Max Lucado Daily: Contentment
Contentment
Posted: 01 Jun 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6, NKJV
In our world, contentment is a strange street vendor, roaming . . . slowly from house to house . . . offering his wares: an hour of peace, a smile of acceptance, a sigh of relief . . .
When I asked him why so few welcomed him into their homes, his answer left me convicted. “I charge a high price, you know . . . I ask people to trade in their schedules, frustrations, and anxieties . . . You’d think I’d have more buyers . . . but people seem strangely proud of their ulcers and headaches.”
Mark 15
Standing Before Pilate
1 At dawn's first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.
2-3Pilate asked him, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"
He answered, "If you say so." The high priests let loose a barrage of accusations.
4-5Pilate asked again, "Aren't you going to answer anything? That's quite a list of accusations." Still, he said nothing. Pilate was impressed, really impressed.
6-10It was a custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, anyone the people asked for. There was one prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome. As the crowd came up and began to present its petition for him to release a prisoner, Pilate anticipated them: "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?" Pilate knew by this time that it was through sheer spite that the high priests had turned Jesus over to him.
11-12But the high priests by then had worked up the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas. Pilate came back, "So what do I do with this man you call King of the Jews?"
13They yelled, "Nail him to a cross!"
14Pilate objected, "But for what crime?"
But they yelled all the louder, "Nail him to a cross!"
15Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.
16-20The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.
The Crucifixion
21There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus' cross.
22-24The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning "Skull Hill." They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn't take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.
25-30They nailed him up at nine o'clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"
31-32The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: "He saved others—but he can't save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We'll all become believers then!" Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.
33-34At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o'clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
35-36Some of the bystanders who heard him said, "Listen, he's calling for Elijah." Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."
37-39But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
Taken to a Tomb
40-41There were women watching from a distance, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women followed and served him, and had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42-45Late in the afternoon, since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, Sabbath eve), Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Jewish Council, came. He was one who lived expectantly, on the lookout for the kingdom of God. Working up his courage, he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate questioned whether he could be dead that soon and called for the captain to verify that he was really dead. Assured by the captain, he gave Joseph the corpse.
46-47Having already purchased a linen shroud, Joseph took him down, wrapped him in the shroud, placed him in a tomb that had been cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the opening. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses, watched the burial.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 19:9-19
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'
11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: "O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16 Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 "It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands.
19 Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God."
ASAP
June 2, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone. —2 Kings 19:19
For most English-speaking people, the acronym ASAP means “As Soon As Possible” or immediately. But for the Christian it can also mean, “Always Say A Prayer.”
King Hezekiah was one of Judah’s best kings. He restored the worship of God to his nation after his father Ahaz’s evil reign (2 Kings 18:3-4). Yet when the Assyrian king attacked Judah, Hezekiah capitulated to the king and stripped off the gold from the temple in Jerusalem to placate him (vv.13-16).
That did not satisfy the Assyrian king, however, who returned to issue another threat. It was then that Hezekiah turned to the Lord. He prayed, “You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. . . . Save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone” (19:15-19). When Hezekiah prayed, God answered him in a remarkable way and delivered him from his enemies (vv.35-37).
You may be facing a problem that leaves you feeling helpless. It may be the loss of a job, a difficult family or work situation, or health struggles. We have a powerful God to whom we can bring our concerns. So before you do anything else, remember to ASAP—Always Say A Prayer.
Something happens when we pray:
Powers of evil lose their sway,
We gain strength, and fear gives way—
Therefore, let us pray. —Anon.
Prayer should be our first response rather than our last resort.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 2, 2010
Are You Obsessed by Something?
Who is the man that fears the Lord? —Psalm 25:12
Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, “No, by nothing,” but all of us are obsessed by something— usually by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life. But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed by God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God ( Acts 17:28 ), looking at everything in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.
If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives— not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.
“He himself shall dwell in prosperity . . .” ( Psalm 25:13 ). God will cause us to “dwell in prosperity,” keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). We rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. “God is our refuge . . .” ( Psalm 46:1 ). Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Light for Life's Darkest Valley - #6103
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
I'm glad I was raised in a part of the country that's a real "four seasons" place, because I love all four seasons! Where I grew up, one of them seemed a little longer than the others. It was called winter. But I think fall is my favorite season of all. I love the blooming beauty of the spring, but my favorite is the blazing colors of those fall leaves. It's not that the leaves have no color the rest of the year, but I've never known people to drive from far away to see the beautiful green leaves. They will travel to see the leaves of fall. The ironic thing is that they are about to die at that point. But they are something to see!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Light for Life's Darkest Valley."
Leaves are at their most beautiful just before they die. It can be that way for people, if they're ready to die. Recently, a dear friend's mother learned that she had an incurable cancer and just probably weeks to live. As her family tried, each in their own way, to absorb the shock of that news, Jeanne was doing fine. She told them, "This is what I've been practicing for all my life." She had lived most of her life with a deep love relationship with Jesus Christ, who she was now getting ready to see.
It's that kind of life in the face of death that has echoed across the centuries in King David's immortal 23rd Psalm in the Bible. First, he describes a life in which "The Lord is my shepherd." He's been following the Lord for years and he found out that, under His care, "I shall not be in want." He remembers how the Shepherd of his life has led him and loved him and restored him. Then, in Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God, he says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." The Lord who has walked with him through every season of his life will walk with him through the valley of the shadow of death and then to the place where he will, in the Bible's words, "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Because of that unshakeable security, because of that unloseable love, our friend Jeanne - like so many I have known - was confident, radiant, and spreading hope until the day she died. In fact, some of her family saw more of that in her than they had even seen before she was facing death. It's like walking on the threshold of eternity brought out a beauty that blessed every life she touched. Jeanne was the first to tell you that it wasn't about her at all. What we were seeing was her Jesus reflected in her.
For many of us, death is the enemy we don't want to think about, we don't want to talk about, we don't want to face. But we will. When it's your final season on earth, you'll either be walking through it with the Jesus you belong to or you'll be walking through it pretty much alone. He's really the only One who can walk with you through life's darkest valley. He's walked there Himself, when He died on the cross for the sin that disqualifies us from entering God's heaven. He loves you so much that He took all that sin and all that hell on Himself on the cross. Then, three days later, He blew the doors off death by walking out of His own grave; proving that He, and He alone, can give eternal life.
Jesus has, in essence, turned death from the enemy that destroys everything we have into a friend who opens the gate to everything God has. But if you don't know Him when you die, it will be too late to change it. Now is what we have. Some of us won't have a warning like my friend did. The end of our life will be sudden. The most dangerous thing you can do in your life, the most deadly, is to ignore or postpone or reject Jesus Christ. The Bible describes the eternal life He died to give you as a gift, which means you have to reach out and take it.
If you've never done that - if you want to get your eternity settled once and for all - I'd urge you to consider now as the very best time to do that. The Bible says, "Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). As soon as you can get to a place where you can talk to God, tell Him you want to pin all your hopes on what His Son did on the cross for you. At that point, the Bible says you become a child of God who will live with Him in heaven forever.
I would love to help you get started with Jesus. That's why we've set up our website with some information there that will help you be sure you belong to Him. I would encourage you to go there as soon as you can today - YoursForLife.net.
We're talking about having life's greatest security. It is life's greatest hope to know that when it's your time to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are going there with Jesus.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: God So Loved Us
God So Loved Us
Posted: 30 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11, NKJV
Jesus humbled himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Cor. 11:23-34
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
Remember The Sacrifice
Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. —1 Corinthians 11:24
May 31, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Every Memorial Day, we remember those who have died in the service of their country. In the United States, a place where such remembrances carry a deep and emotional significance is Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, DC. Arlington is a serious place where, due to the passing of aging war veterans and the ongoing conflicts around the world, there are currently about 25 military funerals every day.
This is particularly difficult for The Old Guard—members of the 3rd US Infantry Regiment who serve at Arlington. It is their task to bear the bodies of the fallen and honor their sacrifice. The members of The Old Guard never forget the price of liberty—for they are reminded of it every day.
Believers in Christ have been given the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of what our freedom from sin cost the Lord Jesus Christ. As we partake of the bread and the cup, we fulfill His command to “do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:24). But in the sober celebration of the sacrifice of Christ there is joy. For we need not leave our remembrances at the Lord’s Table. Living our lives for the Savior can show the world that we will never forget the sacrifice He has made for us.
Thank You, Lord, for dying for me
On the cross of Calvary;
Help me always to remember
What You did to set me free. —Sper
Remembering Christ’s death for us should cause us to live for Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 31, 2010
Put God First
"Jesus did not commit Himself to them ... for He knew what was in man" (John 2:24-25).
Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be-absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.
Put God's Will First. "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9).
A person's obedience is to what he sees to be a need-our Lord's obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, "We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him." But we must first make sure that God's "needs" and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, "... tarry ... until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the "needs" of God and His will. Once God's "needs" in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His "needs" elsewhere.
Put God's Son First. "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5).
God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a "Bethlehem." Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God's ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Why God Sends the Storm - #6101
Monday, May 31, 2010
It was another one of those unforgettable summers with an amazing group of Native American young people. This particular summer, we had traveled to 14 Indian reservations to tell about the hope that those young men and women found in Jesus Christ. One village we were in was typical of so many - so much violence that we were actually advised not to sleep overnight there with the team; a lot of gang activity and a ton of despair. In most places, we're there for multiple nights, but in this particular village we could only do a single night outreach event. Usually, we're outside on a basketball court where the basketball events, the contemporary Christian music and the powerful Hope Stories of the team members convene and hold the attention of a very large crowd. But this night we had to be in a gym, and when team members began to talk about the Savior who had changed their lives, we had an unusual - and very distracting - exodus from the building that was led by several big gang members.
As they gathered outside, a strong wind suddenly roared in, blowing some of their caps into a nearby field. They stayed outside. Then a heavy rain suddenly opened up. A few drenched young people pushed back into the gym, but most of them still chose to stay outside. That's when the little hailstones started. Still, they didn't come in. Then the serious hail began. Big hail; the kind that just pelts your skin! That was it! Everyone pushed inside the gym just in time for an opportunity to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; which a number of them chose to do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Sends the Storm."
Just in case someone might have missed who was behind the stormy events that night, God left His signature: a giant rainbow that actually arced from behind the gym and over our bus. God had done what He has done so many times. He sent a storm to drive people to Him. That might be what He's doing in your life right now.
Our word for today from the Word of God provides a classic example of what part a storm in your life may play in your finding God's love. Jonah, one of God's prophets, didn't like what God had asked him to do, so according to Jonah 1:3, "Jonah ran away from the Lord." He boarded a ship going the opposite direction from his divine orders. And the Bible says, "The Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up." Ultimately, Jonah confesses that God has sent this storm and it was there because of him, and he told them to throw him overboard to save their own lives. Later, inside the great fish the Bible says God sent to rescue Jonah, he says, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You...salvation comes from the Lord."
Could it be that the storm that's hit you lately - the storm that even threatens to break up your ship - is God's tool to drive you into His arms? Not because He's mad at you, but because He loves you...enough to send His Son, Jesus, to take all the punishment for all your sin. But you've been running from the man who died for you. But God loves you too much to lose you. He doesn't want you to keep running from His love until time suddenly runs out - forever. So He has sent this storm; something you can't control and you can't fix, so you'd finally realize how very much you need Him. So you'd finally grab the hand of Jesus that's been reaching out to you for a long time.
Don't miss this opportunity to have every sin of your life forgiven, to have the hole in your heart finally filled, to trade hell for heaven. This is the only opportunity you can be sure of. In the midst of your storm, won't you grab Jesus' hand? Not just to save you from the storm, but to save your soul. It happens when you tell Him, "Jesus, I've run my life long enough. I resign. I drop the junk in my hand and grab You like you're my only hope. You died for me. You came back from your grave. I want to belong to you."
If that's what you want, I would encourage you to visit our website. You'll find there in a way that you can read, or listen to, or watch a little information about how to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. The website is YoursForLife.net.
When you finally let Jesus into that stormy heart, He brings something wonderful with Him. It's called peace.
God So Loved Us
Posted: 30 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11, NKJV
Jesus humbled himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Cor. 11:23-34
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
Remember The Sacrifice
Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. —1 Corinthians 11:24
May 31, 2010 — by Bill Crowder
Every Memorial Day, we remember those who have died in the service of their country. In the United States, a place where such remembrances carry a deep and emotional significance is Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, DC. Arlington is a serious place where, due to the passing of aging war veterans and the ongoing conflicts around the world, there are currently about 25 military funerals every day.
This is particularly difficult for The Old Guard—members of the 3rd US Infantry Regiment who serve at Arlington. It is their task to bear the bodies of the fallen and honor their sacrifice. The members of The Old Guard never forget the price of liberty—for they are reminded of it every day.
Believers in Christ have been given the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of what our freedom from sin cost the Lord Jesus Christ. As we partake of the bread and the cup, we fulfill His command to “do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:24). But in the sober celebration of the sacrifice of Christ there is joy. For we need not leave our remembrances at the Lord’s Table. Living our lives for the Savior can show the world that we will never forget the sacrifice He has made for us.
Thank You, Lord, for dying for me
On the cross of Calvary;
Help me always to remember
What You did to set me free. —Sper
Remembering Christ’s death for us should cause us to live for Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 31, 2010
Put God First
"Jesus did not commit Himself to them ... for He knew what was in man" (John 2:24-25).
Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be-absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.
Put God's Will First. "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9).
A person's obedience is to what he sees to be a need-our Lord's obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, "We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him." But we must first make sure that God's "needs" and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, "... tarry ... until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the "needs" of God and His will. Once God's "needs" in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His "needs" elsewhere.
Put God's Son First. "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5).
God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a "Bethlehem." Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God's ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Why God Sends the Storm - #6101
Monday, May 31, 2010
It was another one of those unforgettable summers with an amazing group of Native American young people. This particular summer, we had traveled to 14 Indian reservations to tell about the hope that those young men and women found in Jesus Christ. One village we were in was typical of so many - so much violence that we were actually advised not to sleep overnight there with the team; a lot of gang activity and a ton of despair. In most places, we're there for multiple nights, but in this particular village we could only do a single night outreach event. Usually, we're outside on a basketball court where the basketball events, the contemporary Christian music and the powerful Hope Stories of the team members convene and hold the attention of a very large crowd. But this night we had to be in a gym, and when team members began to talk about the Savior who had changed their lives, we had an unusual - and very distracting - exodus from the building that was led by several big gang members.
As they gathered outside, a strong wind suddenly roared in, blowing some of their caps into a nearby field. They stayed outside. Then a heavy rain suddenly opened up. A few drenched young people pushed back into the gym, but most of them still chose to stay outside. That's when the little hailstones started. Still, they didn't come in. Then the serious hail began. Big hail; the kind that just pelts your skin! That was it! Everyone pushed inside the gym just in time for an opportunity to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; which a number of them chose to do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Sends the Storm."
Just in case someone might have missed who was behind the stormy events that night, God left His signature: a giant rainbow that actually arced from behind the gym and over our bus. God had done what He has done so many times. He sent a storm to drive people to Him. That might be what He's doing in your life right now.
Our word for today from the Word of God provides a classic example of what part a storm in your life may play in your finding God's love. Jonah, one of God's prophets, didn't like what God had asked him to do, so according to Jonah 1:3, "Jonah ran away from the Lord." He boarded a ship going the opposite direction from his divine orders. And the Bible says, "The Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up." Ultimately, Jonah confesses that God has sent this storm and it was there because of him, and he told them to throw him overboard to save their own lives. Later, inside the great fish the Bible says God sent to rescue Jonah, he says, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You...salvation comes from the Lord."
Could it be that the storm that's hit you lately - the storm that even threatens to break up your ship - is God's tool to drive you into His arms? Not because He's mad at you, but because He loves you...enough to send His Son, Jesus, to take all the punishment for all your sin. But you've been running from the man who died for you. But God loves you too much to lose you. He doesn't want you to keep running from His love until time suddenly runs out - forever. So He has sent this storm; something you can't control and you can't fix, so you'd finally realize how very much you need Him. So you'd finally grab the hand of Jesus that's been reaching out to you for a long time.
Don't miss this opportunity to have every sin of your life forgiven, to have the hole in your heart finally filled, to trade hell for heaven. This is the only opportunity you can be sure of. In the midst of your storm, won't you grab Jesus' hand? Not just to save you from the storm, but to save your soul. It happens when you tell Him, "Jesus, I've run my life long enough. I resign. I drop the junk in my hand and grab You like you're my only hope. You died for me. You came back from your grave. I want to belong to you."
If that's what you want, I would encourage you to visit our website. You'll find there in a way that you can read, or listen to, or watch a little information about how to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. The website is YoursForLife.net.
When you finally let Jesus into that stormy heart, He brings something wonderful with Him. It's called peace.
Matthew 28, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Impossible
Impossible
Posted: 31 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“With God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:37
In our world of budgets, long-range planning and computers, don’t we find it hard to trust in the unbelievable. Don’t most of us tend to scrutinize life behind furrowed brows and walk with cautious steps? It’s hard for us to imagine that God can surprise us. To make a little room for miracles today, well, it’s not sound thinking . . .
We forget that “impossible” is one of God’s favorite words.
Matthew 28
Risen from the Dead
1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.
5-6The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.
7"Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."
8-10The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there."
11-15Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, "His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping." They assured them, "If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don't get blamed." The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around.
16-17Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
David’s Questions
June 1, 2010 — by Dave Branon
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? —Psalm 8:4
An African proverb states, “The one who asks questions doesn’t lose his way.” That concept can be helpful as we consider David’s questions in the Psalms. He was clearly seeking God’s guidance for the way he should go.
Look, for example, at some of the questions he asked:
“O Lord—how long?” (6:3). A question of eagerness to see God’s plan accomplished.
“What is man that You are mindful of him?” (8:4). A question of awe that God even cares about sinful man.
“Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (10:1). A question that reveals a longing for God’s presence.
“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” (15:1). The ultimate question of who may live with God.
David had some tough questions for God. He had discovered what it was like to lose his way when he excluded God and followed his own sinful path. But as he penned the Psalms, he was a man in search of godliness, which meant he probed God’s mind about difficult subjects.
Questions. Like David, you have them. Keep asking. Then, through faith in God’s Word and the work of the Holy Spirit, listen as He leads you in His way.
My mind cries its questions,
My longing heart, joining:
O Father, please hear me!
O Spirit, keep teaching! —Verway
It’s good to have questions, but it’s even better to search for God’s answers.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 1, 2010
The Staggering Question
He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” ( Ezekiel 37:3 ). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . .” ( Ezekiel 37:12 ). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” ( Romans 7:18 ). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Beautiful Truth About Life's Ugliest Words - #6102
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I was there the day my son's dream died. Since he'd been little, playing big-time football had been his dream. If, as they say, biology is destiny, and him being my son, he was not destined to have a football player's size by any means. But he really worked at it, he spent hours in the gym, he was bulking up, he was practicing with focus and intensity. And honestly, he was very good at football - until the day he went down in a driving drill with a badly injured knee. He had torn his anterior cruciate ligament - an injury dreaded by anyone in sports. One of the top sports med doctors in our area examined our son's knee - and then he said those words that sounded like a death sentence to our boy, "You'll never play football again."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beautiful Truth About Life's Ugliest Words."
Our son's dream died that day, but God's dream for him was born. He later said, "It was really my god that died that day" - the athletic death sentence from the doctor ultimately helped our son realize that football had become his god, and he surrendered his life totally to Christ. He replaced football with learning the guitar and writing songs. Those talents helped him form a unique Native American band to reach reservation young people, and his life was set on the track he was made for: to reach Native young people for Christ.
For our son, "You'll never play football" were some of the ugliest words he'd ever heard. Hey, there are a lot of ugly words in life: cancer, divorce, fired, unemployed, broke, rejected, guilty, bankrupt, incurable, and a lot of words that sound like a death sentence at the time. But there is an amazing truth that more than balances the other side of the scale and it is displayed in our word for today from the Word of God. In a nutshell, here's the hope-giving truth about life's ugly words - the ugly word is not the final word!
In Luke 7, beginning with verse 2, we meet a Roman centurion whose highly valued servant is "sick and about to die." The centurion sends messengers to Jesus, desperately pleading for His help. Part of his message went like this: "Say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." The Bible goes on to say, "When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him and...He said, 'I have not found such great faith even in Israel.'" Jesus said this man had amazing faith. He often upbraided His disciples for their "little faith," but what was it about this soldier's faith that amazed Jesus and, by the way, brought about the miraculous healing of the servant he loved?
Well, amazing faith is all about authority and what authority will decide the outcome in your situation. Amazing faith believes that Jesus will decide the outcome and nothing else! The disease won't decide it, the boss won't decide it, the economy won't decide it, your enemies won't decide it, the odds won't decide it, the devil won't decide it - Jesus will decide it! If He says "'Go" to it, it's got to go! If He says, "Come," it's got to come! If He says, "Do this," it has to do it! Jesus, say the word!
Great faith can trigger miraculous outcomes, even when you're living one of life's ugliest words. And great faith - the kind that amazes Jesus - is faith that lives as if Jesus is going to decide this! Because, for a child of God, life's ugly words do not have the final word. Jesus does!
Impossible
Posted: 31 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“With God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:37
In our world of budgets, long-range planning and computers, don’t we find it hard to trust in the unbelievable. Don’t most of us tend to scrutinize life behind furrowed brows and walk with cautious steps? It’s hard for us to imagine that God can surprise us. To make a little room for miracles today, well, it’s not sound thinking . . .
We forget that “impossible” is one of God’s favorite words.
Matthew 28
Risen from the Dead
1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.
5-6The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.
7"Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."
8-10The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there."
11-15Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, "His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping." They assured them, "If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don't get blamed." The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around.
16-17Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
David’s Questions
June 1, 2010 — by Dave Branon
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? —Psalm 8:4
An African proverb states, “The one who asks questions doesn’t lose his way.” That concept can be helpful as we consider David’s questions in the Psalms. He was clearly seeking God’s guidance for the way he should go.
Look, for example, at some of the questions he asked:
“O Lord—how long?” (6:3). A question of eagerness to see God’s plan accomplished.
“What is man that You are mindful of him?” (8:4). A question of awe that God even cares about sinful man.
“Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (10:1). A question that reveals a longing for God’s presence.
“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” (15:1). The ultimate question of who may live with God.
David had some tough questions for God. He had discovered what it was like to lose his way when he excluded God and followed his own sinful path. But as he penned the Psalms, he was a man in search of godliness, which meant he probed God’s mind about difficult subjects.
Questions. Like David, you have them. Keep asking. Then, through faith in God’s Word and the work of the Holy Spirit, listen as He leads you in His way.
My mind cries its questions,
My longing heart, joining:
O Father, please hear me!
O Spirit, keep teaching! —Verway
It’s good to have questions, but it’s even better to search for God’s answers.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 1, 2010
The Staggering Question
He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” ( Ezekiel 37:3 ). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . .” ( Ezekiel 37:12 ). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” ( Romans 7:18 ). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Beautiful Truth About Life's Ugliest Words - #6102
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I was there the day my son's dream died. Since he'd been little, playing big-time football had been his dream. If, as they say, biology is destiny, and him being my son, he was not destined to have a football player's size by any means. But he really worked at it, he spent hours in the gym, he was bulking up, he was practicing with focus and intensity. And honestly, he was very good at football - until the day he went down in a driving drill with a badly injured knee. He had torn his anterior cruciate ligament - an injury dreaded by anyone in sports. One of the top sports med doctors in our area examined our son's knee - and then he said those words that sounded like a death sentence to our boy, "You'll never play football again."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beautiful Truth About Life's Ugliest Words."
Our son's dream died that day, but God's dream for him was born. He later said, "It was really my god that died that day" - the athletic death sentence from the doctor ultimately helped our son realize that football had become his god, and he surrendered his life totally to Christ. He replaced football with learning the guitar and writing songs. Those talents helped him form a unique Native American band to reach reservation young people, and his life was set on the track he was made for: to reach Native young people for Christ.
For our son, "You'll never play football" were some of the ugliest words he'd ever heard. Hey, there are a lot of ugly words in life: cancer, divorce, fired, unemployed, broke, rejected, guilty, bankrupt, incurable, and a lot of words that sound like a death sentence at the time. But there is an amazing truth that more than balances the other side of the scale and it is displayed in our word for today from the Word of God. In a nutshell, here's the hope-giving truth about life's ugly words - the ugly word is not the final word!
In Luke 7, beginning with verse 2, we meet a Roman centurion whose highly valued servant is "sick and about to die." The centurion sends messengers to Jesus, desperately pleading for His help. Part of his message went like this: "Say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." The Bible goes on to say, "When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him and...He said, 'I have not found such great faith even in Israel.'" Jesus said this man had amazing faith. He often upbraided His disciples for their "little faith," but what was it about this soldier's faith that amazed Jesus and, by the way, brought about the miraculous healing of the servant he loved?
Well, amazing faith is all about authority and what authority will decide the outcome in your situation. Amazing faith believes that Jesus will decide the outcome and nothing else! The disease won't decide it, the boss won't decide it, the economy won't decide it, your enemies won't decide it, the odds won't decide it, the devil won't decide it - Jesus will decide it! If He says "'Go" to it, it's got to go! If He says, "Come," it's got to come! If He says, "Do this," it has to do it! Jesus, say the word!
Great faith can trigger miraculous outcomes, even when you're living one of life's ugliest words. And great faith - the kind that amazes Jesus - is faith that lives as if Jesus is going to decide this! Because, for a child of God, life's ugly words do not have the final word. Jesus does!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Matthew 27, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: He Knows Your Name
He Knows Your Name
Posted: 29 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13, NKJV
Relax. You have a friend in high places. Does the child of Arnold Schwarzenegger worry about tight pickle-jar lids? Does the son of Nike founder Phil Knight sweat a broken shoestring? . . .
No. Nor should you. The universe’s Commander in Chief knows your name. He has walked your streets.
Matthew 27
Thirty Silver Coins
1-2 In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.
3-4Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, "I've sinned. I've betrayed an innocent man."
They said, "What do we care? That's your problem!"
5Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.
6-10The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn't know what to do with them. "It wouldn't be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple." They decided to get rid of it by buying the "Potter's Field" and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That's how the field got called "Murder Meadow," a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah's words became history:
They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter's field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.
Pilate
11Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"
Jesus said, "If you say so."
12-14But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, "Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren't you going to say something?" Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.
15-18It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, "Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?" He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.
19While court was still in session, Pilate's wife sent him a message: "Don't get mixed up in judging this noble man. I've just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him."
20Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.
21The governor asked, "Which of the two do you want me to pardon?"
They said, "Barabbas!"
22"Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?"
They all shouted, "Nail him to a cross!"
23He objected, "But for what crime?"
But they yelled all the louder, "Nail him to a cross!"
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, "I'm washing my hands of responsibility for this man's death. From now on, it's in your hands. You're judge and jury."
25The crowd answered, "We'll take the blame, we and our children after us."
26Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.
The Crucifixion
27-31The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor's palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" they said. "Bravo!" Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.
32-34Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call "Skull Hill," they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn't drink it.
35-40After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"
41-44The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: "He saved others—he can't save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We'll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his 'Son' now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God's Son, didn't he?" Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
55-56There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.
The Tomb
57-61Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.
62-64After sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate. They said, "Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he was still alive, 'After three days I will be raised.' We've got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There's a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, 'He's risen from the dead.' Then we'll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first."
65-66Pilate told them, "You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you can." So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and posting guards.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Genesis 2:1-7
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens--
5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,
6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--
7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
What Does It Take?
May 30, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest. —Exodus 23:12
Today’s technology allows some people to work 24/7. We can bring our work home or take it on vacation. Work is ever-present with us—except when the electricity goes off.
An ice storm last winter covered several states in a thick glasslike glaze. Trees and branches fell, blocking roads and keeping people home. Power lines fell, leaving people in cold darkness, unable to accomplish anything that required electricity.
Whenever something like this interrupts my life, I realize how important my own work is to me. Without it, I feel unimportant, unproductive, and useless. But God doesn’t want work to be that important to us, and we shouldn’t need a power outage to get us to stop. In the Old Testament, God had a plan for getting His people to stop and pay attention to Him. It was called Sabbath. On the seventh day of the week, they were to stop their work (Ex. 23:12).
Although New Testament believers aren’t required to keep this law, rest is still important. Practicing a day of rest can keep us from the faulty belief that our work is more important than God’s.
What does it take to make you stop and pay attention to God?
He gives me work that I may seek His rest,
He gives me strength to meet the hardest test;
And as I walk in providential grace,
I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace. —Gustafson
If we do not come apart and rest awhile, we may just plain come apart. —Havner
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 30, 2010
"Yes— But . . .!"
Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
He Knows Your Name
Posted: 29 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13, NKJV
Relax. You have a friend in high places. Does the child of Arnold Schwarzenegger worry about tight pickle-jar lids? Does the son of Nike founder Phil Knight sweat a broken shoestring? . . .
No. Nor should you. The universe’s Commander in Chief knows your name. He has walked your streets.
Matthew 27
Thirty Silver Coins
1-2 In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.
3-4Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, "I've sinned. I've betrayed an innocent man."
They said, "What do we care? That's your problem!"
5Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.
6-10The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn't know what to do with them. "It wouldn't be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple." They decided to get rid of it by buying the "Potter's Field" and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That's how the field got called "Murder Meadow," a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah's words became history:
They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter's field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.
Pilate
11Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"
Jesus said, "If you say so."
12-14But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, "Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren't you going to say something?" Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.
15-18It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, "Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?" He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.
19While court was still in session, Pilate's wife sent him a message: "Don't get mixed up in judging this noble man. I've just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him."
20Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.
21The governor asked, "Which of the two do you want me to pardon?"
They said, "Barabbas!"
22"Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?"
They all shouted, "Nail him to a cross!"
23He objected, "But for what crime?"
But they yelled all the louder, "Nail him to a cross!"
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, "I'm washing my hands of responsibility for this man's death. From now on, it's in your hands. You're judge and jury."
25The crowd answered, "We'll take the blame, we and our children after us."
26Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.
The Crucifixion
27-31The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor's palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" they said. "Bravo!" Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.
32-34Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call "Skull Hill," they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn't drink it.
35-40After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!"
41-44The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: "He saved others—he can't save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We'll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his 'Son' now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God's Son, didn't he?" Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, "He's calling for Elijah." One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's see if Elijah comes and saves him."
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"
55-56There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.
The Tomb
57-61Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.
62-64After sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate. They said, "Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he was still alive, 'After three days I will be raised.' We've got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There's a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, 'He's risen from the dead.' Then we'll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first."
65-66Pilate told them, "You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you can." So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and posting guards.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Genesis 2:1-7
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens--
5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,
6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--
7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
What Does It Take?
May 30, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest. —Exodus 23:12
Today’s technology allows some people to work 24/7. We can bring our work home or take it on vacation. Work is ever-present with us—except when the electricity goes off.
An ice storm last winter covered several states in a thick glasslike glaze. Trees and branches fell, blocking roads and keeping people home. Power lines fell, leaving people in cold darkness, unable to accomplish anything that required electricity.
Whenever something like this interrupts my life, I realize how important my own work is to me. Without it, I feel unimportant, unproductive, and useless. But God doesn’t want work to be that important to us, and we shouldn’t need a power outage to get us to stop. In the Old Testament, God had a plan for getting His people to stop and pay attention to Him. It was called Sabbath. On the seventh day of the week, they were to stop their work (Ex. 23:12).
Although New Testament believers aren’t required to keep this law, rest is still important. Practicing a day of rest can keep us from the faulty belief that our work is more important than God’s.
What does it take to make you stop and pay attention to God?
He gives me work that I may seek His rest,
He gives me strength to meet the hardest test;
And as I walk in providential grace,
I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace. —Gustafson
If we do not come apart and rest awhile, we may just plain come apart. —Havner
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 30, 2010
"Yes— But . . .!"
Lord, I will follow You, but . . . —Luke 9:61
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Matthew 26, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: One Flock
One Flock
Posted: 28 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“There will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:16
God has only one flock. Somehow we missed that. Religious division is not his idea . . . God has one flock. The flock has one shepherd. And though we may think there are many, we are wrong. There is only one.
Never in the Bible are we told to create unity . . . Paul exhorts us to preserve “the unity which the Spirit gives” (Eph. 4:3, NEB). Our task is not to invent unity, but to acknowledge it.
Matthew 26
Anointed for Burial
1-2 When Jesus finished saying these things, he told his disciples, "You know that Passover comes in two days. That's when the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion."
3-5At that very moment, the party of high priests and religious leaders was meeting in the chambers of the Chief Priest named Caiaphas, conspiring to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want a riot on our hands," they said.
6-9When Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper, a woman came up to him as he was eating dinner and anointed him with a bottle of very expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what was happening, they were furious. "That's criminal! This could have been sold for a lot and the money handed out to the poor."
10-13When Jesus realized what was going on, he intervened. "Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me. When she poured this perfume on my body, what she really did was anoint me for burial. You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has just done is going to be remembered and admired."
14-16That is when one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the cabal of high priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They settled on thirty silver pieces. He began looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
The Traitor
17On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?"
18-19He said, "Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, 'The Teacher says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.'" The disciples followed Jesus' instructions to the letter, and prepared the Passover meal.
20-21After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, "I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators."
22They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, "It isn't me, is it, Master?"
23-24Jesus answered, "The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!"
25Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, "It isn't me, is it, Rabbi?"
Jesus said, "Don't play games with me, Judas."
The Bread and the Cup
26-29During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take, eat.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God's new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
"I'll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I'll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father."
30They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.
Gethsemane
31-32Then Jesus told them, "Before the night's over, you're going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says,
I'll strike the shepherd;
helter-skelter the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee."
33Peter broke in, "Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won't."
34"Don't be so sure," Jesus said. "This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times."
35Peter protested, "Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you." All the others said the same thing.
36-38Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me."
39Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?"
40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
42He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way."
43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
45-46When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here."
With Swords and Clubs
47-49The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one—seize him." He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, "How are you, Rabbi?" and kissed him.
50-51Jesus said, "Friend, why this charade?"
Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest's servant, cut off his ear.
52-54Jesus said, "Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don't you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?"
55-56Then Jesus addressed the mob: "What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You've done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings."
Then all the disciples cut and ran.
False Charges
57-58The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out.
59-60The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable.
60-61Finally two men came forward with this: "He said, 'I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.'"
62The Chief Priest stood up and said, "What do you have to say to the accusation?"
63Jesus kept silent.
Then the Chief Priest said, "I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God."
64Jesus was curt: "You yourself said it. And that's not all. Soon you'll see it for yourself:
The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven."
65-66At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, "He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?"
They all said, "Death! That seals his death sentence."
67-68Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: "Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?"
Denial in the Courtyard
69All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean."
70In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about."
71As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene."
72Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man."
73Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away."
74-75Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!"
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 9:1-22
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"
22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Never Say “Never”
May 29, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. —Acts 9:20
While a friend and I walked along the path of the former Berlin Wall, he told me, “This is one of those ‘never say never’ places in my life.” He explained that during the years when the Wall divided the city, he had made a dozen trips through Checkpoint Charlie to encourage members of the church living under continuing surveillance and opposition in East Germany. More than once, he had been detained, questioned, and harassed by the border guards.
In 1988, he took his teenage children to West Berlin and told them, “Take a good look at this wall, because someday when you bring your children here, this wall will still be standing.” A year later it was gone.
When Saul of Tarsus began to attack the followers of Jesus, no one could have imagined that he would ever become a disciple of Christ. “Never. Not a chance.” Yet Acts 9:1-9 records the story of Saul’s blinding encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Within a few days of that life-changing event, Saul was preaching in the synagogues of Damascus that Jesus was the Son of God, to the astonishment of all who heard him (vv.20-21).
When it comes to God’s work in the most difficult people we know, we should never say “never.”
God’s power cannot be confined
To what you think is possible;
So when it comes to changing lives—
Imagine the impossible. —Sper
Never say never when it comes to what God can do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 29, 2010
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
One Flock
Posted: 28 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“There will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:16
God has only one flock. Somehow we missed that. Religious division is not his idea . . . God has one flock. The flock has one shepherd. And though we may think there are many, we are wrong. There is only one.
Never in the Bible are we told to create unity . . . Paul exhorts us to preserve “the unity which the Spirit gives” (Eph. 4:3, NEB). Our task is not to invent unity, but to acknowledge it.
Matthew 26
Anointed for Burial
1-2 When Jesus finished saying these things, he told his disciples, "You know that Passover comes in two days. That's when the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion."
3-5At that very moment, the party of high priests and religious leaders was meeting in the chambers of the Chief Priest named Caiaphas, conspiring to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want a riot on our hands," they said.
6-9When Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper, a woman came up to him as he was eating dinner and anointed him with a bottle of very expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what was happening, they were furious. "That's criminal! This could have been sold for a lot and the money handed out to the poor."
10-13When Jesus realized what was going on, he intervened. "Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me. When she poured this perfume on my body, what she really did was anoint me for burial. You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has just done is going to be remembered and admired."
14-16That is when one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the cabal of high priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They settled on thirty silver pieces. He began looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
The Traitor
17On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?"
18-19He said, "Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, 'The Teacher says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.'" The disciples followed Jesus' instructions to the letter, and prepared the Passover meal.
20-21After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, "I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators."
22They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, "It isn't me, is it, Master?"
23-24Jesus answered, "The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!"
25Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, "It isn't me, is it, Rabbi?"
Jesus said, "Don't play games with me, Judas."
The Bread and the Cup
26-29During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take, eat.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God's new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
"I'll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I'll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father."
30They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.
Gethsemane
31-32Then Jesus told them, "Before the night's over, you're going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says,
I'll strike the shepherd;
helter-skelter the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee."
33Peter broke in, "Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won't."
34"Don't be so sure," Jesus said. "This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times."
35Peter protested, "Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you." All the others said the same thing.
36-38Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me."
39Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?"
40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
42He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way."
43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
45-46When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here."
With Swords and Clubs
47-49The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one—seize him." He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, "How are you, Rabbi?" and kissed him.
50-51Jesus said, "Friend, why this charade?"
Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest's servant, cut off his ear.
52-54Jesus said, "Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don't you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?"
55-56Then Jesus addressed the mob: "What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You've done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings."
Then all the disciples cut and ran.
False Charges
57-58The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out.
59-60The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable.
60-61Finally two men came forward with this: "He said, 'I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.'"
62The Chief Priest stood up and said, "What do you have to say to the accusation?"
63Jesus kept silent.
Then the Chief Priest said, "I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God."
64Jesus was curt: "You yourself said it. And that's not all. Soon you'll see it for yourself:
The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven."
65-66At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, "He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?"
They all said, "Death! That seals his death sentence."
67-68Then they were spitting in his face and banging him around. They jeered as they slapped him: "Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?"
Denial in the Courtyard
69All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean."
70In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about."
71As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene."
72Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man."
73Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away."
74-75Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!"
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 9:1-22
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"
22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Never Say “Never”
May 29, 2010 — by David C. McCasland
Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. —Acts 9:20
While a friend and I walked along the path of the former Berlin Wall, he told me, “This is one of those ‘never say never’ places in my life.” He explained that during the years when the Wall divided the city, he had made a dozen trips through Checkpoint Charlie to encourage members of the church living under continuing surveillance and opposition in East Germany. More than once, he had been detained, questioned, and harassed by the border guards.
In 1988, he took his teenage children to West Berlin and told them, “Take a good look at this wall, because someday when you bring your children here, this wall will still be standing.” A year later it was gone.
When Saul of Tarsus began to attack the followers of Jesus, no one could have imagined that he would ever become a disciple of Christ. “Never. Not a chance.” Yet Acts 9:1-9 records the story of Saul’s blinding encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Within a few days of that life-changing event, Saul was preaching in the synagogues of Damascus that Jesus was the Son of God, to the astonishment of all who heard him (vv.20-21).
When it comes to God’s work in the most difficult people we know, we should never say “never.”
God’s power cannot be confined
To what you think is possible;
So when it comes to changing lives—
Imagine the impossible. —Sper
Never say never when it comes to what God can do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 29, 2010
Untroubled Relationship
In that day you will ask in My name . . . for the Father Himself loves you . . . —John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name . . . ,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but—”You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “. . . for the Father Himself loves you . . .”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.
“. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name . . .” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship—”. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
“. . . He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “. . . whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.
Friday, May 28, 2010
John 17, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: God Is For You
God Is For You
Posted: 27 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:32, NKJV
God is for you. Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you, but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!
God is for you. Not “may be,” not “has been,” not “was,” not “would be,” but “God is!”
John 17
Jesus' Prayer for His Followers
1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it's time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
6-12I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
They'll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19Now I'm returning to you.
I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn't join the world's ways,
Just as I didn't join the world's ways.
I'm not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I'm consecrating myself for their sakes
So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.
24-26Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 31:1-16
1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends-- those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
Our Times— His Hands
May 28, 2010 — by Dave Branon
“You are my God.” My times are in Your hand. —Psalm 31:14-15
In a message to the 2002 graduates of Cedarville University, Dr. Paul Dixon encouraged them with these words: “Your times are in God’s hands.” Our family listened and thought it was appropriate for the graduates, which included our daughter Julie.
We had no idea that in 5 days our 17-year-old Melissa would graduate to heaven through a car accident—and we would be left to recall with new meaning that thought from Psalm 31:15.
Over the years, we have become painfully aware that in God’s mysterious ways, He has planned for some Christians a life that is short. I think of one young Christian girl, the kind with a smile for everyone, who had a sore finger—and a week later was dead from a raging infection. Or the young believer who was killed while playing softball when a ball hit her in the neck. Or the teen boy who loved Jesus and fishing—and died when a car hit him as he rode his bike home from the fishing hole. Melissa, Heather, Maggie, and Thomas. In their short lives, they created a legacy of faith in Jesus and love for others. They were ready when His time for them had come.
“I trust in You,” the psalmist said, recognizing that his life was in God’s hands alone (vv.14-15). Are you trusting God for whatever comes next on your calendar?
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in Your hand,
All events at Your command. —Ryland
Our times are in God’s hands; our souls are in His keeping.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 28, 2010
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Never Forgetting What it Cost - #6100
A Word With You - Your Hard Times
Friday, May 28, 2010
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It was the worst day of Candace Lightner's life. Her 13-year-old daughter Cari was killed at the hands of a drunk driver. To make it worse, just two days earlier the offender had been released on bail for a hit-and-run drunk driving crash. And he already had two drunk driving convictions with a third that was plea-bargained to "reckless accident." Well, the grief in Cari's mom turned from grief into righteous anger. She and some friends got together at a steak house in Sacramento, California, and discussed with them her plan to do something about what had killed her daughter. They formed a group called MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. And they have been a powerful force for helping to save lives since then.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Forgetting What it Cost."
Clearly, this mother has made a difference because she never forgot the death of the one she loved. I hate to say it, but too many of us tend to forget the death of the one who loved us the most, and that's why we aren't making much of a difference.
The vivid portrayal of the death and suffering of Jesus in the movie "The Passion of the Christ," was one reminder of what we cannot afford to forget. Christianity Today magazine reported the telling comment of one woman after she saw His suffering as portrayed in the movie. She said, "I'm sorry. I forgot." Jesus never meant for us to, but He knew we would.
That's one of the main reasons He did what He did at the Last Supper. Our word for today from the Word of God, Luke 22:19-20 says: "He took bread and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.'" And later, the Apostle Paul said of communion, this visual reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us: "Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26 ).
It's obvious Jesus did not want us to ever forget the total humiliation, the ripping of His flesh, the crown of thorns jammed into his forehead, the mangling of the body of the Son of God, the total abandonment. And above all, the agony of your eternal hell that He went through on the cross so you would never have to. We should not forget, but we tend to. The words "Jesus died for your sins" tend to become sterile and glib and safely "theological." And that's when we start downhill.
When you forget the enormity of the price paid for you, you tend to become careless about your sin, forgetting how horrific that sin is, as displayed on the cross. And your love for Jesus starts to cool, and living His way deteriorates from being what you do because you love Him so much into just a spiritual performance. Forget the cross and you start feeling like trash again; forgetting how much Jesus thinks you're worth. Forget the cross, and you'll start settling for junk instead of holding out for the best that He died to give you. And if you forget the cross, you'll probably be ashamed of Him, ashamed to let people know you belong to Him and how they can belong to Him. But when I envision the shame He went through for me...when I remember that He was not ashamed of me, even when it meant hanging on that cross, how can I be ashamed of Him?"
Each new day, make your way up to that skull-shaped hill again and picture yourself at the foot of that old rugged cross. Let His blood cover the sin that you brought with you. Let His love poured out there capture your heart again. And let His sacrifice there give you the courage to live for Him, whatever it takes, and whatever it costs.
God Is For You
Posted: 27 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:32, NKJV
God is for you. Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you, but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!
God is for you. Not “may be,” not “has been,” not “was,” not “would be,” but “God is!”
John 17
Jesus' Prayer for His Followers
1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it's time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
6-12I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
They'll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19Now I'm returning to you.
I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn't join the world's ways,
Just as I didn't join the world's ways.
I'm not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I'm consecrating myself for their sakes
So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.
24-26Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 31:1-16
1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends-- those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
Our Times— His Hands
May 28, 2010 — by Dave Branon
“You are my God.” My times are in Your hand. —Psalm 31:14-15
In a message to the 2002 graduates of Cedarville University, Dr. Paul Dixon encouraged them with these words: “Your times are in God’s hands.” Our family listened and thought it was appropriate for the graduates, which included our daughter Julie.
We had no idea that in 5 days our 17-year-old Melissa would graduate to heaven through a car accident—and we would be left to recall with new meaning that thought from Psalm 31:15.
Over the years, we have become painfully aware that in God’s mysterious ways, He has planned for some Christians a life that is short. I think of one young Christian girl, the kind with a smile for everyone, who had a sore finger—and a week later was dead from a raging infection. Or the young believer who was killed while playing softball when a ball hit her in the neck. Or the teen boy who loved Jesus and fishing—and died when a car hit him as he rode his bike home from the fishing hole. Melissa, Heather, Maggie, and Thomas. In their short lives, they created a legacy of faith in Jesus and love for others. They were ready when His time for them had come.
“I trust in You,” the psalmist said, recognizing that his life was in God’s hands alone (vv.14-15). Are you trusting God for whatever comes next on your calendar?
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in Your hand,
All events at Your command. —Ryland
Our times are in God’s hands; our souls are in His keeping.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 28, 2010
Unquestion Revelation
In that day you will ask Me nothing —John 16:23
When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?
“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Never Forgetting What it Cost - #6100
A Word With You - Your Hard Times
Friday, May 28, 2010
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It was the worst day of Candace Lightner's life. Her 13-year-old daughter Cari was killed at the hands of a drunk driver. To make it worse, just two days earlier the offender had been released on bail for a hit-and-run drunk driving crash. And he already had two drunk driving convictions with a third that was plea-bargained to "reckless accident." Well, the grief in Cari's mom turned from grief into righteous anger. She and some friends got together at a steak house in Sacramento, California, and discussed with them her plan to do something about what had killed her daughter. They formed a group called MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. And they have been a powerful force for helping to save lives since then.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Forgetting What it Cost."
Clearly, this mother has made a difference because she never forgot the death of the one she loved. I hate to say it, but too many of us tend to forget the death of the one who loved us the most, and that's why we aren't making much of a difference.
The vivid portrayal of the death and suffering of Jesus in the movie "The Passion of the Christ," was one reminder of what we cannot afford to forget. Christianity Today magazine reported the telling comment of one woman after she saw His suffering as portrayed in the movie. She said, "I'm sorry. I forgot." Jesus never meant for us to, but He knew we would.
That's one of the main reasons He did what He did at the Last Supper. Our word for today from the Word of God, Luke 22:19-20 says: "He took bread and gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.'" And later, the Apostle Paul said of communion, this visual reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us: "Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26 ).
It's obvious Jesus did not want us to ever forget the total humiliation, the ripping of His flesh, the crown of thorns jammed into his forehead, the mangling of the body of the Son of God, the total abandonment. And above all, the agony of your eternal hell that He went through on the cross so you would never have to. We should not forget, but we tend to. The words "Jesus died for your sins" tend to become sterile and glib and safely "theological." And that's when we start downhill.
When you forget the enormity of the price paid for you, you tend to become careless about your sin, forgetting how horrific that sin is, as displayed on the cross. And your love for Jesus starts to cool, and living His way deteriorates from being what you do because you love Him so much into just a spiritual performance. Forget the cross and you start feeling like trash again; forgetting how much Jesus thinks you're worth. Forget the cross, and you'll start settling for junk instead of holding out for the best that He died to give you. And if you forget the cross, you'll probably be ashamed of Him, ashamed to let people know you belong to Him and how they can belong to Him. But when I envision the shame He went through for me...when I remember that He was not ashamed of me, even when it meant hanging on that cross, how can I be ashamed of Him?"
Each new day, make your way up to that skull-shaped hill again and picture yourself at the foot of that old rugged cross. Let His blood cover the sin that you brought with you. Let His love poured out there capture your heart again. And let His sacrifice there give you the courage to live for Him, whatever it takes, and whatever it costs.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
John 16, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: Devotion
Devotion
Posted: 26 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“I give my life for the sheep.” John 10:15
The ropes used to tie our Lord’s hands and the soldiers used to lead him to cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, nor the screams of the mob. It was his devotion to us.
John 16
1-4 "I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them.
The Friend Will Come
4-7"I didn't tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, 'Where are you going?' Instead, the longer I've talked, the sadder you've become. So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave. If I don't leave, the Friend won't come. But if I go, I'll send him to you.
8-11"When he comes, he'll expose the error of the godless world's view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He'll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.
12-15"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you.'
16"In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me."
Joy Like a River Overflowing
17-18That stirred up a hornet's nest of questions among the disciples: "What's he talking about: 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? And, 'Because I'm on my way to the Father'? What is this 'day or so'? We don't know what he's talking about."
19-20Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You're going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You'll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
21-23"When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You'll no longer be so full of questions.
23-24"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
25-28"I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father."
29-30His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're convinced you came from God."
31-33Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: James 2:1-9
1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.
2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"
4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Garlic And Sapphires
May 27, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
If you show partiality, you commit sin. —James 2:9
In her fascinating book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Ruth Reichl reflects on her 6 years as a New York Times restaurant critic. Because she was the most influential critic in the country, top restaurants posted her photograph so their employees could recognize her. Hoping to earn a high rating in the New York Times, the staff intended to provide her with their top service and best cuisine.
In response, Reichl developed a clever strategy. Hoping to be treated as a regular patron, she disguised herself. On one occasion, she dressed up as an old woman. The restaurant made her wait a long time to be seated and then was unresponsive to her requests.
In the early church, James spoke out against favoritism: “[If] you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves?” (2:3-4).
When people attend our churches, are they treated impartially? Or do we show favoritism to the wealthy or elite? God calls us to show concern for and interest in all people, regardless of their social status. Let’s welcome all to join us in worshiping the King!
Dear Lord, You welcomed us into Your kingdom, not because of who we are but because of who You are— our loving and merciful God. Help us to open our arms of fellowship to all who enter in. Amen.
God lets us into His fellowship. Who are we to keep others out?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2010
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” ( Acts 2:33 ). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” ( John 17:3 ). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Beacon from the Graveyard - #6099
Thursday, May 27, 2010
J. R. R. Tolkien, one of England's literary greats from a generation ago, wrote about a fantasy world called Middle-earth - and that world has captured the imagination of millions of people in this generation. Tolkien's trilogy of books known as "The Lord of the Rings" has now been widely popularized through three blockbuster movies based on them. The final book and movie, "The Return of the King," portrays a world where the armies of darkness, made up of vicious subhuman beings, are moving to destroy the last bastions of human life in Middle-earth. But as the rightful king of Middle-earth begins to emerge, the humans are rallied to what becomes the decisive battle against this advancing evil. In one drama-packed moment, one of the main characters climbs to the top of a daunting mountain, where a massive pile of wood is awaiting ignition. And there, he takes a torch and lights the signal fire. A waiting sentinel sees that fire and lights the fire on his mountain. And the summons-by-fire spreads across the kingdom, from mountaintop to mountaintop, and the sentinels shout this triumphant news "The beacons are lit!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beacon from the Graveyard."
Two thousand years ago, it appeared that the forces of darkness had won their ultimate victory. The Son of God was dead, buried in a tomb. Those who followed Him were in total despair. That was Friday. Sunday was coming. And when it did, Jesus blew the doors off His grave and walked out under His own power, leaving death - man's ultimate enemy - vanquished and powerless. And that Easter morning, the beacons were lit. From the mountaintop of that generation, the message that Jesus is alive and death has lost has ignited a fire on the mountain of the next generation. And today, 20 centuries later, we are the ones left here by Jesus to light the beacon for our generation.
Listen to what the resurrection of Jesus has done, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 54. "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?...Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I love what one of my friends often says: "If non-Christians want to know what belonging to Jesus is really all about, let them come to our funerals." Well, it's there...the beacon from Easter morning shines the brightest when everything from earth has no answers. It is there, at the moments of our greatest loss, that we win because Jesus wins.
In Revelation 1:17-18, our word for today from the Word of God, the living Christ appears to the Apostle John in all His glory and He says: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." The blazing beacon of Jesus' victory over death means there is nothing in your life that is bigger than He is, and if you belong to Him, nothing can defeat His plans for you.
Today, He's counting on you to light the fire for the people in your world. They can't see Jesus, but they can see you. Tell them that He died for them. Tell them He's alive for them. Don't let the fire die in your hands. Don't let them die without a chance at Jesus.
And if you have never given your life to your rightful King - if you've never committed yourself to the King who died and rose again from the dead for you - then let this be your day to trade your guilt for His forgiveness and your death penalty for His eternal life.
Check out our website today. You'll see there the steps on how to be sure you belong to Jesus and how to make this life that He died and rose again to give you; how you can make it yours. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
You don't have to live in the darkness anymore. From the empty tomb of the Son of God, the beacons are lit!
Devotion
Posted: 26 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“I give my life for the sheep.” John 10:15
The ropes used to tie our Lord’s hands and the soldiers used to lead him to cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, nor the screams of the mob. It was his devotion to us.
John 16
1-4 "I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them.
The Friend Will Come
4-7"I didn't tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, 'Where are you going?' Instead, the longer I've talked, the sadder you've become. So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave. If I don't leave, the Friend won't come. But if I go, I'll send him to you.
8-11"When he comes, he'll expose the error of the godless world's view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He'll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.
12-15"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you.'
16"In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me."
Joy Like a River Overflowing
17-18That stirred up a hornet's nest of questions among the disciples: "What's he talking about: 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? And, 'Because I'm on my way to the Father'? What is this 'day or so'? We don't know what he's talking about."
19-20Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You're going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You'll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
21-23"When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You'll no longer be so full of questions.
23-24"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
25-28"I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father."
29-30His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're convinced you came from God."
31-33Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: James 2:1-9
1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.
2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"
4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Garlic And Sapphires
May 27, 2010 — by Dennis Fisher
If you show partiality, you commit sin. —James 2:9
In her fascinating book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Ruth Reichl reflects on her 6 years as a New York Times restaurant critic. Because she was the most influential critic in the country, top restaurants posted her photograph so their employees could recognize her. Hoping to earn a high rating in the New York Times, the staff intended to provide her with their top service and best cuisine.
In response, Reichl developed a clever strategy. Hoping to be treated as a regular patron, she disguised herself. On one occasion, she dressed up as an old woman. The restaurant made her wait a long time to be seated and then was unresponsive to her requests.
In the early church, James spoke out against favoritism: “[If] you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves?” (2:3-4).
When people attend our churches, are they treated impartially? Or do we show favoritism to the wealthy or elite? God calls us to show concern for and interest in all people, regardless of their social status. Let’s welcome all to join us in worshiping the King!
Dear Lord, You welcomed us into Your kingdom, not because of who we are but because of who You are— our loving and merciful God. Help us to open our arms of fellowship to all who enter in. Amen.
God lets us into His fellowship. Who are we to keep others out?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 27, 2010
The Life To Know Him
. . . tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high —Luke 24:49
The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” ( Acts 2:33 ). The statement in John 7:39 — “. . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.
The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.
It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” ( John 17:3 ). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Beacon from the Graveyard - #6099
Thursday, May 27, 2010
J. R. R. Tolkien, one of England's literary greats from a generation ago, wrote about a fantasy world called Middle-earth - and that world has captured the imagination of millions of people in this generation. Tolkien's trilogy of books known as "The Lord of the Rings" has now been widely popularized through three blockbuster movies based on them. The final book and movie, "The Return of the King," portrays a world where the armies of darkness, made up of vicious subhuman beings, are moving to destroy the last bastions of human life in Middle-earth. But as the rightful king of Middle-earth begins to emerge, the humans are rallied to what becomes the decisive battle against this advancing evil. In one drama-packed moment, one of the main characters climbs to the top of a daunting mountain, where a massive pile of wood is awaiting ignition. And there, he takes a torch and lights the signal fire. A waiting sentinel sees that fire and lights the fire on his mountain. And the summons-by-fire spreads across the kingdom, from mountaintop to mountaintop, and the sentinels shout this triumphant news "The beacons are lit!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beacon from the Graveyard."
Two thousand years ago, it appeared that the forces of darkness had won their ultimate victory. The Son of God was dead, buried in a tomb. Those who followed Him were in total despair. That was Friday. Sunday was coming. And when it did, Jesus blew the doors off His grave and walked out under His own power, leaving death - man's ultimate enemy - vanquished and powerless. And that Easter morning, the beacons were lit. From the mountaintop of that generation, the message that Jesus is alive and death has lost has ignited a fire on the mountain of the next generation. And today, 20 centuries later, we are the ones left here by Jesus to light the beacon for our generation.
Listen to what the resurrection of Jesus has done, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 54. "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?...Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I love what one of my friends often says: "If non-Christians want to know what belonging to Jesus is really all about, let them come to our funerals." Well, it's there...the beacon from Easter morning shines the brightest when everything from earth has no answers. It is there, at the moments of our greatest loss, that we win because Jesus wins.
In Revelation 1:17-18, our word for today from the Word of God, the living Christ appears to the Apostle John in all His glory and He says: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." The blazing beacon of Jesus' victory over death means there is nothing in your life that is bigger than He is, and if you belong to Him, nothing can defeat His plans for you.
Today, He's counting on you to light the fire for the people in your world. They can't see Jesus, but they can see you. Tell them that He died for them. Tell them He's alive for them. Don't let the fire die in your hands. Don't let them die without a chance at Jesus.
And if you have never given your life to your rightful King - if you've never committed yourself to the King who died and rose again from the dead for you - then let this be your day to trade your guilt for His forgiveness and your death penalty for His eternal life.
Check out our website today. You'll see there the steps on how to be sure you belong to Jesus and how to make this life that He died and rose again to give you; how you can make it yours. Just go to YoursForLife.net.
You don't have to live in the darkness anymore. From the empty tomb of the Son of God, the beacons are lit!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
John 15, Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: He Leads Us
He Leads Us
Posted: 25 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“We will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16, NLT
God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene . . . so you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
John 15
The Vine and the Branches
1-3 "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
16"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17"But remember the root command: Love one another.
Hated by the World
18-19"If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.
20"When that happens, remember this: Servants don't get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
21-25"They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don't know the One who sent me. If I hadn't come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn't be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it's all the same. If I hadn't done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn't be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, 'They hated me for no good reason.'
26-27"When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 7:3-11
3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, "Why stay here until we die?
4 If we say, 'We'll go into the city'--the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die."
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there,
6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!"
7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
9 Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace."
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, "We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there--not a sound of anyone--only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were."
11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.
Day Of Good News
May 26, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. —2 Kings 7:9
My Australian friend Graham wasn’t born blind. He was blinded by a freak accident at age 9. Yet he never felt sorry for himself. Wherever he went, he shared what Jesus Christ meant to him. His last trip was to Thailand as a practicing physiotherapist. Besides using his professional skills there, he wanted to share the gospel of Christ.
The four lepers in 2 Kings 7 had some good news to share as well. They had stumbled into the Syrian camp and found it deserted. After helping themselves to the food and loot, they remembered the starving people of Samaria, shut in as a result of a Syrian siege. Their response was: “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent” (v.9). So they went and told their fellow Israelites about the provisions.
Despite their physical and social disadvantages, both Graham and the lepers thought about others. They were thankful for what they had found and considered it too good to keep to themselves.
Do you know someone who needs to know what Jesus has done? Don’t make excuses for what you lack in abilities. Instead, share the good news of what the Lord has done for you, and your life will take on new purpose.
Help us, Lord, to be a lifeline
To a dying world today,
Bringing hope to hopeless people,
Telling them that Christ’s the way. —Sper
When we are thankful for what we have, we want to share it with others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2010
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” ( Matthew 7:8 ). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Retreat, No Defeat - #6098
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Stonewall Jackson, the famous Confederate general. Now, his mommy didn't name him that. He was actually Thomas Jackson. He earned the name we know him by in the first major land battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Bull Run. The Confederate forces were overwhelmed. They were retreating that day - except for a group of Virginia soldiers commanded by General Jackson. They refused to give ground, with their general, mounted on his horse in the thick of the battle, inspiring them to take a stand. Well, another Confederate officer yelled, "Look! There's Jackson standing like a stone wall!" The Confederate forces rallied behind Jackson and his Virginians, and they ended up routing the Union forces. And from that day on, Tom Jackson was Stonewall Jackson.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Retreat, No Defeat."
One person, standing firm when the battle is intense, can literally turn the tide. On the battlefield where God has assigned you, He's counting on you to be that person. And today He's giving you a great picture of how you can be a warrior that your General can count on - one through whom He can win some great victories. The picture is in 2 Samuel 23, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God.
It's a description of David's most trusted warriors - three soldiers called "David's mighty men" - Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. You don't have to memorize those. Right? The Bible describes how Josheb-Basshebeth "raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter." Then it says, "Next to him was Eleazar...As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammin for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated (sounds like Stonewall's big day, doesn't it?), but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day."
Mighty warriors emerge at times when everyone's tired and suffering from combat fatigue - times when most people would feel like quitting. They emerge at times when the odds are overwhelming - like that one, 800 against one guy, and at times when most are retreating from the battle. For you, the battle may be for your family, or your church, for the right thing, for a stand that God has ordered you to take. So what is it that makes you one of God's mighty warriors and a soldier He can count on?
First, you defy the enemy as David's men "taunted the Philistines." Knowing that the devil is the real enemy, you dare to say, "I'm not going to let you win this one. Jesus, take authority over this loser and make him retreat." Secondly, you cling to your sword. For us, the "sword of the Spirit" is "the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). You keep fighting, holding onto what God says as tightly as Eleazar held onto the sword that became bonded to his hand.
The third step that makes you God's conqueror is you stand shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters. You know, each time God introduces the next mighty man here, He starts with "next to him." Don't fight alone. Don't let anything come between you and your praying fellow-soldiers.
And, finally, you remember who determines the outcome of the battle. It says of the weary, outnumbered mighty men, "The Lord brought them a great victory." They sure couldn't have brought a great victory against those odds. But mighty spiritual warriors know that the outcome of the battle will not be decided by them. It will not be decided by their enemy. It will be decided by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
So no matter how intense the battle, no matter how weary the warrior, no matter how overwhelming the odds - do not retreat! With the Word of God in your hand, with your brothers and sisters by your side, with the Lord your God fighting for you, it won't be you who retreats - your enemy is going down!
He Leads Us
Posted: 25 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“We will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16, NLT
God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene . . . so you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
John 15
The Vine and the Branches
1-3 "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
16"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17"But remember the root command: Love one another.
Hated by the World
18-19"If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.
20"When that happens, remember this: Servants don't get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
21-25"They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don't know the One who sent me. If I hadn't come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn't be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it's all the same. If I hadn't done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn't be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, 'They hated me for no good reason.'
26-27"When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 7:3-11
3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, "Why stay here until we die?
4 If we say, 'We'll go into the city'--the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die."
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there,
6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!"
7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
9 Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace."
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, "We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there--not a sound of anyone--only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were."
11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.
Day Of Good News
May 26, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. —2 Kings 7:9
My Australian friend Graham wasn’t born blind. He was blinded by a freak accident at age 9. Yet he never felt sorry for himself. Wherever he went, he shared what Jesus Christ meant to him. His last trip was to Thailand as a practicing physiotherapist. Besides using his professional skills there, he wanted to share the gospel of Christ.
The four lepers in 2 Kings 7 had some good news to share as well. They had stumbled into the Syrian camp and found it deserted. After helping themselves to the food and loot, they remembered the starving people of Samaria, shut in as a result of a Syrian siege. Their response was: “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent” (v.9). So they went and told their fellow Israelites about the provisions.
Despite their physical and social disadvantages, both Graham and the lepers thought about others. They were thankful for what they had found and considered it too good to keep to themselves.
Do you know someone who needs to know what Jesus has done? Don’t make excuses for what you lack in abilities. Instead, share the good news of what the Lord has done for you, and your life will take on new purpose.
Help us, Lord, to be a lifeline
To a dying world today,
Bringing hope to hopeless people,
Telling them that Christ’s the way. —Sper
When we are thankful for what we have, we want to share it with others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2010
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” ( Matthew 7:8 ). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No Retreat, No Defeat - #6098
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Stonewall Jackson, the famous Confederate general. Now, his mommy didn't name him that. He was actually Thomas Jackson. He earned the name we know him by in the first major land battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Bull Run. The Confederate forces were overwhelmed. They were retreating that day - except for a group of Virginia soldiers commanded by General Jackson. They refused to give ground, with their general, mounted on his horse in the thick of the battle, inspiring them to take a stand. Well, another Confederate officer yelled, "Look! There's Jackson standing like a stone wall!" The Confederate forces rallied behind Jackson and his Virginians, and they ended up routing the Union forces. And from that day on, Tom Jackson was Stonewall Jackson.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Retreat, No Defeat."
One person, standing firm when the battle is intense, can literally turn the tide. On the battlefield where God has assigned you, He's counting on you to be that person. And today He's giving you a great picture of how you can be a warrior that your General can count on - one through whom He can win some great victories. The picture is in 2 Samuel 23, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God.
It's a description of David's most trusted warriors - three soldiers called "David's mighty men" - Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. You don't have to memorize those. Right? The Bible describes how Josheb-Basshebeth "raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter." Then it says, "Next to him was Eleazar...As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammin for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated (sounds like Stonewall's big day, doesn't it?), but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day."
Mighty warriors emerge at times when everyone's tired and suffering from combat fatigue - times when most people would feel like quitting. They emerge at times when the odds are overwhelming - like that one, 800 against one guy, and at times when most are retreating from the battle. For you, the battle may be for your family, or your church, for the right thing, for a stand that God has ordered you to take. So what is it that makes you one of God's mighty warriors and a soldier He can count on?
First, you defy the enemy as David's men "taunted the Philistines." Knowing that the devil is the real enemy, you dare to say, "I'm not going to let you win this one. Jesus, take authority over this loser and make him retreat." Secondly, you cling to your sword. For us, the "sword of the Spirit" is "the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). You keep fighting, holding onto what God says as tightly as Eleazar held onto the sword that became bonded to his hand.
The third step that makes you God's conqueror is you stand shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters. You know, each time God introduces the next mighty man here, He starts with "next to him." Don't fight alone. Don't let anything come between you and your praying fellow-soldiers.
And, finally, you remember who determines the outcome of the battle. It says of the weary, outnumbered mighty men, "The Lord brought them a great victory." They sure couldn't have brought a great victory against those odds. But mighty spiritual warriors know that the outcome of the battle will not be decided by them. It will not be decided by their enemy. It will be decided by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
So no matter how intense the battle, no matter how weary the warrior, no matter how overwhelming the odds - do not retreat! With the Word of God in your hand, with your brothers and sisters by your side, with the Lord your God fighting for you, it won't be you who retreats - your enemy is going down!
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