their corner who's giving them what they need to go for another round. I hope that someone is you.
We've got a stellar example of that in our word for today from the Word of God. In Acts 4:36, we're introduced to "Joseph...whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement)." Something about this man made the early Christian leaders think "encouragement." I wonder if that's what people think when they see you coming. "Here comes encouragement."
All through his appearances in the Book of Acts, Barnabas shows us what an encourager looks like. In Acts 9, for example, when none of the disciples wanted anything to do with Saul of Tarsus after he met Christ, (I mean, they were afraid he was still hunting Christians.) Barnabas was the one who brought him to them and vouched for him. A Barnabas believes in a person when no one else will. I hope that's you.
In Acts 11, when God started working among the despised Gentiles, it says the church leaders in Jerusalem "sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord" (Acts 11:23-24). Here's another face of the encourager. He looks for what God is doing in someone's life and he fans the flame.
Now lest you think this mission of encouragement is just for a gifted elite like Barnabas, don't forget that God says to all of us, "Encourage one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13). So how are you doing? Do you look for the things a person is doing right? Do you thank them for it? Do you make a person feel really important when they're with you, or like they're keeping you from something more important? Do you listen for their heart, not just their words? Do you look for what God seems to be doing in their life and then you affirm it to them? Do you look for their strong points and tell them what you see? By the way, this ministry of encouragement is one anyone can have and it may be just what you need to get you out of your own pit of self-focus and self-pity. And your ministry of encouragement begins first with your very own family. They need it the most, and you're in a unique position to give it to them.
I love that word "encourage." When you do it, you literally put "courage in" to that person. Someone who may be more battered than you know, closer to going down or giving up than you could imagine. You never know when your encouragement might literally be the difference in that person's life. When you're bruised and when you're hurting, the difference very well may be the person in your corner who gets back in the ring for another round.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Ecclesiastes 3, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 23
Whispered Wonderings
She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means "God is with us.”
Matthew 1:23 (NCV)
The white space between Bible verses is fertile soil for questions. One can hardly read Scripture without whispering, "I wonder..."
"I wonder if Eve ever ate any more fruit."
"I wonder if Noah slept well during storms."...
But in our wonderings, there is one question we never need to ask. Does God care? Do we matter to God? Does he still love his children?
Through the small face of the stable-born baby, he says yes.
Yes, your sins are forgiven.
Yes, your name is written in heaven....
And yes, God has entered your world.
Immanuel. God is with us
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account. [c]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I thought in my heart,
"God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time for every deed."
18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath [d] ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal [e] goes down into the earth?"
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Mark 4:26-29 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
February 23, 2009
Waiting For The Harvest
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Mark 4:26-29
First the blade, then the head, after that the full grain . . . . The harvest has come. —Mark 4:28-29
In the book What’s Gone Wrong With the Harvest? James Engel and Wilbert Norton illustrate on a graph how people often go through a series of preconversion stages before stepping over the line of faith and receiving Jesus as their Savior.
When we hear individuals share their conversion experience, we may conclude that faith happened all at once. But their salvation frequently carries an extended back-story of spiritual pilgrimage before they made that decision. They needed time to reflect on the gospel. For them, coming to the Savior was a process.
This is similar to the process of farming: Months of waiting come to an end and workers stream into the fields to help with the harvest. One of our Lord’s parables illustrates how faith—like a crop—needs time to develop. Responding to the gospel is like a seed that grows “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain,” until finally, “the harvest has come” (Mark 4:28-29).
Because people may need time and multiple exposures to the gospel before they are ready to make a decision, we need to be sensitive to where they are in their faith-journey. In the meantime, we can cultivate spiritual interest, pray for them, and wait for the harvest! — Dennis Fisher
Have you thought of where you’re going
When this earthly life is past?
Will the seed that you are sowing
Bring a harvest that will last? —Jacobson
We sow the seed—God produces the harvest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 23, 2009
The Determination to Serve
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . . —Matthew 20:28
Jesus also said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— ". . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake" ( 2 Corinthians 4:5 ). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a "doormat" for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, "I know how to be abased . . ." (Philippians 4:12 ). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.
Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . ." ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Boomeranging Satan - #5771
Monday, February 23, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When I came home from my first trip to Australia, my kids were eager to see what souvenirs I might have brought back for them. I couldn't fit that kangaroo in my suitcase, but there was one very Australian item I did bring back - a boomerang. Those things are amazing. If you throw it right, that boomerang will go out, make a U-turn, and come right back to you. It's probably a good idea, then, to pay attention after you throw your boomerang. I can just see a klutz like me throwing it, turning my back, and getting boomed with my own boomerang!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Boomeranging Satan."
If you're trying to live for Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you Satan is throwing things at you, trying his best to bring you down. You may be dodging some of those missiles from hell right now, and you're feeling the pressure. Here's the good news. When the devil throws his boomerang to take you down, you can duck and you can send it right back to hit him in the head; thus making him wish he had never thrown it. Would you like to do that with the stuff he's been throwing at you?
Then you'll be interested in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 4 beginning in verse 1, the Bible tells us that "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end He was hungry. The devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
Three boomerangs from Satan are thrown at Jesus that day. Each time Jesus makes His choice by stubbornly standing on what the Bible says instead of falling for what Satan says. Notice the outcome a few verses later: "When the devil had finished this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the whole countryside." This is awesome! The temptations that were intended to bring Jesus down only made Him stronger and more powerful in the Holy Spirit. And Satan skulks away muttering, "I blew it!" He was hit by his own boomerang! I love it!
That's exactly what can happen to you as the devil throws his temptations at you. Probably he does to you what he did to your Lord - he waits 'till you're in a "wilderness" time, until you're vulnerable. Then He pushes the buttons that appeal to some deep need you have, to be loved, to be noticed, to be accepted, to be successful, to stop hurting, or to get some relief. Your enemy, of course, is expecting you to fall for what he's throwing at you. He can use this to get you discouraged, to get you to compromise, to make you focus on yourself, to mess up your priorities, to get you to lash out, to turn back, or just to give up.
But God says if you "resist the devil," he will "flee from you" (James 4:7). First, you have to recognize who these feelings and who this pressure is coming from. Then, you have to make a conscious choice that says, "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this! I am taking my stand against the devil's schemes!" (Ephesians 6:10) Finally, you stand stubbornly on what God says and you make your choice based on God's Word, not Satan's lies or your feelings. What will Satan do? Is he going to fight you? No, the Bible says He is going to flee from you. Every time you pass the test like this, you become stronger and more confident in Christ.
The thing that was supposed to bring you down just ended up making you more powerful spiritually than you were before! And Satan is going to wish he never threw his boomerang your direction. It misses you and it hits him!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 23
Whispered Wonderings
She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means "God is with us.”
Matthew 1:23 (NCV)
The white space between Bible verses is fertile soil for questions. One can hardly read Scripture without whispering, "I wonder..."
"I wonder if Eve ever ate any more fruit."
"I wonder if Noah slept well during storms."...
But in our wonderings, there is one question we never need to ask. Does God care? Do we matter to God? Does he still love his children?
Through the small face of the stable-born baby, he says yes.
Yes, your sins are forgiven.
Yes, your name is written in heaven....
And yes, God has entered your world.
Immanuel. God is with us
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account. [c]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I thought in my heart,
"God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time for every deed."
18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath [d] ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal [e] goes down into the earth?"
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Mark 4:26-29 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
February 23, 2009
Waiting For The Harvest
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Mark 4:26-29
First the blade, then the head, after that the full grain . . . . The harvest has come. —Mark 4:28-29
In the book What’s Gone Wrong With the Harvest? James Engel and Wilbert Norton illustrate on a graph how people often go through a series of preconversion stages before stepping over the line of faith and receiving Jesus as their Savior.
When we hear individuals share their conversion experience, we may conclude that faith happened all at once. But their salvation frequently carries an extended back-story of spiritual pilgrimage before they made that decision. They needed time to reflect on the gospel. For them, coming to the Savior was a process.
This is similar to the process of farming: Months of waiting come to an end and workers stream into the fields to help with the harvest. One of our Lord’s parables illustrates how faith—like a crop—needs time to develop. Responding to the gospel is like a seed that grows “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain,” until finally, “the harvest has come” (Mark 4:28-29).
Because people may need time and multiple exposures to the gospel before they are ready to make a decision, we need to be sensitive to where they are in their faith-journey. In the meantime, we can cultivate spiritual interest, pray for them, and wait for the harvest! — Dennis Fisher
Have you thought of where you’re going
When this earthly life is past?
Will the seed that you are sowing
Bring a harvest that will last? —Jacobson
We sow the seed—God produces the harvest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 23, 2009
The Determination to Serve
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . . —Matthew 20:28
Jesus also said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— ". . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake" ( 2 Corinthians 4:5 ). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a "doormat" for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, "I know how to be abased . . ." (Philippians 4:12 ). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.
Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . ." ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Boomeranging Satan - #5771
Monday, February 23, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When I came home from my first trip to Australia, my kids were eager to see what souvenirs I might have brought back for them. I couldn't fit that kangaroo in my suitcase, but there was one very Australian item I did bring back - a boomerang. Those things are amazing. If you throw it right, that boomerang will go out, make a U-turn, and come right back to you. It's probably a good idea, then, to pay attention after you throw your boomerang. I can just see a klutz like me throwing it, turning my back, and getting boomed with my own boomerang!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Boomeranging Satan."
If you're trying to live for Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you Satan is throwing things at you, trying his best to bring you down. You may be dodging some of those missiles from hell right now, and you're feeling the pressure. Here's the good news. When the devil throws his boomerang to take you down, you can duck and you can send it right back to hit him in the head; thus making him wish he had never thrown it. Would you like to do that with the stuff he's been throwing at you?
Then you'll be interested in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 4 beginning in verse 1, the Bible tells us that "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end He was hungry. The devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
Three boomerangs from Satan are thrown at Jesus that day. Each time Jesus makes His choice by stubbornly standing on what the Bible says instead of falling for what Satan says. Notice the outcome a few verses later: "When the devil had finished this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the whole countryside." This is awesome! The temptations that were intended to bring Jesus down only made Him stronger and more powerful in the Holy Spirit. And Satan skulks away muttering, "I blew it!" He was hit by his own boomerang! I love it!
That's exactly what can happen to you as the devil throws his temptations at you. Probably he does to you what he did to your Lord - he waits 'till you're in a "wilderness" time, until you're vulnerable. Then He pushes the buttons that appeal to some deep need you have, to be loved, to be noticed, to be accepted, to be successful, to stop hurting, or to get some relief. Your enemy, of course, is expecting you to fall for what he's throwing at you. He can use this to get you discouraged, to get you to compromise, to make you focus on yourself, to mess up your priorities, to get you to lash out, to turn back, or just to give up.
But God says if you "resist the devil," he will "flee from you" (James 4:7). First, you have to recognize who these feelings and who this pressure is coming from. Then, you have to make a conscious choice that says, "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this! I am taking my stand against the devil's schemes!" (Ephesians 6:10) Finally, you stand stubbornly on what God says and you make your choice based on God's Word, not Satan's lies or your feelings. What will Satan do? Is he going to fight you? No, the Bible says He is going to flee from you. Every time you pass the test like this, you become stronger and more confident in Christ.
The thing that was supposed to bring you down just ended up making you more powerful spiritually than you were before! And Satan is going to wish he never threw his boomerang your direction. It misses you and it hits him!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Ecclesiastes 2, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 22
Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people.
Hebrews 9:15 (NCV)
There was nothing inferior about the Jewish religion. It was given by God and designed by God.
Every principle, rule, and ritual had a wealth of meaning. The Old Testament served as a faithful guide for thousands of people over
thousands of years. It was the best offered to man.
But when Christ came, the best got better....It's not that the old law was bad, it's just that the new law--salvation by faith in Christ--is better.
Ecclesiastes 2
Pleasures Are Meaningless
1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem [b] as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do
than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I thought in my heart,
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?"
I said in my heart,
"This too is meaningless."
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Corinthians 4:5-18 (New International Version)
5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
February 22, 2009
Choosing The Hard Thing
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. —2 Corinthians 4:8
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, about the difficult challenges facing the nation. He also shared his passion for the United States to place a man on the moon.
In balancing the needs of his people with the desire to conquer space, Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade. We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.” The nation responded. Seven years later, Neil Armstrong took a “giant leap for mankind” in July of 1969, by walking on the moon.
Today’s world is filled with energy-saving devices that make life easier, but there is something to be said for embracing life’s challenges. The apostle Paul found serving Christ hard, but he didn’t see it as a cause for discouragement. He continued to focus on Christ, and wrote, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Cor. 4:8). Paul knew that “He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you” (v.14). The goal was worth the pain.
By the grace of God, may we commit to serving Jesus—not just when it’s easy, but when it’s hard. — Bill Crowder
For Further Study
Learn more about dealing with difficulties in life.
Read Joseph: Overcoming Life’s Challenges on
the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0715
Jesus gave His all to save us—are we giving our all to serve Him?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 22, 2009
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Be still, and know that I am God . . . —Psalm 46:10
Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere . . ." ( Revelation 3:10 ).
Continue to persevere spiritually.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 22
Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people.
Hebrews 9:15 (NCV)
There was nothing inferior about the Jewish religion. It was given by God and designed by God.
Every principle, rule, and ritual had a wealth of meaning. The Old Testament served as a faithful guide for thousands of people over
thousands of years. It was the best offered to man.
But when Christ came, the best got better....It's not that the old law was bad, it's just that the new law--salvation by faith in Christ--is better.
Ecclesiastes 2
Pleasures Are Meaningless
1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem [b] as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do
than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I thought in my heart,
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?"
I said in my heart,
"This too is meaningless."
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Corinthians 4:5-18 (New International Version)
5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
February 22, 2009
Choosing The Hard Thing
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. —2 Corinthians 4:8
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, about the difficult challenges facing the nation. He also shared his passion for the United States to place a man on the moon.
In balancing the needs of his people with the desire to conquer space, Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade. We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.” The nation responded. Seven years later, Neil Armstrong took a “giant leap for mankind” in July of 1969, by walking on the moon.
Today’s world is filled with energy-saving devices that make life easier, but there is something to be said for embracing life’s challenges. The apostle Paul found serving Christ hard, but he didn’t see it as a cause for discouragement. He continued to focus on Christ, and wrote, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Cor. 4:8). Paul knew that “He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you” (v.14). The goal was worth the pain.
By the grace of God, may we commit to serving Jesus—not just when it’s easy, but when it’s hard. — Bill Crowder
For Further Study
Learn more about dealing with difficulties in life.
Read Joseph: Overcoming Life’s Challenges on
the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0715
Jesus gave His all to save us—are we giving our all to serve Him?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 22, 2009
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Be still, and know that I am God . . . —Psalm 46:10
Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere . . ." ( Revelation 3:10 ).
Continue to persevere spiritually.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Ecclesiastes 1, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 21
If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NCV)
At our new birth God remakes our souls and gives us what we need, again.
New eyes so we can see by faith.
A new mind so we can have the mind of Christ.
New strength so we won't grow tired.
A new vision so we won't lose heart.
A new voice for praise and new hands for service.
And most of all, a new heart.
A heart that has been cleansed by Christ.
Ecclesiastes 1
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher, [a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 6:27-36 (New International Version)
Love for Enemies
27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
February 21, 2009
Is That You, Neighbor?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 6:27-36
And who is my neighbor? —Luke 10:29
An English yachtsman sailing in the Caribbean, 4,000 miles from home, lost his mast in a storm. He had been adrift for 2 days, and was taking water in 20-foot waves, when his desperate SOS was picked up. According to Ananova news service, 90 minutes later he was rescued by the captain of a 116,000-ton superliner.
Only when he was pulled out of the water did the rescued sailor discover that the captain who had responded to his call for help was a neighbor from his Hampshire village of Warsash. The rescued man later asked, “What are the chances of being rescued in the middle of nowhere by your neighbor?”
Jesus saw neighbors in unlikely places. When an expert in Jewish law asked Him to define the neighbor we are to love, Jesus drew a big circle. He told the story of a merciful Samaritan to show that a neighbor is the friend, stranger, or enemy who needs the help we can give (Luke 10).
To distinguish ourselves as Jesus’ people, we need to show kindness even to those who wish us harm (Luke 6:32-34). Only then will we reflect the heart of the One who, while we were still His enemies, paid the ultimate price to come to our rescue. — Mart De Haan
How many lives shall I touch today?
How many neighbors will pass my way?
I can bless so many and help so much
If I meet each one with a Christlike touch. —Jones
Our love for Christ is only as real as our love for our neighbor.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 21, 2009
Do You Really Love Him?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
She has done a good work for Me —Mark 14:6
If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me."
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. ". . . but perfect love casts out fear . . ." once we are surrendered to God ( 1 John 4:18 ). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 21
If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NCV)
At our new birth God remakes our souls and gives us what we need, again.
New eyes so we can see by faith.
A new mind so we can have the mind of Christ.
New strength so we won't grow tired.
A new vision so we won't lose heart.
A new voice for praise and new hands for service.
And most of all, a new heart.
A heart that has been cleansed by Christ.
Ecclesiastes 1
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher, [a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 6:27-36 (New International Version)
Love for Enemies
27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
February 21, 2009
Is That You, Neighbor?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 6:27-36
And who is my neighbor? —Luke 10:29
An English yachtsman sailing in the Caribbean, 4,000 miles from home, lost his mast in a storm. He had been adrift for 2 days, and was taking water in 20-foot waves, when his desperate SOS was picked up. According to Ananova news service, 90 minutes later he was rescued by the captain of a 116,000-ton superliner.
Only when he was pulled out of the water did the rescued sailor discover that the captain who had responded to his call for help was a neighbor from his Hampshire village of Warsash. The rescued man later asked, “What are the chances of being rescued in the middle of nowhere by your neighbor?”
Jesus saw neighbors in unlikely places. When an expert in Jewish law asked Him to define the neighbor we are to love, Jesus drew a big circle. He told the story of a merciful Samaritan to show that a neighbor is the friend, stranger, or enemy who needs the help we can give (Luke 10).
To distinguish ourselves as Jesus’ people, we need to show kindness even to those who wish us harm (Luke 6:32-34). Only then will we reflect the heart of the One who, while we were still His enemies, paid the ultimate price to come to our rescue. — Mart De Haan
How many lives shall I touch today?
How many neighbors will pass my way?
I can bless so many and help so much
If I meet each one with a Christlike touch. —Jones
Our love for Christ is only as real as our love for our neighbor.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 21, 2009
Do You Really Love Him?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
She has done a good work for Me —Mark 14:6
If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me."
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. ". . . but perfect love casts out fear . . ." once we are surrendered to God ( 1 John 4:18 ). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
Friday, February 20, 2009
2 Chronicles 10, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 20
Christ’s Ultimate Aim
He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.
Mark 10:45 (NCV)
One of the incredible abilities of Jesus was to stay on target. His life never got off track.... He kept his life on course.
As Jesus looked across the horizon of his future, he could see many targets. Many flags were flapping in the wind, each of which he could have pursued. He could have been a political revolutionary....He could have been content to be a teacher and educate minds.... But in the end he chose to be a Savior and save souls.
Anyone near Christ for any length of time heard it from Jesus himself. "The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them" (Luke 19:10)....The heart of Christ was relentlessly focused on one task. The day he left the carpentry shop of Nazareth he had one ultimate aim--the cross of Calvary.
2 Chronicles 10
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." 13 The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
"What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel!
Look after your own house, O David!"
So all the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, [u] who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 (New International Version)
14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
February 20, 2009
Dying For Justice
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Deut. 24:14-22
You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. —Deuteronomy 24:18
When Presbyterian clergyman Elijah Lovejoy (1802–1837) left the pulpit, he returned to the printing presses in order to reach more people. After witnessing a lynching, Lovejoy committed to fighting the injustice of slavery. His life was threatened by hateful mobs, but this did not stop him: “If by compromise is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot make it. I fear God more than I fear man. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post.” Four days after these words, he was killed at the hands of another angry mob.
Concern about justice for the oppressed is evident throughout Scripture. It was especially clear when God established the rules for His covenant people after they were released from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 24:18-22). Moses emphasized concern for the underprivileged (Ex. 22:22-27; 23:6-9; Lev. 19:9-10). Repeatedly, the Israelites were reminded that they had been slaves in Egypt and should deal justly with the underprivileged in their community. They were to love strangers (“aliens”) because God loves them, and the Israelites had themselves been aliens in Egypt (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:17-19).
God desires that His people affirm the supreme worth of every individual by fighting against injustice. — Marvin Williams
Open my eyes, Lord, to people around me,
Help me to see them as You do above;
Give me the wisdom and strength to take action
So others may see the depth of Your love. —K. De Haan
Standing for justice means fighting against injustice.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 20, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Daydreaming
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Arise, let us go from here —John 14:31
Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. In this passage, after having said these wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected our Lord to tell them to go away and meditate over them all. But Jesus never allowed idle daydreaming. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. But when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God’s blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. His instructions to us will be along the lines of this: "Don’t sit or stand there, just go!"
If we are quietly waiting before God after He has said to us, "Come aside by yourselves . . ." then that is meditation before Him to seek His will ( Mark 6:31 ). Beware, however, of giving in to mere daydreaming once God has spoken. Allow Him to be the source of all your dreams, joys, and delights, and be careful to go and obey what He has said. If you are in love with someone, you don’t sit and daydream about that person all the time— you go and do something for him. That is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Daydreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Manageable Mandates - #5770
Friday, February 20, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
A friend of mine has served on his local school board for many years. And the more demands that have been placed on schools in recent years, the more complicated the work of school boards and school officials has become. The other day one of those frustrations surfaced in our conversation. My friend said, "You know, our state keeps passing on mandates to us for things our school system has to do, but lots of times they give us the mandate without any money. They decide what we have to do, and we have to figure out how to pay for it."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Manageable Mandates."
Mandates without resources - that's got to be frustrating. Thankfully, God never gives a mandate without providing the resources to carry it out! That's important for you to know right now, especially if you sense that He's leading you to do something where you have no clue where the resources are going to come from.
Over and over our many years of serving Him, we've made 1 Thessalonians 5:24 our bottom line, and we have never been disappointed. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It simply makes this promise: "The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it." To put it simply, God will never abandon you in the middle of something that He's told you to do.
Right now your Lord may be leading you toward some uncharted territory. You're being asked to shoulder a responsibility, a burden, or a challenge that you're not sure you can handle. Good. That sounds like one of those exciting times when it will be just a little bit of you and a whole lot of God. Your promise is that if He is calling you to do something, He will actually do it through you. Your job is to stay pure and show up!
God's plan will not take you where His grace will not keep you. Maybe you can't see where the money would possibly come from to carry out what God is mandating, but God's Word teaches us that what God orders, God pays for! Or as one missionary pioneer said, "If it's God's will, it's God's bill!"
Or you may just feel personally inadequate for what God is leading you to do. Good. That gets you out of the way and it insures that God will get all the glory. The great Apostle Paul put it this way: "Not that we are competent in ourselves...but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent" (2 Corinthians 3:5). God is glorified when people who don't have what it takes are the ones He uses. We're talking like a divine takeover of you, filling you with His strength, His ideas, His words, His wisdom, His love.
He will provide the emotional resources you need, the human resources, and the financial resources. Remember, God's promise is "my God will meet all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). Not according to your measly resources, but according to His unlimited resources!
So really, isn't that all you need to know as you're facing a challenge that's bigger than you are, or maybe you're even considering giving up on a calling that God has given to you. What you need to know is that your Lord will never abandon you in the middle of what He's told you to do. What God mandates, God provides for!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 20
Christ’s Ultimate Aim
He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.
Mark 10:45 (NCV)
One of the incredible abilities of Jesus was to stay on target. His life never got off track.... He kept his life on course.
As Jesus looked across the horizon of his future, he could see many targets. Many flags were flapping in the wind, each of which he could have pursued. He could have been a political revolutionary....He could have been content to be a teacher and educate minds.... But in the end he chose to be a Savior and save souls.
Anyone near Christ for any length of time heard it from Jesus himself. "The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them" (Luke 19:10)....The heart of Christ was relentlessly focused on one task. The day he left the carpentry shop of Nazareth he had one ultimate aim--the cross of Calvary.
2 Chronicles 10
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." 13 The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
"What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel!
Look after your own house, O David!"
So all the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, [u] who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 (New International Version)
14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
February 20, 2009
Dying For Justice
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Deut. 24:14-22
You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. —Deuteronomy 24:18
When Presbyterian clergyman Elijah Lovejoy (1802–1837) left the pulpit, he returned to the printing presses in order to reach more people. After witnessing a lynching, Lovejoy committed to fighting the injustice of slavery. His life was threatened by hateful mobs, but this did not stop him: “If by compromise is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot make it. I fear God more than I fear man. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post.” Four days after these words, he was killed at the hands of another angry mob.
Concern about justice for the oppressed is evident throughout Scripture. It was especially clear when God established the rules for His covenant people after they were released from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 24:18-22). Moses emphasized concern for the underprivileged (Ex. 22:22-27; 23:6-9; Lev. 19:9-10). Repeatedly, the Israelites were reminded that they had been slaves in Egypt and should deal justly with the underprivileged in their community. They were to love strangers (“aliens”) because God loves them, and the Israelites had themselves been aliens in Egypt (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:17-19).
God desires that His people affirm the supreme worth of every individual by fighting against injustice. — Marvin Williams
Open my eyes, Lord, to people around me,
Help me to see them as You do above;
Give me the wisdom and strength to take action
So others may see the depth of Your love. —K. De Haan
Standing for justice means fighting against injustice.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 20, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Daydreaming
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Arise, let us go from here —John 14:31
Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. In this passage, after having said these wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected our Lord to tell them to go away and meditate over them all. But Jesus never allowed idle daydreaming. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. But when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God’s blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. His instructions to us will be along the lines of this: "Don’t sit or stand there, just go!"
If we are quietly waiting before God after He has said to us, "Come aside by yourselves . . ." then that is meditation before Him to seek His will ( Mark 6:31 ). Beware, however, of giving in to mere daydreaming once God has spoken. Allow Him to be the source of all your dreams, joys, and delights, and be careful to go and obey what He has said. If you are in love with someone, you don’t sit and daydream about that person all the time— you go and do something for him. That is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Daydreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Manageable Mandates - #5770
Friday, February 20, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
A friend of mine has served on his local school board for many years. And the more demands that have been placed on schools in recent years, the more complicated the work of school boards and school officials has become. The other day one of those frustrations surfaced in our conversation. My friend said, "You know, our state keeps passing on mandates to us for things our school system has to do, but lots of times they give us the mandate without any money. They decide what we have to do, and we have to figure out how to pay for it."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Manageable Mandates."
Mandates without resources - that's got to be frustrating. Thankfully, God never gives a mandate without providing the resources to carry it out! That's important for you to know right now, especially if you sense that He's leading you to do something where you have no clue where the resources are going to come from.
Over and over our many years of serving Him, we've made 1 Thessalonians 5:24 our bottom line, and we have never been disappointed. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It simply makes this promise: "The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it." To put it simply, God will never abandon you in the middle of something that He's told you to do.
Right now your Lord may be leading you toward some uncharted territory. You're being asked to shoulder a responsibility, a burden, or a challenge that you're not sure you can handle. Good. That sounds like one of those exciting times when it will be just a little bit of you and a whole lot of God. Your promise is that if He is calling you to do something, He will actually do it through you. Your job is to stay pure and show up!
God's plan will not take you where His grace will not keep you. Maybe you can't see where the money would possibly come from to carry out what God is mandating, but God's Word teaches us that what God orders, God pays for! Or as one missionary pioneer said, "If it's God's will, it's God's bill!"
Or you may just feel personally inadequate for what God is leading you to do. Good. That gets you out of the way and it insures that God will get all the glory. The great Apostle Paul put it this way: "Not that we are competent in ourselves...but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent" (2 Corinthians 3:5). God is glorified when people who don't have what it takes are the ones He uses. We're talking like a divine takeover of you, filling you with His strength, His ideas, His words, His wisdom, His love.
He will provide the emotional resources you need, the human resources, and the financial resources. Remember, God's promise is "my God will meet all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). Not according to your measly resources, but according to His unlimited resources!
So really, isn't that all you need to know as you're facing a challenge that's bigger than you are, or maybe you're even considering giving up on a calling that God has given to you. What you need to know is that your Lord will never abandon you in the middle of what He's told you to do. What God mandates, God provides for!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
2 Chronicles 9, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 19
Simplify Your Faith
“You have only one Master, the Christ.”
Matthew 23:10 (NCV)
There are some who position themselves between you and God. There are some who suggest the only way to get to God is through them. There is the great teacher who has the final word on Bible teaching. There is the father who must bless your acts. There is the spiritual master who will tell you what God wants you to do. Jesus’ message for complicated religion is to remove these middlemen. “You have only one Master, the Christ.”
He’s not saying that you don’t need teachers, elders, or counselors. He is saying, however, that we are all brothers and sisters and have equal access to the Father. Simplify your faith by seeking God for yourself. No confusing ceremonies necessary. No mysterious rituals required. No elaborate channels of command or levels of access.
You have a Bible? You can study. You have a heart? You can pray. You have a mind? You can think.
2 Chronicles 9
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at [j] the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
5 She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness."
9 Then she gave the king 120 talents [k] of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 (The men of Hiram and the men of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood [l] and precious stones. 11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
Solomon's Splendor
13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, [m] 14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas [n] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred bekas [o] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's day. 21 The king had a fleet of trading ships [p] manned by Hiram's [q] men. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, [r] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the River [s] to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt [t] and from all other countries.
Solomon's Death
29 As for the other events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 42
BOOK II : Psalms 42-72
1
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.
My [c] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Celebrate Winter
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 42
Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. —Psalm 42:5
I love living where there are four seasons. But even though I love settling down with a good book by a crackling fire when it’s snowing, I must admit that my love for the seasons grows a little dim when the long gray days of winter drone on into February.
Yet regardless of the weather, there is always something special about winter: Christmas! Thankfully, long after the decorations are down, the reality of Christmas still lifts my spirits no matter what’s happening.
If it weren’t for the reality of Christ’s birth, not only would winter be dark and dreary, but our hearts would be bleak and have nothing to hope for. No hope for the freedom from guilt and judgment. No hope of His reassuring and strengthening presence through dark and difficult times. No hope for a future secured in heaven.
In the winter of a troubled life, the psalmist asked, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” The remedy was clear: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Ps. 42:5).
In C. S. Lewis’ tales of Narnia, Mr. Tumnus complains that in Narnia it is “always winter and never Christmas.” But for those of us who know the God who made the seasons, it is always Christmas in our hearts! — Joe Stowell
When our lives are heavy laden,
Cold and bleak as winter long,
Stir the embers in our hearts, Lord;
Make Your flame burn bright and strong. —Kieda
Let the reality of Christmas chase away the blahs of winter.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 19, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
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READ:
Arise, shine . . . —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:14 ). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become "the temple of the Holy Spirit"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Missing Him - #5769
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When Lee Stroebel writes a book, he brings to it all the skills and the disciplines that he learned as a journalist. Lee was a respected reporter and, by the way, an atheist. Today, he is a powerful representative of Jesus Christ and a leader in reaching people for Him. While preparing for a recent book, Lee interviewed a wide variety of noted people to get their perspective on Christ. One was a man who was a gifted evangelist in the 1940s, a man whose ministry paralleled Billy Graham's; a man who was known by millions and actually expected to have a ministry like Billy Graham has had. But after he attended a liberal seminary to get more education, he shocked the Christian world by abandoning his faith. His media career in Canada gave him a lot of notoriety, and he often used that platform to express his unbelief.
Lee went to interview this now elderly man. When he was asked about things such as his belief in the Old Testament, he was very clear in expressed why he didn't believe. Finally, Lee asked him, "What do you think about Jesus?" He could never have expected the response he got. Suddenly, the old man "teared up." And struggling to answer through those tears, he simply replied, "I miss Him."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Missing Him."
For just a moment, would you set aside all the creeds, the institutions, the theological systems, the rituals, the meetings - most of which are important spiritual resources. But for a moment, set aside all the Christianity. And when you strip away all that, you're down to the central meaning of it all. It's all about Jesus. It's all about either being close to Him or missing Him.
The twelve men Jesus picked as His inner circle missed a lot that Jesus was trying to teach them, but they didn't miss the central issue. That's obvious in our word for today from the Word of God. In John 6, we're at a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Vast multitudes are following Him, no matter where He goes. Then He confronts them with the fact that this is going to be about more than miracles and meetings; it's going to involve the shedding of blood, the laying down of His life, and a price tag for those who follow Him.
John 6:66 says, "From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. 'You do not want to leave, too, do you?' Jesus asked the twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'" See, they knew that it was all about Jesus and that He was the only One with anything that would last, that was worth living and dying for.
That's what Jesus was saying when He repeatedly said to people, "Follow Me." He didn't say "Follow My religion" or "Follow My followers" or "Follow My rules." He said, "Follow Me." It's all about Jesus. And if you know someone who's away from Him right now, here's how to pray for them, "Lord Jesus, help them realize how much they miss You." And as God gives you opportunity, remind them of how it was when they were close to Him.
Maybe you're away from Him. Satan would love to keep your focus on the Christians who hurt you, or the hypocrites who turned you off, or the sin that's taken you away. But it's not Christians you''ve left or church or some religious rules, it's Jesus you've left! Remember how it felt when you were close to Him? Don't you miss Him?
You don't have to miss Him one more day. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He's waiting for you to come home to Him. There's nothing you've done that He didn't take care of on the cross. And His love is unconditional. And maybe you have missed, up until this point, even having one day with Christ in your life. Oh, if you only knew the difference He could make, you'd run to Him.
pray that this very day, if you've never begun your relationship with Him, you will tell Him, "Jesus, I am Yours." I think we could give you some help that would encourage you in beginning that relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net.
If you could literally hear His voice where you are right now, here's what you'd hear Him saying: "I miss you. Come home."
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 19
Simplify Your Faith
“You have only one Master, the Christ.”
Matthew 23:10 (NCV)
There are some who position themselves between you and God. There are some who suggest the only way to get to God is through them. There is the great teacher who has the final word on Bible teaching. There is the father who must bless your acts. There is the spiritual master who will tell you what God wants you to do. Jesus’ message for complicated religion is to remove these middlemen. “You have only one Master, the Christ.”
He’s not saying that you don’t need teachers, elders, or counselors. He is saying, however, that we are all brothers and sisters and have equal access to the Father. Simplify your faith by seeking God for yourself. No confusing ceremonies necessary. No mysterious rituals required. No elaborate channels of command or levels of access.
You have a Bible? You can study. You have a heart? You can pray. You have a mind? You can think.
2 Chronicles 9
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at [j] the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
5 She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness."
9 Then she gave the king 120 talents [k] of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 (The men of Hiram and the men of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood [l] and precious stones. 11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
Solomon's Splendor
13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, [m] 14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas [n] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred bekas [o] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's day. 21 The king had a fleet of trading ships [p] manned by Hiram's [q] men. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, [r] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the River [s] to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt [t] and from all other countries.
Solomon's Death
29 As for the other events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 42
BOOK II : Psalms 42-72
1
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.
My [c] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Celebrate Winter
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READ: Psalm 42
Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. —Psalm 42:5
I love living where there are four seasons. But even though I love settling down with a good book by a crackling fire when it’s snowing, I must admit that my love for the seasons grows a little dim when the long gray days of winter drone on into February.
Yet regardless of the weather, there is always something special about winter: Christmas! Thankfully, long after the decorations are down, the reality of Christmas still lifts my spirits no matter what’s happening.
If it weren’t for the reality of Christ’s birth, not only would winter be dark and dreary, but our hearts would be bleak and have nothing to hope for. No hope for the freedom from guilt and judgment. No hope of His reassuring and strengthening presence through dark and difficult times. No hope for a future secured in heaven.
In the winter of a troubled life, the psalmist asked, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” The remedy was clear: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Ps. 42:5).
In C. S. Lewis’ tales of Narnia, Mr. Tumnus complains that in Narnia it is “always winter and never Christmas.” But for those of us who know the God who made the seasons, it is always Christmas in our hearts! — Joe Stowell
When our lives are heavy laden,
Cold and bleak as winter long,
Stir the embers in our hearts, Lord;
Make Your flame burn bright and strong. —Kieda
Let the reality of Christmas chase away the blahs of winter.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 19, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery
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READ:
Arise, shine . . . —Isaiah 60:1
When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.
Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:14 ). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become "the temple of the Holy Spirit"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Missing Him - #5769
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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When Lee Stroebel writes a book, he brings to it all the skills and the disciplines that he learned as a journalist. Lee was a respected reporter and, by the way, an atheist. Today, he is a powerful representative of Jesus Christ and a leader in reaching people for Him. While preparing for a recent book, Lee interviewed a wide variety of noted people to get their perspective on Christ. One was a man who was a gifted evangelist in the 1940s, a man whose ministry paralleled Billy Graham's; a man who was known by millions and actually expected to have a ministry like Billy Graham has had. But after he attended a liberal seminary to get more education, he shocked the Christian world by abandoning his faith. His media career in Canada gave him a lot of notoriety, and he often used that platform to express his unbelief.
Lee went to interview this now elderly man. When he was asked about things such as his belief in the Old Testament, he was very clear in expressed why he didn't believe. Finally, Lee asked him, "What do you think about Jesus?" He could never have expected the response he got. Suddenly, the old man "teared up." And struggling to answer through those tears, he simply replied, "I miss Him."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Missing Him."
For just a moment, would you set aside all the creeds, the institutions, the theological systems, the rituals, the meetings - most of which are important spiritual resources. But for a moment, set aside all the Christianity. And when you strip away all that, you're down to the central meaning of it all. It's all about Jesus. It's all about either being close to Him or missing Him.
The twelve men Jesus picked as His inner circle missed a lot that Jesus was trying to teach them, but they didn't miss the central issue. That's obvious in our word for today from the Word of God. In John 6, we're at a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Vast multitudes are following Him, no matter where He goes. Then He confronts them with the fact that this is going to be about more than miracles and meetings; it's going to involve the shedding of blood, the laying down of His life, and a price tag for those who follow Him.
John 6:66 says, "From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. 'You do not want to leave, too, do you?' Jesus asked the twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'" See, they knew that it was all about Jesus and that He was the only One with anything that would last, that was worth living and dying for.
That's what Jesus was saying when He repeatedly said to people, "Follow Me." He didn't say "Follow My religion" or "Follow My followers" or "Follow My rules." He said, "Follow Me." It's all about Jesus. And if you know someone who's away from Him right now, here's how to pray for them, "Lord Jesus, help them realize how much they miss You." And as God gives you opportunity, remind them of how it was when they were close to Him.
Maybe you're away from Him. Satan would love to keep your focus on the Christians who hurt you, or the hypocrites who turned you off, or the sin that's taken you away. But it's not Christians you''ve left or church or some religious rules, it's Jesus you've left! Remember how it felt when you were close to Him? Don't you miss Him?
You don't have to miss Him one more day. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He's waiting for you to come home to Him. There's nothing you've done that He didn't take care of on the cross. And His love is unconditional. And maybe you have missed, up until this point, even having one day with Christ in your life. Oh, if you only knew the difference He could make, you'd run to Him.
pray that this very day, if you've never begun your relationship with Him, you will tell Him, "Jesus, I am Yours." I think we could give you some help that would encourage you in beginning that relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net.
If you could literally hear His voice where you are right now, here's what you'd hear Him saying: "I miss you. Come home."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
2 Chronicles 8, daily reading and devotions
Jesus came to take your hell so He could give you His heaven
Luke 12:16-20
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 18
Blessings at God’s Table
You prepare a meal for me in front of my enemies.
Psalm 23:5 (NCV)
Pause and envision the scene in [God's] royal dining room....
Driven not by our beauty but by his promise, he calls us to himself and invites us to take a permanent place at his table.... We take our place next to the other sinners-made-saints and we share in God's glory.
May I share a partial list of what awaits you at his table?
You are beyond condemnation (Rom. 8:1).
You are a member of his kingdom (Col. 1:13).
You have been adopted (Rom. 8:15).
You have access to God at any moment (Eph. 2:18).
You will never be abandoned (Heb. 13:5).
You have an imperishable inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4).
Chronicles 8
Solomon's Other Activities
1 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the LORD and his own palace, 2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram [g] had given him, and settled Israelites in them. 3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. 4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath. 5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, 6 as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses [h] —whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
7 All the people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), 8 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 10 They were also King Solomon's chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy."
12 On the altar of the LORD that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD, 13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day's requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered. 15 They did not deviate from the king's commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
16 All Solomon's work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid until its completion. So the temple of the LORD was finished.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers, men who knew the sea. These, with Solomon's men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents [i] of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the LORD brought back the captives to [a] Zion,
we were like men who dreamed. [b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, [c] O LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
February 18, 2009
Making Melody
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READ: Psalm 126
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. —Ephesians 5:19
Do you know why bees hum? It’s because they can’t remember the words!
Ironically, that old joke reminds me of a serious story I read about a man awaiting heart bypass surgery. He was aware that people die during surgery. As he thought about all that could go wrong, he felt very much alone.
Then an orderly walked into his room to take him to surgery. As the young man began to push his gurney along the corridor, the patient heard him humming an ancient Irish hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” It prompted his memories of lush green fields and the ancient stone ruins of Ireland, the land of his birth. The hymn flooded his soul like a fresh breath of home. When the orderly finished with that song, he hummed Horatio Spafford’s hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.”
When they stopped outside the surgical suite, the man thanked him for the hymns. “God has used you this day,” he said, “to remove my fears and restore my soul.” “How so?” the orderly asked in surprise. “Your ‘hums’ brought God to me,” the man replied.
“The Lord has done great things for us” (Ps. 126:3). He has filled our heart with song. He may even use our “hums” to restore someone’s soul. — David H. Roper
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart—
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night—
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. —Irish hymn
© Chatto and Windus, Ltd., London.
Praise flows freely from the choir of the redeemed.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 18, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
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READ:
Rise, let us be going —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, "Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore." If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, "Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing." In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, "Get up, and do the next thing." If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Unprepared Nightmare - #5768
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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It's one nightmare that is sure to either wake me up or ruin my sleep. I'm about to be introduced to speak at some very important gathering and I have nothing to say. I''ve run out of time to prepare anything, and they are introducing a man who has no idea what he's going to talk about. But, you know, I'm not the only one who has nightmares about not being prepared. In fact, it is one of the more common themes of our bad dreams. Now, what you're unprepared for depends on your situation at that point. Some people have nightmares about not being prepared for an exam, or to give a report, or to conduct an important meeting, or to have important guests arrive at your house. Whatever your thing is, that "not ready" thing is real nightmare material.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Unprepared' Nightmare."
For most of us, there's one "not ready" scenario that should be our ultimate nightmare; the nightmare of suddenly having our life end and being unprepared to stand before God; to be unprepared to enter eternity. That nightmare is really going to happen unless we prepare in the only way God says we can.
Jesus portrayed this nightmare scenario in Luke 12:16-20, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. He described a rich man whose business was booming who said, "'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.'"
Here's a man who's put a lot of time and energy into being prepared for living his life and no preparation into being prepared for losing his life. Maybe like someone who's listening today. For you, for me, there will come a day when God will say, "This very night, this very day your life will be demanded from you." Only He knows when your appointment with Him is. And it can't be rescheduled, it can't be cancelled, or it can't be postponed.
And standing before God at that moment is the worst nightmare of all if we haven't had our sins forgiven by Him. If we're still carrying the sins of our life, we have no hope of entering God's perfect heaven; we have no hope of avoiding hell. But you don't have to be unprepared because Jesus Christ has died to pay for every wrong thing, every selfish thing, every hurting thing you've ever done. And when you reach out to Him to be your personal Rescuer from your sin and from its penalty, you are forgiven of your sin and you're made ready to meet God.
But maybe you've been putting a lot of other things ahead of dealing with Jesus - things that will seem so trivial in light of eternity. Maybe you've never really rejected Jesus, but you've never really accepted Him for yourself either. Well, not to decide is to decide. Not to grab a rescuer's hand is to decide to die. Maybe you've been relying on your Christianity to save you but not on Christ. You're not ready to meet God.
But you can be this very day. Jesus has said, "He that comes to Me, I will never cast out" (John 6:37). And this is your day to come home to Him. Would you tell Him right where you are, "Jesus, I am Yours from this moment on. You went to a cross to pay the penalty for every wrong thing I have ever done against God. You walked out of your grave under your own power. You're alive today, and I want to belong to you from today on. I'm putting all my trust in You."
If you want to get things settled with Him, I would encourage you to check out our website as soon as you could get to it today. You'll find a lot of practical help there in knowing exactly how to belong to Jesus Christ and be sure that you do. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
Jesus came to take your hell so He could give you His heaven
Luke 12:16-20
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 18
Blessings at God’s Table
You prepare a meal for me in front of my enemies.
Psalm 23:5 (NCV)
Pause and envision the scene in [God's] royal dining room....
Driven not by our beauty but by his promise, he calls us to himself and invites us to take a permanent place at his table.... We take our place next to the other sinners-made-saints and we share in God's glory.
May I share a partial list of what awaits you at his table?
You are beyond condemnation (Rom. 8:1).
You are a member of his kingdom (Col. 1:13).
You have been adopted (Rom. 8:15).
You have access to God at any moment (Eph. 2:18).
You will never be abandoned (Heb. 13:5).
You have an imperishable inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4).
Chronicles 8
Solomon's Other Activities
1 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the LORD and his own palace, 2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram [g] had given him, and settled Israelites in them. 3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. 4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath. 5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, 6 as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses [h] —whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
7 All the people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), 8 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 10 They were also King Solomon's chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy."
12 On the altar of the LORD that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD, 13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day's requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered. 15 They did not deviate from the king's commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
16 All Solomon's work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid until its completion. So the temple of the LORD was finished.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers, men who knew the sea. These, with Solomon's men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents [i] of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the LORD brought back the captives to [a] Zion,
we were like men who dreamed. [b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, [c] O LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
February 18, 2009
Making Melody
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 126
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. —Ephesians 5:19
Do you know why bees hum? It’s because they can’t remember the words!
Ironically, that old joke reminds me of a serious story I read about a man awaiting heart bypass surgery. He was aware that people die during surgery. As he thought about all that could go wrong, he felt very much alone.
Then an orderly walked into his room to take him to surgery. As the young man began to push his gurney along the corridor, the patient heard him humming an ancient Irish hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” It prompted his memories of lush green fields and the ancient stone ruins of Ireland, the land of his birth. The hymn flooded his soul like a fresh breath of home. When the orderly finished with that song, he hummed Horatio Spafford’s hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.”
When they stopped outside the surgical suite, the man thanked him for the hymns. “God has used you this day,” he said, “to remove my fears and restore my soul.” “How so?” the orderly asked in surprise. “Your ‘hums’ brought God to me,” the man replied.
“The Lord has done great things for us” (Ps. 126:3). He has filled our heart with song. He may even use our “hums” to restore someone’s soul. — David H. Roper
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart—
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night—
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. —Irish hymn
© Chatto and Windus, Ltd., London.
Praise flows freely from the choir of the redeemed.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 18, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Despair
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Rise, let us be going —Matthew 26:46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, "Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore." If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, "Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing." In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.
There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, "Get up, and do the next thing." If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Unprepared Nightmare - #5768
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It's one nightmare that is sure to either wake me up or ruin my sleep. I'm about to be introduced to speak at some very important gathering and I have nothing to say. I''ve run out of time to prepare anything, and they are introducing a man who has no idea what he's going to talk about. But, you know, I'm not the only one who has nightmares about not being prepared. In fact, it is one of the more common themes of our bad dreams. Now, what you're unprepared for depends on your situation at that point. Some people have nightmares about not being prepared for an exam, or to give a report, or to conduct an important meeting, or to have important guests arrive at your house. Whatever your thing is, that "not ready" thing is real nightmare material.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Unprepared' Nightmare."
For most of us, there's one "not ready" scenario that should be our ultimate nightmare; the nightmare of suddenly having our life end and being unprepared to stand before God; to be unprepared to enter eternity. That nightmare is really going to happen unless we prepare in the only way God says we can.
Jesus portrayed this nightmare scenario in Luke 12:16-20, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. He described a rich man whose business was booming who said, "'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.'"
Here's a man who's put a lot of time and energy into being prepared for living his life and no preparation into being prepared for losing his life. Maybe like someone who's listening today. For you, for me, there will come a day when God will say, "This very night, this very day your life will be demanded from you." Only He knows when your appointment with Him is. And it can't be rescheduled, it can't be cancelled, or it can't be postponed.
And standing before God at that moment is the worst nightmare of all if we haven't had our sins forgiven by Him. If we're still carrying the sins of our life, we have no hope of entering God's perfect heaven; we have no hope of avoiding hell. But you don't have to be unprepared because Jesus Christ has died to pay for every wrong thing, every selfish thing, every hurting thing you've ever done. And when you reach out to Him to be your personal Rescuer from your sin and from its penalty, you are forgiven of your sin and you're made ready to meet God.
But maybe you've been putting a lot of other things ahead of dealing with Jesus - things that will seem so trivial in light of eternity. Maybe you've never really rejected Jesus, but you've never really accepted Him for yourself either. Well, not to decide is to decide. Not to grab a rescuer's hand is to decide to die. Maybe you've been relying on your Christianity to save you but not on Christ. You're not ready to meet God.
But you can be this very day. Jesus has said, "He that comes to Me, I will never cast out" (John 6:37). And this is your day to come home to Him. Would you tell Him right where you are, "Jesus, I am Yours from this moment on. You went to a cross to pay the penalty for every wrong thing I have ever done against God. You walked out of your grave under your own power. You're alive today, and I want to belong to you from today on. I'm putting all my trust in You."
If you want to get things settled with Him, I would encourage you to check out our website as soon as you could get to it today. You'll find a lot of practical help there in knowing exactly how to belong to Jesus Christ and be sure that you do. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
Jesus came to take your hell so He could give you His heaven
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2 Chronicles 7, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 17
Endure to the End
Those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:22 (NCV)
Are you close to quitting? Please don’t do it. Are you discouraged as a parent? Hang in there. Are you weary with doing good? Do just a little more. Are you pessimistic about your job? Roll up your sleeves and go at it again. No communication in your marriage? Give it one more shot.
Remember, a finisher is not one with no wounds or weariness. Quite to the contrary, he, like the boxer, is scarred and bloody. Mother Teresa is credited with saying, “God didn’t call us to be successful, just faithful.” The fighter, like our Master, is pierced and full of pain. He, like Paul, may even be bound and beaten. But he remains.
The Land of Promise, says Jesus, awaits those who endure. It is not just for those who make the victory laps or drink champagne. No sir. The Land of Promise is for those who simply remain to the end.
2 Chronicles 7
The Dedication of the Temple
1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,
"He is good;
his love endures forever."
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD's musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, "His love endures forever." Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, [c] because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.
8 So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo [d] Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.
The LORD Appears to Solomon
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 "As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.'
19 "But if you [e] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you [f] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' 22 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 24:36-46 (New International Version)
The Day and Hour Unknown
36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
Footnotes:
February 17, 2009
Perhaps Today
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 24:36-46
You also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. —Matthew 24:44
A year ago, I read an article saying that millions of TV sets in the United States would stop working today unless they were able to receive digital signals. Notices appeared in electronics stores, and the government even offered a free $40 coupon toward the purchase of a converter box.
I suspect that most people took the necessary steps to make sure their TV set would work when they turned it on today. We usually respond well to warnings tied to specific dates, but often fail to prepare for an event that will come “some day.”
When the disciples asked Jesus about the date of His return (Matt. 24:3), He told them that only God the Father knows: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (v.36). Then He urged them to be prepared so that they would not be taken by surprise. “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (v.44).
We don’t know when Jesus will return; He may come at any time. Dr. M. R. De Haan, founder of RBC Ministries, kept a two-word motto in his office: “Perhaps Today.”
When we make our daily plans, are we aware that Christ may return? Are we prepared to meet Him? — David C. McCasland
The darkness deepens! Yes, but dawn is nearer!
The Lord from heaven may soon be on His way;
The “blessed hope” in these dark days grows dearer,
Our Savior Christ will come—perhaps today! —Smith
If Christ comes today, will you be ready to meet Him?
February 17, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Arise and eat —1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
While the Window's Open - #5767
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I was sitting on our front porch, and I saw our son-in-law suddenly running full speed across the front yard, headed for the back yard, with his camera in his hand. With my incredible detective mind, I surmised that he had seen something that would make a great photo; something that apparently wasn't going to be there for long. Actually, he had seen our horse running across the pasture with her mane flowing and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. Having a wife who's taken some pretty amazing photos over the years, I understand this I guess you'd call it "seize the moment" thing that photographers have, and you'd better not get in their way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "While the Window's Open."
Photographer-types understand a life-principle that a lot of us miss - that there are moments, there are opportunities in life that have to be seized - or they are missed forever. And it isn't just photographs. It's precious life moments where a window of opportunity opens for a brief time, maybe just a moment, and either we stop and take that opportunity or sometimes we lose it for good.
Thus, God's counsel in Ephesians 5, beginning in verse 15, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise..." So what does wise living look like? "...making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."
Apparently, knowing and doing God's will in your life often depends on seeing the opportunity He has opened up for you and seizing that opportunity. Many of life's regrets are about opportunities we missed because we let them slip by. Like the aging businessman who says, "If only I'd spent more time with my family." As many times as I've heard that lament, I've never heard anybody say, "My only regret is I wish I'd spent more time with my business." When your child is ready to talk, you had better drop everything and listen then. The window won't be open for long. When your child is ready to be affectionate, you have got nothing more important to do than respond. When your son or daughter has time to be with you, you had better have time to be with them.
The same applies to your mate, your parents, others that you love. Many a tear at a funeral is over opportunities we did not take when this one we loved was still touchable, still thankable, still forgivable, still huggable. And how many chances do we have a day to simply compliment someone, encourage someone, stop and listen to someone. Those are God-moments - opportunities to be a channel of God's love into a person's life.
Most importantly, how many times do we pass up a God-given opportunity to talk about our relationship with Jesus Christ, when the eternity of that person may depend on hearing about our Jesus? Spirit-filled living involves making yourself available each new day to seize the opportunities that God gives you in that day. If you're the kind of person that's all rigid, programmed and inflexible, you'll probably miss or ignore the many times the Holy Spirit is saying, "This is it! This is your chance. Do it now. Seize this moment!"
Like a photographer running to capture his picture before the moment passes, we need to capture the God-moments that He weaves into each new day. Those scenes are just too good to miss!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 17
Endure to the End
Those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:22 (NCV)
Are you close to quitting? Please don’t do it. Are you discouraged as a parent? Hang in there. Are you weary with doing good? Do just a little more. Are you pessimistic about your job? Roll up your sleeves and go at it again. No communication in your marriage? Give it one more shot.
Remember, a finisher is not one with no wounds or weariness. Quite to the contrary, he, like the boxer, is scarred and bloody. Mother Teresa is credited with saying, “God didn’t call us to be successful, just faithful.” The fighter, like our Master, is pierced and full of pain. He, like Paul, may even be bound and beaten. But he remains.
The Land of Promise, says Jesus, awaits those who endure. It is not just for those who make the victory laps or drink champagne. No sir. The Land of Promise is for those who simply remain to the end.
2 Chronicles 7
The Dedication of the Temple
1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,
"He is good;
his love endures forever."
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD's musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, "His love endures forever." Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, [c] because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.
8 So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo [d] Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.
The LORD Appears to Solomon
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 "As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.'
19 "But if you [e] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you [f] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' 22 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' "
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 24:36-46 (New International Version)
The Day and Hour Unknown
36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
Footnotes:
February 17, 2009
Perhaps Today
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 24:36-46
You also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. —Matthew 24:44
A year ago, I read an article saying that millions of TV sets in the United States would stop working today unless they were able to receive digital signals. Notices appeared in electronics stores, and the government even offered a free $40 coupon toward the purchase of a converter box.
I suspect that most people took the necessary steps to make sure their TV set would work when they turned it on today. We usually respond well to warnings tied to specific dates, but often fail to prepare for an event that will come “some day.”
When the disciples asked Jesus about the date of His return (Matt. 24:3), He told them that only God the Father knows: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (v.36). Then He urged them to be prepared so that they would not be taken by surprise. “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (v.44).
We don’t know when Jesus will return; He may come at any time. Dr. M. R. De Haan, founder of RBC Ministries, kept a two-word motto in his office: “Perhaps Today.”
When we make our daily plans, are we aware that Christ may return? Are we prepared to meet Him? — David C. McCasland
The darkness deepens! Yes, but dawn is nearer!
The Lord from heaven may soon be on His way;
The “blessed hope” in these dark days grows dearer,
Our Savior Christ will come—perhaps today! —Smith
If Christ comes today, will you be ready to meet Him?
February 17, 2009
Taking the Initiative Against Depression
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Arise and eat —1 Kings 19:5
The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.
When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
While the Window's Open - #5767
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I was sitting on our front porch, and I saw our son-in-law suddenly running full speed across the front yard, headed for the back yard, with his camera in his hand. With my incredible detective mind, I surmised that he had seen something that would make a great photo; something that apparently wasn't going to be there for long. Actually, he had seen our horse running across the pasture with her mane flowing and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. Having a wife who's taken some pretty amazing photos over the years, I understand this I guess you'd call it "seize the moment" thing that photographers have, and you'd better not get in their way.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "While the Window's Open."
Photographer-types understand a life-principle that a lot of us miss - that there are moments, there are opportunities in life that have to be seized - or they are missed forever. And it isn't just photographs. It's precious life moments where a window of opportunity opens for a brief time, maybe just a moment, and either we stop and take that opportunity or sometimes we lose it for good.
Thus, God's counsel in Ephesians 5, beginning in verse 15, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise..." So what does wise living look like? "...making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."
Apparently, knowing and doing God's will in your life often depends on seeing the opportunity He has opened up for you and seizing that opportunity. Many of life's regrets are about opportunities we missed because we let them slip by. Like the aging businessman who says, "If only I'd spent more time with my family." As many times as I've heard that lament, I've never heard anybody say, "My only regret is I wish I'd spent more time with my business." When your child is ready to talk, you had better drop everything and listen then. The window won't be open for long. When your child is ready to be affectionate, you have got nothing more important to do than respond. When your son or daughter has time to be with you, you had better have time to be with them.
The same applies to your mate, your parents, others that you love. Many a tear at a funeral is over opportunities we did not take when this one we loved was still touchable, still thankable, still forgivable, still huggable. And how many chances do we have a day to simply compliment someone, encourage someone, stop and listen to someone. Those are God-moments - opportunities to be a channel of God's love into a person's life.
Most importantly, how many times do we pass up a God-given opportunity to talk about our relationship with Jesus Christ, when the eternity of that person may depend on hearing about our Jesus? Spirit-filled living involves making yourself available each new day to seize the opportunities that God gives you in that day. If you're the kind of person that's all rigid, programmed and inflexible, you'll probably miss or ignore the many times the Holy Spirit is saying, "This is it! This is your chance. Do it now. Seize this moment!"
Like a photographer running to capture his picture before the moment passes, we need to capture the God-moments that He weaves into each new day. Those scenes are just too good to miss!
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